Bugatti Veyron launched In India.

 Volkswagen Group company Bugatti Automobiles on Thursday launched its super premium sports car ‘Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport', the most expensive car in India so far with a price tag of Rs.16 crore onwards. Packed with many exclusive safety and luxury features, the sports car will reach the top speed of 407 km an hour and speed of 360 km an hour with the roof off.


“India is furthermore a growing market for luxury and hence it was a conscious decision for us to launch Bugatti here. We have, in the past received a heartening response from our valued customers and I think the launch of the Bugatti in India will truly delight our discerning audience,'' Bugatti Automobiles SAS Head of Tradition Julius Kruta told journalists here.
In India, the car will be sold through Exclusive Motors Pvt. Ltd., which has also been exclusive dealer for Bentley and Lamborghini in India.

 According to Bugatti Automobiles Sales Market Manager (Middle East, Europe and India) Guy Caquelin, “Bugatti has been doing well in America, Europe and the Middle East. Now we see India as an emerging market for us, hence we have decided to bring the car to India.'' Bugatti was aiming between 60 and 80 units of the car to be sold across the globe this year and there have been queries from 3 to 4 Indians globally.


Stating that the car's delivery would take about 6-8 months from the date of order, Exclusive Motors Managing Director Satya Bagla said: “The price of the car will be subject to foreign exchange fluctuation and the levels of customisation that a buyer demands. Bugatti Veyron is four times more expensive than what is being sold in the India, so we are now testing the customer response.''

The car, which uses components made of special materials like titanium, carbon fibre and magnesium, is powered by an 8 litre engine with 16 cylinders and is assembled by hand at the company's headquarters in Molsheim in France. The Grand Sport's body structure consists of a carbon fibre monocoque suspended from an aluminium frame in the front and a carbon fibre/stainless steel frame in the rear. Along with moisture-resistant, backstitched leather, a range of new equipment features has been added to the interior of the car, including a reversing camera with 2.7-inch monitor integrated in the rear-view-mirror and the 'Puccini' sound system with digital signal processor.

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Specifications

Dimensions

Length: 4,462 mm

Width: 1,998 mm

Height, Normal Position: 1,204 mm

Wheel base: 2,710 mm
Curb Weight: 1,968 kg

Max. permitted laden weight: 2,280 kg

Tank capacity: 100 l

Engine

Motor Type/Number of Cylinders: W16

Cylinder Capacity: 7 993 cm3

Power output: 736 KW (1,001 hp) @ 6,000 rpm

Max. torque: 1,250 Nm @ 2,200-5,500 rpm

Gearbox: 7 Gear DSG

Drive: 4WD

Power distribution: Front axle differential with Haldex clutch; rear axle with transverse differential lock.

Vegas, baby, Vegas....

StopTech is heading out to Las Vegas next week for Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week 2010. The company will be exhibiting Centric, StopTech and Power Slot innovations at both SEMA in the Las Vegas Convention Center (booth #22761) and AAPEX at the Sands Convention Center (booth #9220)

There will be three big announcements next week from Centric and StopTech, its ultra-performance division. One a day will be revealed starting Tuesday when the exhibit floors open.

For those who can't make it, there will be plenty of coverage, and some fun extras too, across all of the Centric Parts and StopTech social media channels including The StopTech Blog, The Brake Room, StopTech's Twitter and Facebook pages, plus the Centric Parts YouTube channel.

Facebook and Twitter in particular will play host to a special SEMA edition of Identify This Car. For those who have not been following along, players are tasked with being the first to name the make and model of a car based on an extreme close up picture of a single vehicle feature.

All week long the game will be played featuring cars from the trade show floor, and their will even be a special gift for the winner at the end. So hop on board now by "liking" or "following" StopTech.

For those who are feeling nostalgic for prior SEMA's, here are a StopTech's recap videos from the last two years. Last year featured StopTech's own Howard Hsia as a host, who has since moved his talents behind the camera as the producer of StopTech's popular Brake Decisions videos.

Indonesian vacation

Hi guys! I know. I´ve been of the grid for some time but now I’m back under the radar after three weeks island hopping in Indonesia! It was a getaway I needed. To forget about everything for a while was really refreshing. Our journey began with the flight to Bangkok then to Bali and from there by boat to Gili islands near Lombok. Actually we stayed on Gili air which is the closest one to Lombok. It’s a small island. You can walk around it in on hour. There’s not any kind of motorized on-land transports in Gilis. No fresh water either. You can move around in horse carriages and have shower with the sea water! It wasn’t that bad once you get to used to it! Absolutely peaceful. Only damn roosters wake you up early that’s all! Diving was good. Many turtles but also much broken corals and dead corals from dynamite fishing although it stopped 10 years ago. Hard corals grow slowly but there was some visible new growth on top of the dead coral at some places. In places were corals were intact it was truly beautiful.

After some days in Gili we took a boat to Lembongan island which is closer to Bali.

There diving was better in terms of coral but I saw only one turtle in 10 dives I did. Lembongan is world wide known for the Ocean Sunfish (mola mola) that can be seen from time to time around Lembongan and neighboring islands. It is the heaviest bony fish in the world and weighs around 1000kg/2200lbs. The best season to see them is July-September so I was a bit late and missed the opportunity to swim with these gentle giants. I saw one when I was diving a wall off Lembongan. I was about 40m deep and I saw it way below me maybe in 55m. I just had a glimpse of it looming down there in the blue before the strong current pushed me on. I saw Manta rays though. I made some nice footage so I’ll have no freetime problems this winter... video editing is my other hobby that I like a lot!

I have been home only few days but my moto club -Riihimäen Moottoripyöräkerho Kahvakopla- organized a “cake&coffee” evening to celebrate it’s succesful riders. My world championship title in Enduro, Reko Nieminen’s Finnish championship bronze in Road Racing were the highlights but what makes me happy and proud to be a member of this club is their dedication to juniors! They have “Kari Tiainen motorbike school” for kids every summer. Kari is also member of RIMPKK and with his seven world titles he is a living legend!

Today Finnish televion group from channel four came to visit the workshop of my mechanic Allan. They are putting together a compilation of 2010 Enduro GP season and they needed to make an interview with me for it. They have followed the whole season and now it’s time to wrap the whole season together for the last program.

Sofronas Leads the Pack for StopTech with Victory at Global Tuner Grand Prix

The race season may be pretty much over, but James Sofronas keeps finding races to win anyway. The Global Tuner Grand Prix was held last weekend at the Laguna Seca raceway in California. StopTech was in evidence all over the track and also in the winner's circle.

James Sofronas took first place in Challenge Race. His GMG Racing Porsche WC-997 GT3 Cup sported a time of 1:26:549 on StopTech brakes. His victory came after pulling the identical time during the qualifying session. Talk about precision under pressure!

Speaking of the other sessions, Grant Racing's Dodge Viper ACR carried StopTech brakes all the way to first place in the Tuner Class Time Trials with a time of 1:37.604. Also driving strong was Robb Todd, who took second place in the Street Class Time Trials for BR Racing driving a StopTech-equipped Porsche 997 GT3 with a time of 1:44.201.

Overall, the entire weekend was a proving ground for drivers and their brakes. Track conditions were constantly changing from dry to cold to wet) yet StopTech equipped race cars continued to perform exceptionally throughout the weekend.

That what a truly balanced brake system can do.

Something to think about as winter approaches.

Video addresses breaking in new brakes!

The latest instalment of StopTech's Brake Decisions Video series has been posted.  It runs about a minute and addresses the common question about breaking in new brakes, also known as bedding in.



Other Brake Decisions videos include:

Selecting brakes for street performance vehicles
Selecting brakes for track performance cars
Drilled vs. slotted rotors

Another one is on the way...

Behind the Scenes: StopTech Test Track Day

StopTech rolled out to Willow Springs Raceway in the California desert to do some brake tests on The Streets race track. They bought a pair of cars along for the day.

First was a 2004 Z06 Corvette that had been modified for T1 racing. The other was one of the StopTech Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, which was used in World Challenge racing.

They also brought along some cameras, both for on the car and off, to document the day. Check out this 5 minute behind the scenes video that wraps up with some pretty exciting on-car footage from the Porsche...

The day started off early with about 15 minutes of rain, which was enough to plant a rainbow over the track for part of the morning.

The Porsche arrived first but the sensors for the test didn't.  While those were being brought up from the StopTech garage in the Los Angeles area, the Vette was prepped and put through it paces.

It ran several warm-up laps which actually brought it to the point of overheating.  Then the vehicle ran through a series of rapid decelerations, from as much as 100mph down to zippo.  The footage in the video is of the first series when the car was still wearing stock brakes. 

While those cooled down enough to be swapped out for something StopTech is working on, the Porsche was turned loose on the track.  StopTech CEO Dino Crescentini took the wheel and started with a pair of warm up laps.  The video is actually from those laps.  He pulled in for a few adjustments before going full throttle for several laps.

While that data was downloaded, the now StopTech equipped T1 Corvette took to the track to repeat the tests for the morning...with better results.

It was a long, beautiful and rewarding day, but just another day for the StopTech product development team. 

Photos from StopTech test day at Willow Springs

The StopTech crew rolled out to The Streets of Willow Springs, part of the Willow Springs race park in the California desert, for some brakes testing. The test vehicles were the StopTech Porsche 911 GT3 that served as a World Challenge car for a few seasons before the 2010 model rolled along, and a Chevy Corvette Z06.

The day started with about 15 minutes of a light drizzle before flourishing into an absolutely beautiful day to have a world class racetrack all to yourself.

Keep an eye out for a video recap of the day, including some in-car footage, but here are some photos, You can also catch more photos at our sister blog, The Brake Room.

It's a bit of a drive from the city out to the desert to reach the Willow Springs International Race Park

The StopTech Porsche 911 GT3 test car was the first to arrive

followed shortly by an electric blue vette Z06 tricked out for T1 racing

Every team needs a mascot. 

This day it was Singha the German Shepherd.

Nature gave the crew a nice vista while the cars were being prepped

By 9am it was pretty hot out so everyone was

glad to have the shade of the building

Looking good with StopTech Trophy Big Brake Kits with ultra-lightweight calipers and patented AeroRotors with AeroHats

StopTech CEO Dino Crescentini did the test driving for the Porsche.  Another rough day in the office.

It was all racks, roll bars and harnesses inside the vette

Grabbing some air before hitting the track.

  

StopTech's Director of Engineering, Steve Ruiz,

keeps an eye on the test...

  

 ...but could always get a back-up job at a gas station

with these pumping skills.

the day wrapped up with a quick spin on the skid pad.

Team Clothing to buy!

My team HM Honda Zanardo Jolly Racing has started also to sell "after race" clothing. Also 4th world title celebration T-shirts are available. Here's the email address to contact for more information about the prices and sizes: andreadavoli@jollyracing.com

GP Noiretable, France race report

I'm sorry you had to wait for this update but I have been kind of off the grid&on the champagne lately!

I think everybody already knows... WORLD CHAMPIONS for the 4th time in a row!!!! It may seem that this year's championship was easier for me but I can assure you it wasn't! If you look only at the statistics you can see that I won 10 days while Ivan Cervantes won only 4 but some of my victories came after incredible fight on the last special test, the closest one by only 17 hundredths of a second! However, this last GP in France had a different atmosphere for me. I needed only to finish 10th both days or just second once in case Ivan wins.

The weather before the race was perfect but of course it didn't last over the weekend. The race started with rain and the Super test Friday evening. Super test was made only for the Friday and it had a tricky log section where many riders had problems and two rock sections where you could jump over or ride through. I had my race against Oldrati this time and on the first loop I jumped over the rocks no problem. The slippery logs also no problem but then on the second loop I made a mistake going too fast in one corner and nearly went off the track. Jumping over the rocks on the second loop was a bit short and my back wheel touched the big rock in landing and I lost my grip on the handlebars! Some wobbling about on the last slippery pile of logs and that was it! I was through my first trial by fire of my weekend towards the title! Cervantes was the best of E2 but I was only about two seconds slower so it didn't worry me. I went to sleep thinking about the long slippery grass tracks I had to face the next morning...

The Saturday morning we had more rain and the E2 was the first to start. The Enduro test was nice and smooth grass track and I enjoyed riding it but felt like I lost too many seconds struggling at some corners. My time was 11:02:77 and I couldn't believe it when I heard I had beaten Cervantes by 17 seconds! Sherco rider Fabien Planet was the second best of E2 but 6 seconds slower too! I was so relieved after such a good start that I relaxed but tried to keep concentrated on the long trail leading to the MX test. There was one very long and difficult stony uphill on the trail and at after the first stones in the beginning of this uphill I lost my balance. I was staggering towards the left side of the uphill when I noticed a sign straight in front of me: "WOMEN" with an arrow pointing to the left. I was tempted to follow this path away from the infernal uphill thinking maybe I would go unnoticed with my long hair! I didn't want to find out so I struggled like everyone else and my heart rate at the limitator finally at the top! The first MX test was nice and smooth but slippery as well and I did 6:00:00 which was second best time. Fabien Planet beat me by nearly five seconds on this one! The Xtrem test was at the end of the lap and not timed on the first lap. It seemed to be easier than expected as long as nothing unexpected was happening!

The second lap started with the Enduro test and there I made a mistake on the rocky hill stalling the engine at the top. The rain had also stopped some time ago and the ruts in many corners were dry and grippy. I realized only towards the end of the test that I had missed almost every rut! Instead of going for the inside lines I kind of went outside in the corners cutting trough the ruts and accelerating on the inside after the corner. Good lines when the rut is more slippery than the rest but no it was completely opposite!! My time was 12:06:25 which was hopelessly slow. Thomas Oldrati was the best on this one beating me by nearly 12 seconds and also Cervantes beat me by 10s which made me a bit nervous. What seemed like an easy victory after the first special test in the morning was turning into a struggle to finish on the podium! I got up the infernal uphill on the trail with no big problems and the MX test after was hard work. It had gotten very slippery but I pushed hard and made the best time 6:52:61 beating the second fastest Renet by nearly 4 seconds. Cervantes was 13 seconds slower and made me more relaxed again. The Xtrem was timed and I didn't risk jumping down the huge drop- off for a muddy landing right after the start but was still able to score third best time 1:49:53 while only two French riders Renet and Planet were faster. Renet had the best time which was three seconds faster though!

The last lap started with the Enduro test which was very tricky with all the slippery off cambers and my time 12:48:47 was about 11 seconds slower than the French duo Renet- Planet. Also Oldrati was faster but Cervantes was about 13 seconds slower than me again! The last lap's long stony uphill went better than ever and I felt good coming to the last MX test. Before I arrived I had some scary moments though. I was going down a trail in the woods when I suddenly had a deep hole in front of me! I wheelied over it and avoided flying over the handlebars but popping a wheelie downhill increased the speed and I went off the line of other riders... The next thing I knew was a fallen tree in a nasty angle in front of my front wheel and I had only time to pop another wheelie which made my speed increase even more! The back wheel kicked sideways and I was totally out of control storming down the rocky trail with my feet off the foot pegs... in a fraction of a second I saw myself crashing hard getting injured and losing the world title... but somehow miraculously I managed to touch the back brake enough to take it under control and prevent myself to crash against the trees surrounding this old mule road!!! I swallowed my heart that had jumped up to my throat in panic and realized how easy it is to lose a "sure" thing for a little mistake that leads to a big disaster! Arriving to the MX test the rain had soaked already slippery soil and some places felt like riding on ice! The wheel spin was uncontrollable with the weared out tire and after slipping and sliding in the corner you just opened the throttle full and shifted gears sometimes up to 5th trying to put all your weight on the back tire to find some grip and get some speed!! I had a good ride doing 7:21:69 but French Kawasaki rider Nicolas Paganon did a freak time beating me by nine seconds! Fabien Planet who was doing the race of his life and going for the overall victory of the day remained on this special test with a broken engine! Too bad for he was really on the gas. I had only some trail and the last Xtrem test to go... The stone section had got really bad with slippery mud all over it and nasty gaps between the stones but I managed to struggle through it and ended up doing 1:50:14 which was only about one second slower than the best time done by Renet. The celebration started at the end of the Xtrem before I even realized that I had actually won the race and claimed the world title! Coming to the paddock to change the tires all the team were on a party mode including myself and 15min of service time wasn't enough to change the tires! Suddenly everybody was in panic and I just couldn't get the big swollen mousse on the rim! Rather than risking the penalty for being late I ended up putting on just the tire without the mousse. I had one minute to spare when I finally put the bike in parc ferme so I was safe. Even with one minute penalty I would have been safe but it was better not to push it!! When I got back to the team's truck whole team was wearing curly blond wigs in attempt to look like me and wearing same red world title celebration t-shirts while a huge air arc was being inflated... Champagne bottles were popping and people cheering. Only the sun wasn't shining with us! It was raining a little during the prize giving of the day and it was very cold but I didn't care for the hard and nerve wrecking day was done! My crazy team of curly blond wigs joined me on the podium and even the Enduro World Championship promoter Alain Blanchard was wearing a wig and a fake goatee beard which made it unforgettable podium!

I didn't start Sunday morning after some speculations whether I should or not try to fix the mousse inside the tire. Me and my team manager Franco decided that I shouldn't even try for it was impossible task without proper tools. There was one thing we had missed though. There are also the manufacturer world titles in each class and if KTM rider was going to win on Sunday some Honda rider should finish in top five in order to bring the manufacturer title to Honda!! I wasn't riding and HM Honda's boss Alfredo Ciresa was not happy about it!! Not happy at all. I told him that he shouldn't worry for Oscar Balletti would do the job for us. Everybody had doubts for Oscar finished 9th on Saturday but I knew he could do much better. I concentrated on couching Oscar and I psyched him to ride like all the hounds of hell were after him!! On the first Enduro test Oscar was indeed on the gas doing the second fastest time after Renet! It was almost scary to watch Oscar to ride the MX test for he was definitely on the edge! He did again the second fastest time being only 1,3s slower than Renet! There was no time to see the Xtrem test and I couldn’t believe it when I saw the results after the Xtrem and second lap's Enduro test: Oscar was only sixth!! Damn! He had lost half a minute on the Xtrem and 15 seconds on Enduro test!! I was getting desperate. Second lap's MX Oscar did good again but on the Xtrem he lost another 15 seconds! The manufacturer world title was gonna go to KTM... No way!!! Only on the last lap Oscar managed to pull himself together and do all three special tests with no problems while many riders got stuck on the stones of the last Xtrem that had gotten really gnarly. Oscar finished the race 4th and brought the manufacturer title to Honda!!! Great job!!!! Our team had another title to celebrate Sunday evening and everyone was happy!! Me, Oscar and Alfredo Ciresa of HM Honda toasted for Oscar's ability to finish the job of bringing home the manufacturer title! When the race was finished I visited Husqvarna's truck where they had a big party going on for Antoine Meo who had just claimed his first world title! I was happy to congratulate my friend Antoine and knew how he felt for I had claimed my first world title in this same town three years before!!

The prize giving ceremony of the championship was held Sunday night at the Casino of Noiretable. We had dinner at intervals with the ceremony and it was funny to watch David Knight claim his Husqvarna Xtrem award which was a new BMW- Husqvarna 450. Quite ironic that he rejected the bike last year when he was official BMW factory rider and now he gets it as a prize! David won the E3 title for KTM even though he wasn't in the official factory team. But without David KTM would have had very little to celebrate. They got only the manufacturer titles both in E1 and E3 as well as the Junior title. Two of the three main titles however went to another teams: E1 title went to Husqvarna rider Antoine Meo and E2 title to me and the E2 manufacturer title to Honda. I have to say that this championship was good for the sport having three different nationalities and three different brands as World Champions! The party continued after the ceremony and we had a toast together with Meo with the red wine from his mega bottle. Later our team tried our luck at the roulette but it turned out only lucky one was my mechanic Luca!

We went to Paris with Luca and his girlfriend Ambra and we had so time for sightseeing before catching our return flights. Champagne at the tower of Eiffel was not bad and even the cloudy weather couldn't bring us down and stop us for having our pique nique on the grass of the park!


Paris is a magical city and places like Notre Dame at night are truly magnificient!

Here's one video from the last GP showing different special tests and risks that might ruin one's championship at the last GP! You can click and see also other videos from France and other this season's races on the same site.

One more thing: Big thanks for Marco Campelli and Dario Agrati for great race photos!!