UCP Awards 2009: Car of the Decade [Preliminary Voting 1]

[wwgkd]

The Bits you touch in a Koenigsegg - and the bits you view - are at least bespoke.

And it doesn't look like a kit car.

I can understand that. So does it bother you when somewhat lesser cars (lambo, audi, etc.) share bits, like the nav system? I personally care more about how a part works than where it comes from, so the fact the Zonda, Koenigsegg, and even the F1 used borrowed parts doesn't bother me.

I won't argue the looks of the SSC, though. It's really not that impressive styling wise. However the Veyron may look impressive, I think it's butt fugly. It's impressive in the same way that a working bulldog is.

It's not a stretch to imagine a vehicle that has not had the millions of dollars spent on it's R&D as a Veyron to have a few issues with durability, is it?

And I've seen a few tests which says the Veyron is in fact ridiculously calm at maximum attack - or at least relatively to the manic nature of a McLaren F1 (or SSC).

It's a fairly subjective thing to argue either way.

You could imagine that. But the same thing could be said of a car making 1,000hp with a complex 16 cylinder engine, 4 turbos and 11 radiators. Quite a few people have made ridiculous power out of the Corvette engines, so I'm not so inclined to question it's reliability unless I hear something to the contrary, same as with the veyron.

I've only seen top speed runs at Ehra-Lessein where everyone comented on how stable it was. When people made high speed runs in "top speed mode" other places was where I saw the comments about tracking. Thus I mentioned wind and a less than perfect track (for instance NASCAR ovals are often almost as rough as streets.)

I've seen dimensions of a Veyron, are there some Dimension comparisons available for the SSC to compare?

Is the suspension on the SSC adjustable?

Dimensions for the SSC (which also manages to weigh 1,400lbs less.)
Length 4,475.5 millimetres (176.20 in)
Width 2,095.5 millimetres (82.50 in)
Height 1,092.2 millimetres (43.00 in)

So .5 inches longer, 3.8 inches wider, and 2.6 inches shorter in height than the veyron. Not a huge difference aside from weight.

Are you reffering to adjustable shocks? I haven't heard but I imagine you could order it with anything you wanted.

But does it? aren't there limitations to that in terms of what is classed as a safe vehicle? Are computer simulations acceptable for a small scale operation such as this?

No, it's the same testing as anything else sold as a new (non-kit) vehicle. And we do have annoyingly strict crash and emissions standards.

I don't think it matches the prestige, at all.

Regardless of the price, the impression left is that your buying the Skoda instead of purchasing the Audi, no pun intended.

It doesn't. The (bought) name of Bugatti backed by VW money is always going to have more prestige than a little american company. Same goes for Koenigsegg and Pagani. They just sound more exotic and faster. But I think the ZR1 has shown that a car without a lot of prestige can still be a good car. Often on these forums I hear complaints about paying for the name, not the performance, why doesn't that apply (in part at least) here?

If I'd bought an Audi and got beat at the one thing I was trying to do well by a Skoda, I'd feel pretty damn embarassed. If I was driving the Skoda that beat the Audi, I'd feel pretty smug.

With some remarkable issues - as all supercars of it's type have. That extra 10% that you pay the extra $400,000 for might just be worthwhile.

It's not just $400,000 for 10% though. It's 4 times as much, another $1,500,000 for the image.

The SSC is a capable car, no doubt.

But I rate the Veyron over it simply because it's a more capable car over most fields of comparison. While the SSC is quicker, the Veyron does it with greater distinction.

Snobbery? maybe, but if you can't be a snob when you pay $1 million for a car, when can you?

The veyron is sold as "the fastest car in the world" on their website, by thier salesmen, and by their owners. They don't say "most prestigous car in the world," they don't say that it makes a great city car, they say fastest. They say most powerful. It's not. It's remarkable that the thing runs despite all the complexity, but it's not the one thing they claim it to be.

When can you be a snob? When you buy the actual fastest car in the world for 1/4 the price.