Was the Veyron v McLaren race staged?

Status
Not open for further replies.

AshDav

Active Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
427
Location
Melbourne, Australia
I wouldn't be surprised if this is a repost, but i've been searching through the forums and can't find anything. So apologies in advanced if it is.

Anyway. It really surprised me to see the incredible performance of the McLaren in the race on 13x02.
I've heard numerous specs on the Veyron in comparison with the F1 which lead me to think the Veyron would blitz it.
The main spec i had in mind was this.
The Veyron can accelerate from 0-200mph faster than the F1 can accelerate from 120-200mph

I've been searching through the interwebs and i've found a few more acceloration specs which lead me to believe this race was staged.

Bugatti Veyron
0-60 2.54 seconds
0-100 5.5 seconds
0-186 16.7 seconds (300kph)
0-200 23.8 seconds

McLaren F1
0-60 3.2 seconds
0-100 6.3 seconds
0-150 12.8 seconds
0-200 28 seconds

I have been seeing slight variations in these figures, but the basic point is, the Veyron is faster on every level.

What are your thoughts on this?
 
I don't think it was staged, I think there's two things at work. The Veyron may not have been launched as well as it could, and the segment was heavily edited, which can makes things look closer than they actually were.

That said, it's Top Gear, so really who cares. The Veyron still won, we got to see a brilliant segment, and the McLaren wasn't disgraced.

Oh, the McLaren's still the Daddy.
 
I protest, the race was totally unfair to the McLaren. There were no corners. We need to sue the bbc or something. Or throw cake at Clarkson.
 
I too think that the F1 had the much better launch due to luck and of course the Stig's abilities, and the intense heat had a much greater impact on the Veyrons power than on the McLarens. I'm not sure if Hammond even used the launch control. Therefore, staging it was unnecessary.

Oh, the McLaren's still the Daddy.
Oh yes. I admire the Veyron, but the McLaren F1 will always be my most favourite hypercar.
 
Last edited:
McLaren F1 is such a lighter car, probably why it seemed to get of the line quicker, but we all knew, the Veyron would eventually catch up with its speed.

Still love the McLaren :)
 
I don't care if it was stop animation with matchbox cars, it was epic.
 
Turbos don't work as well under Very Hot Dry conditions, which could have dulled the performace of the Bugatti a bit.
 
Hammond said it himself: "Veyron specs blah blah blah. McLaren specs blah blah. I don't know, this is the real world"

There's no sense in speculating. There are so many factors that can affect a car's performance that the only way to prove it is in a real test. Besides the McLaren lost at the end so I can't see what's the problem :?
 
why would they stage it? The only problem Veryon had was a slow start, Hammond might not have used the launch control.. although I must say, when they did the shot of Bugatti's gearlever, it looked as he was putting the car in D rather than S, which could have made a difference, or not.

BS aside, it was a brilliant segment only TopGear is able to pull off!
 
It looks very undramatic when the Veyron takes off, but it still goes from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. The AWD and the DSG just make it look boring.
 
Last edited:
But see that's the thing that makes the two cars so different and something that Hammond pointed out. The Veyron's all about the technology and the F1 is all about Racing.
 
Last edited:
All this speculation makes me wonder, why doesn't Bugatti sanction a car for comparison reasons?
 
As said before, it was just a combination of different factors:

  • Veyron likely having less power due to heat
  • Veyron likely not launched ideally and without launch control
  • McLaren launched and driven perfectly
That can easily lead to the outcome we all witnessed: the Veyron wins, but not by the margin it should have.
 
Also, le Stiggles was piloting the Veyron :p
 
All this speculation makes me wonder, why doesn't Bugatti sanction a car for comparison reasons?

Because they're not actually that confident that the Veyron really is as overwhelmingly superior as it has been promoted as being, IMHO.

The Veyron is a very impressive piece of work and an engineering feat - but it's not perfect. In fact, it's far from it; for starters, it's got a problem with the basic handling of the chassis that has been masked by a draconian stability control system. Witness the disappointingly slow time around the TG track, witness the spins at Laguna Seca during the preproduction premiere, witness the infamous Fifth Gear test where the Veyron's post-Laguna electronic stability control system completely ignores the throttle in tight low-speed turns to keep it from spinning out.

Others have mentioned the cooling system as an area of concern as well.

The temperatures (and Hammond's driving) were probably why the Veyron didn't do as well off the line - no doubt the engine computer was pulling timing/throttle like mad to keep the engine from detonating under boost and in that heat.
 
Last edited:
/Thread. We maybe should create a "It's all staged/scripted complaints"-subforum so non-conspiracy theorists can ignore all this crap.
 
Personally, I have no doubt that there's a lot of staged/scripted stuff in TG (the American episode, anyone?), but this wasn't one of those items - or it doesn't seem to be. Having owned turbo cars in places of similar summer heat, I can vouch for hot air temperatures doing a number on performance.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top