Quote Originally Posted by IBrake4Rainbows View Post
The SSC is a tempremental thing that requires tuning reguarly.

I reckon the Veyron needs service as well, but you're buying into a whole deal - the after sales support, etc.

I get the SSC might technically be quicker, but it's a brute force thing, the Veyron is comparitively more exciting technically.
Where did you hear that it needs regular tuning? Not arguing, just not something I had heard. I can see how many people would assume that, but there's a lot of assumptions about the SSC which turn out not to be true (for instance that it's aerodynamics produce massive lift or that the handling is horrible.)

I would actually consider the veyron the brute force approach. More cylinders, more displacement, more turbos, more driven wheels, more weight, more force required. It achieves it's top speed by throwing massive power at it, not through efficient design. The SSC reaches higher speeds by being more effecient aerodynamically, which I would consider a good thing.

Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
The A8 has a aluminum body and chasis. Altough some of the weight difference could also be due to the overengineering in some Phaeton parts.

By the way, I don't think the Veyron a representation of the noughties. That's the Hummer as was nominated. The Veyron would be a worthy car in any decade. And yes it does have high running costs, but I doubt any of its theorical rivals is exactly cheap to run.
Not cheap, but the veyron takes things to extremes. In the veyron if you get a flat you have to send the entire wheel to france to get a new tire fitted (extra lengths required not because of it's performance but because you're achieving that performance on something which weighs over 4,000lbs.) The SSC uses Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s. The SSC runs on 91 octane (using (R+M)/2 method of measuring) fuel which is easily available from the pump anywhere.
The veyron requires custom everything, much of which isn't because of it's speed but because of it's weight.

I'm still not getting how the veyron is so comfortable, yes it has some luxury features, but so does the SSC and everyone who's ever driven a veyron remarks on how loud the it is and how rough it rides. The only time one has ever reached it's top speeds was on that one groomed track rather than on public streets like the SSC, so yes the veyron has done it repeatedly but I believe that the edge there would go to the SSC.

I think the SSC doesn't get the respect of the veyron because everyone "knows" that to really reach those speeds you need fancy lowering suspension and trick wings and it can't possibly be the result of a small anonymous car company. Beyond the razzle dazzle and the name (which is not related to anything anyways) I don't believe the veyron is a better car than the SSC, or Koenigseg.

I don't think any of them deserve to be the COTD, but the veryon less so that the others. Everyone talks about how it set the bar so high that it can never be passed, yet it was passed before it was ever set, and for a fraction of the cost. For that much money I expect a lot more than what the veyron presents.

Yes, it's a minor miracle that the thing even works, but lets give it the Rube Goldberg design award then, not COTD.