World's Top 5 S01E05

  • 2 days ago
World's Top 5 S01E05
Transcript
00:00There are over 1 billion cars on roads around the world, with 60 billion new ones produced
00:09each year.
00:12From family run-arounds to million-dollar dream machines, racing cars to record breakers.
00:20Cars are extraordinary feats of automotive engineering.
00:24But what makes the very top world beater?
00:29We put these mechanical marvels under the spotlight.
00:33Which car can travel fastest?
00:35All of the steering is done at the back.
00:38We have literally got the world's fastest forklift.
00:41Has the most horsepower?
00:44This is nearly one and a half times more powerful than any Ferrari existing in the world.
00:49Which car has the best handling or acceleration?
00:54I regard this as the pinnacle of aerodynamic performance.
00:59In our search for the ultimate giants of engineering genius, we go on a global search.
01:05Testing, analysing, rating, to establish the best of the best.
01:11The world's ultimate supercar.
01:17From the world's most phenomenal cars.
01:20There are around 10,000 different car models in the world.
01:23How do you pick the best?
01:26We've selected five ultimate supercars for scrutiny.
01:31The Bugatti Bayron Supersport, the world's fastest production car.
01:37The McLaren MP4-27, the Formula One Championship challenging racer.
01:43Thrust SSC, the sound barrier smashing jet car.
01:48The Tesla Roadster Sport, Silicon Valley's electric vision of the future.
01:54The Alan Arby top fuel dragster, the American-built fire-breathing sprinter.
02:01Five extraordinary cars, each of them pushing the boundaries of automotive engineering to
02:06extremes.
02:09Judging their performance across five key tests, for the first time we reveal the ultimate
02:15world's top car.
02:18It's one of those cars that, I'm afraid, the journey is more important than the destination.
02:25It's time to fire up our five contenders and put the pedal to the metal as we find out
02:31which is the fastest.
02:34Cruising silently into fifth position, it's Silicon Valley's all-electric speed machine,
02:40the Tesla Roadster Sport.
02:43With a top speed of 201 kilometres an hour, its power comes from 7,000 lithium batteries,
02:50more commonly found in laptop computers.
02:54You could be forgiven for thinking this is the world's fastest milk float, but it can
02:57still tear up the road at 200 kilometres an hour.
03:00Now, that's not bad for a car that you have to plug in.
03:07Taking the finishing line in fourth, it's McLaren's latest Formula One racer, the MP427.
03:15Topping out at 340 kilometres an hour, it's the ultimate fusion of cutting-edge aerodynamics
03:22and world-class engineering.
03:26It's an incredible combination of amazing power and a feather-like body.
03:33Blasting into third, with a top speed of 431 kilometres an hour, it's the Bugatti Veyron
03:39Supersport.
03:41Officially the world's fastest production car, it needs specially made tyres to handle
03:46its outstanding performance.
03:49The Veyron is that car that just makes you shake your head.
03:52There's no comparison to it, it is a monster.
03:56Blasting into second position, it's the blink-and-you'll-miss-it Dragster.
04:04With a top speed of 533 kilometres an hour, its drivers experience the same forces as
04:10fighter pilots.
04:13Imagine 5.5G pushing the driver into a seat, it makes me nauseous just thinking about it.
04:20With the speed machine rocketing into the number one position, with a top speed almost
04:26700 kilometres an hour faster than the Dragster, it's the British-engineered Thrust SSC.
04:33The only car to ever break the sound barrier.
04:36If you're going to go supersonic, you don't want to be going over any bumps, and pretty
04:41much the only place that's big enough and smooth enough for thrust is this dried-up
04:45lake bed out in the Nevada desert.
04:47Let's take a closer look at the fastest car on the planet.
04:57Bristol, England.
05:00This line-up of Britain's top engineering talent are working on the biggest challenge
05:04of their lives under the expert guidance of, and the man behind Thrust SSC, former Speed
05:11King Richard Noble.
05:13OK, guys, this is it, right?
05:15We've got to get the car on its wheels by December.
05:19That's the big, big plan.
05:21Their mission?
05:22To create an even faster car than the supersonic Thrust.
05:27Their target?
05:28A mind-blowing 1,600 kilometres per hour.
05:32Yeah, it's time somebody took that world record off us, you know?
05:36It's getting boring, right?
05:38Breaking Thrust's land speed record by a whopping 400 kilometres an hour will be a
05:43tough task.
05:46The record-breaking run back in 1997 provided some invaluable lessons, all of which, combined
05:53with 15 years of improved technology and engineering, has given birth to Thrust's successor and
05:59their current prototype, Bloodhound.
06:03Set to become as fast as a fighter plane and faster than a bullet from a gun, Richard
06:08first blasted into the record books back in 1983, setting a new world land speed record
06:15at a blistering 1,020 kilometres an hour.
06:19But it wasn't enough.
06:21He wanted to break the sound barrier.
06:24His next vehicle, current land speed record holder Thrust SSC, had over twice as much
06:30engine power, courtesy of two after-burning Rolls-Royce spay engines normally used in
06:36the F-4 Phantom jet fighter.
06:40Generating 10,000 kilos of thrust each, the jet engines were so powerful that, if standing
06:45on its end, the car would have taken off.
06:49It was the job of top aerodynamicist Ron Ayres to make sure that didn't happen.
06:55Our analysis showed that at supersonic speeds, the attitude would need to be different from
07:01at subsonic speeds.
07:02That meant we had to have an active suspension, so the back end could actually lift up and
07:08down.
07:09He's rolling.
07:11Ron's cutting-edge design worked.
07:14Thrust's dart-like shape, combined with its two jet fighter engines, meant it smashed
07:20the sound barrier, catapulting Thrust and the team into the record books.
07:25Now the pressure's on for the team to do it all again.
07:31But this time, they plan to go even faster.
07:35The first challenge is boosting Bloodhound's speed from supersonic to 1,600 km per hour.
07:42To do that, they're once again employing jet engines, but this time, they're adding a little
07:47something extra.
07:49Ron's idea was to create this car around a jet and a rocket, because if we had two
07:54jet engines, then the intake area would be too big.
07:57So we wanted to do a jet and a rocket.
08:01And the ideal jet engine for this thing is the EJ200, the Eurofighter engine, and it's
08:06very small, it's very light, it's very, very fuel efficient.
08:09It's absolutely ideal.
08:10But designing a car to move fast is only half the challenge.
08:15Keeping it in a straight line needs a driver, and there's only one man for the job.
08:22Wing Commander Andy Green, RAF pilot and the man who drove Thrust SSC to glory in 1997.
08:31I'm sitting directly between the two spay engines, right in the centre of the 10-tonne,
08:3617-metre-long Thrust supersonic car.
08:39This is my office.
08:40This is the world's only supersonic driving office.
08:43This is where I controlled the car and ran to 763 miles an hour, 1,228 kilometres an
08:51hour back in 1997.
08:54Andy's main job 15 years ago was maintaining control of the supersonic car.
09:00The big problem with having two engines at the front, there's no room up here for the
09:04steering gear and for steered wheels.
09:06So all of the steering is done at the back.
09:08We have literally got the world's fastest forklift.
09:12Rear-wheel steering is inherently unstable, and controlling such a nose-heavy car like
09:17Thrust from two small rear wheels demands precision driving.
09:22At high speed, the smallest deviation of course required immediate correction.
09:27Too much correction and Thrust could have been sent into a fatal spin.
09:32In Bloodhound, the weight has been centred in the middle, allowing front-wheel steering,
09:37making it much easier to control.
09:42But no matter how good the car is, land speed record attempts are notoriously dangerous.
09:48To date, they've claimed over 30 lives.
09:52Andy knows this, but it won't stop him piloting Bloodhound.
09:56If you can keep the car shiny side up, pointy end forwards, there's nothing to crash into,
10:00there are no obstacles on the track.
10:02So fundamentally you've solved the biggest safety problem.
10:06The Bloodhound team want to get their newest baby ready to beat their own record in the
10:10next 12 months.
10:12But they've got competition, with at least five other international teams in contention.
10:18Going out and challenging the world like this, it's been really good.
10:22This is absolutely the ultimate.
10:24We've done the difficult bit, now it's the big push just to get that car built and then
10:28we'll go out and run it.
10:29Of all the cars that are running for the land speed record over the next few years, I'm
10:33most excited about the one we're building.
10:35It's the most complex, it's the most high technology.
10:39I can't wait to get started.
10:45It's a jet engine on wheels, which in itself, the amount of things that could go wrong is
10:49phenomenal.
10:50That's why I have the most respect for the pilot, without a doubt.
10:56Coming up, which of our five ultimate supercars leads the pack when it comes to eyeball popping
11:01acceleration?
11:09Five supercars, but which is the world's best?
11:14Hitting five automotive masterpieces against each other in five key categories will reveal
11:20the ultimate winner.
11:22The sound barrier smashing thrust supersonic car is currently out in front, but how will
11:28the world's fastest car fare in our next category?
11:32Acceleration.
11:34Just how quickly can our five contenders hit 100 kilometres an hour?
11:40Bringing up the rear in fifth, despite Porsche challenging acceleration, it's Silicon Valley's
11:46Tesla Roadster Sport.
11:48With a 0-100 time of just 3.7 seconds, this car's acceleration is simply electric.
11:55The Tesla's done for electric vehicles what no other electric car has done.
11:59It's made them sexy.
12:00I just love it.
12:03Launching into fourth, it's the British designed and built McLaren MP4-27 Formula One racer.
12:10With a 0-100 time of 2.6 seconds, it's designed so that every bit of power is transferred
12:17onto the track.
12:19Formula One car is producing so much downforce that if you put it on a ceiling, it's not
12:23going to fall down.
12:25In joint second, despite being powered by two jet engines, it's the sound barrier smashing
12:32thrust SSC.
12:34With a 0-100 kilometres an hour time of 2.5 seconds, the car requires massive amounts
12:40of downforce to stop it from taking off.
12:45Thrust is quite simply an aeroplane which has got to stay on the ground.
12:51Tying with thrust, it's the million dollar dream machine, the Bugatti Veyron.
12:57Designed to be the best at everything it does, the Veyron set new standards in the
13:01automotive world.
13:04What engineer would not love this car?
13:07It challenges all sports cars.
13:10But thundering past the chequered flag to claim victory with its rocket-like acceleration,
13:18it's the mighty Alan Arby Dragster.
13:21Capable of smashing through the 100 kilometre an hour mark in just 0.8 seconds, it's incredible
13:27acceleration has yet to be beaten.
13:30If you were to drop a tennis ball from head height, by the time it hits the ground, the
13:35Dragster would have reached a speed of 100 kilometres an hour.
13:39Time to strap in and take a ride in the fastest accelerating car in the world.
13:49Firebird International Raceway, Phoenix, Arizona.
13:54Today, current Top Fuel champions, the Alan Arby Top Fuel team, have just 24 hours to
14:00prepare for one of the biggest races of the season.
14:04Their world-beating Dragsters have won two NHRA full-throttle Top Fuel World Championships
14:09in a row.
14:11This weekend, they're setting sights on a third.
14:14The pressure is on.
14:17Alan Arby Racing Team manager, Alan Johnson, has won 10 World Championships over his career.
14:24He may be used to winning, but he's taking nothing for granted.
14:29As past champions, there's always expectations that we put on ourselves as well as our fans
14:34to do well.
14:35We have two new drivers, which creates a whole new challenge for us, but something that we
14:40look forward to.
14:42Heading up the team's new driver line-up is Sean Langdon.
14:47A three-time NHRA national champion, he's entering his fourth season, this time driving
14:53a Top Fuel car.
14:55Joining Langdon is 32-year-old rookie Khalid Al-Balushi.
15:01He's clocked up 158 race wins in various classes, but with 5,000 extra horsepower at his disposal,
15:09the Top Fuel Dragster is a very different beast.
15:13My job in the car, as soon as I see the light, you want to catch the light.
15:17It will be a good reaction time, and you want to feel the car.
15:21You want to feel everything that's going on with the car.
15:25As the team's new drivers familiarise themselves with the cars, the mechanics are battling
15:30the clock as they prepare the two dragsters in time for tomorrow's qualifying rounds.
15:36Jimmy Marcellis has worked on 18 winning dragsters, and knows what it takes to bring home the
15:42trophies.
15:44We're all relying on each other.
15:45Everybody has to do their job.
15:47There's no unimportant job on a race car, you know, so we're all counting on each other.
15:52Powering the mighty Allen Arby is a heavily customised 9-litre V8 engine.
15:58Producing an incredible 8,000 horsepower, it's unlike any other engine in motorsport.
16:05One cylinder in our engine produces more horsepower than a complete engine on any other forms
16:10of racing like NASCAR or IndyCar have.
16:14Key to the incredible output of this highly tuned engine is its supercharger.
16:19Sucking in more air to the engine's combustion chamber, it means more fuel can be added,
16:25creating bigger explosions and even more horsepower.
16:30But the Allen Arby's incredible performance can only be achieved using a very special
16:36kind of fuel.
16:38Known as top fuel, it's an explosive mix of 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol.
16:48You can't light it.
16:49We could pour it on the table and throw a match on it, it won't light.
16:52But we can throw it on the table and hit it with a hammer and it will detonate.
16:56We have to treat it with respect.
16:58The phenomenal detonation caused within the engine increases its output 53 times.
17:08The result is a car that's seriously fast and incredibly loud.
17:13But there's a downside.
17:18The tremendous torque that the engine has developed, it's very hard on these parts.
17:23So they may sometimes last more than one run, but sometimes they won't.
17:29And what's good, we'll save for the following run, and the other stuff we throw away and
17:34replace with brand new parts.
17:36After just one four-second run, the entire engine can be destroyed.
17:42This championship-winning team have spent all day fine-tuning their two cars.
17:47They can't do any more, and tomorrow it's the drivers who'll determine whether or not
17:52they'll qualify for the race.
17:57Qualifying day in Phoenix, and expectant fans are gathering in the stands.
18:03Today, both drivers will compete in two rounds of qualifying, as they aim to qualify for
18:10the final eliminations.
18:13First onto the track is the team's number one driver, Sean Langdon.
18:18He's not planning on being beaten by his rookie teammates, and lays down a race-winning 3.78
18:27second marker.
18:31It's now up to the rookie to show his mettle.
18:34The second the lights go green, Khalid must step on the throttle.
18:39His clutch has been set by his crew to precisely control the dragster's immense power.
18:46But they've overcooked it, and a massive wheelspin costs Belushi valuable time.
18:51Now Belushi's not going to the number one spot.
18:53It's a disappointing run, two seconds slower than his teammates.
18:58I would say the track conditions probably weren't as good as we thought they were going
19:03to be.
19:04I would say probably just a little bit too aggressive, was why I smoked the tires.
19:08After a slow first run, the pressure is now firmly on the rookie to set a blistering time.
19:18On his second run, Khalid blasts down the course in an impressive 3.8 seconds.
19:25And on his third, he reaches speeds of over 500 kilometers an hour, enough for the team
19:30to qualify for Sunday's elimination rounds.
19:34Khalid is taming this fire-breathing machine with each run.
19:39Light him up!
19:41But the following day, just fails to advance in eliminations, losing his next race by hundredths
19:48of a second.
19:52The Allen Arby racing team leave Phoenix empty-handed this time.
19:56But the fight for another world championship continues, as they compete with the fastest
20:02accelerating car in the world.
20:05The thing that terrifies me about the Allen Arby is that when you go on a roller coaster
20:08and a fast one at that, it pulls at a very similar sort of G, which will be 5.5, which
20:12is massive.
20:14But with the Allen Arby, you're in control of it.
20:17That's one reason I wouldn't go near it.
20:18In fact, I wouldn't even walk in the same room as it.
20:24Coming up, fuel consumption.
20:26We reveal which of our five contenders has a drink problem.
20:37Five world-beating cars assessed on key attributes.
20:41The million-dollar Bugatti Veyron Supersport.
20:45The Brust SSC, the sound barrier-smashing jet car.
20:49The all-electric Tesla Roadster Sport.
20:53The McLaren MP4-27 Formula One racer.
20:57The Allen Arby top-fueled dragster.
21:00Each is put to the test and rated in five key categories.
21:05We've already revealed the car with the highest top speed and greatest acceleration.
21:13So far, the Allen Arby dragster is out in front.
21:18But how will it fare in our next category?
21:21It's time to find out which of our contenders can go the distance.
21:26Fuel efficiency.
21:30In fifth, it doesn't have a reverse gear, but that doesn't stop the Allen Arby going
21:34backwards here.
21:36Consuming almost 14,000 litres of fuel every 100 kilometres, the fire-breathing dragster
21:42takes gas-guzzling to another level.
21:48The Allen Arby dragster really is a machine for old-school petrolheads.
21:50I mean, saving the environment is not on this guy's agenda at all.
21:55Next to the pumps in fourth, bringing tears to the eyes of eco-warriors everywhere, it's
21:59the record-breaking Thrust SSC.
22:03With two jet engines burning 5,500 litres of fuel every 100 kilometres, it's a relief
22:09to green campaigners everywhere that it's now consigned to a museum.
22:14The danger of death factor with this vehicle is immense, because if you compare it to what
22:20it basically is, it's an aeroplane that's got to stay on the ground.
22:25In third, with fuel consumption that's measured to the very last drop, it's McLaren's MP427.
22:33Burning an estimated 80 litres every 100 kilometres and with no refuelling allowed, drivers must
22:39conserve fuel so their tanks don't run dry before the end of the race.
22:43It's an incredible combination of amazing power and a feather-like body.
22:49Looking almost conservative in second place, thanks to some gluttonous competition, it's
22:54the million-dollar Bugatti Veyron Supersport.
22:58Burning 23 litres of petrol every 100 kilometres, it's not the cheapest road car to run, but
23:05if you can afford the price tag, you can afford to fill it up.
23:09The Veyron is the only car that I've ever been in that wins, because it pushes the limits
23:13of technology, engineering and science right to the limit.
23:16You have to know who's the boss.
23:18It's not me.
23:19It's not the driver.
23:20It's the car.
23:21But surging into the number one position and claiming its first category win, it's the
23:26all-electric Tesla Roadster Sport.
23:29With a fuel consumption of zero, the Tesla is powered entirely by batteries, relying
23:35on fossil fuel only to provide the electricity it needs to charge.
23:39Tesla is the most efficient sports car nowadays.
23:42It uses only one-sixth of energy a normal sports car will use.
23:46It's just brilliant.
23:48Let's take a closer look at how they did it.
23:53Acton, England.
23:58The UK base of Silicon Valley's Tesla Motors.
24:03Today, mechanics are putting the finishing touches to a brand-new Tesla Roadster Sport,
24:10the world's fastest production electric car.
24:15With a top speed of over 200 kilometres per hour and a price tag of $100,000, the car
24:22was the brainchild of Silicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk.
24:28So I've been thinking about electric cars for about 20 years.
24:32And with the advent of lithium-ion batteries, it became apparent that electric cars could
24:36be a viable competitor to gasoline.
24:40The Roadster's ingenious battery system is the key to Elon's achievement, a self-contained
24:47unit comprising of almost 7,000 lithium-ion batteries.
24:53Previously people thought of electric cars as being slow, ugly, limited range, much like
24:59a golf cart.
25:00We wanted to show you can make an electric car that was beautiful, fast and had incredibly
25:05long range.
25:07And that's exactly what they did.
25:10Flat out, the Tesla Roadster can challenge the world's fastest supercars to 100 and
25:15accelerate onto a top speed of 201 kilometres an hour.
25:22But driven conservatively, it has a range of almost 400 kilometres, powered by a motor
25:28no bigger than a watermelon.
25:32Unlike conventional combustion engines made up of countless moving components, the Roadster's
25:37motor features just one, a copper-lined steel bar driven by a magnetic force.
25:43Its rotation produces mechanical power that's fed directly into the gearbox and out to
25:48the wheels.
25:50The simplicity of the engine is carried across the rest of the car.
25:54The whole vehicle consists of just 12 major components.
26:00As a result, the Roadster doesn't have a normal MOT.
26:03The car itself tells the maintenance team what kind of service it needs.
26:09As the car is governed by computer systems, this is just a normal USB that sends coded
26:15information to us.
26:17You can analyse the data to make sure that all is as it should be.
26:22This USB stick allows the team to monitor every aspect of the car's health, from overall
26:27performance to the temperature of its batteries.
26:32Unlike a conventional car, the Roadster is almost silent.
26:37And the faster it's driven, the more power it uses.
26:41So an on-board computer continually updates the driver with its range and offers three
26:46driving modes depending on the journey length and driver's mood.
26:53Since its launch in 2008, over 2,000 Roadsters have been sold.
26:59But for the king of electric cars, this is just the beginning.
27:03His next model has already been unveiled.
27:09I actually think that all transportation will go electric.
27:12All cars, planes, boats, everything will go purely electric.
27:15It's just a question of how fast that transition takes place.
27:19Our goal with Tesla is to accelerate that transition as fast as possible.
27:26For me, the most impressive part about the Tesla is the acceleration, the speed.
27:290 to 60, I live for this stuff.
27:31In 3.7 seconds from an electric car, that's tomorrow's technology today.
27:41So the electric car sends shockwaves out to its competitors with its first category win.
27:48But how will our five supercars cope when we send them round the bend?
27:54Measuring the extremes of their lateral grip or reaction force, it's time to find out which
27:59of our cars is king of the corners.
28:05Powering straight into fifth, it's the Alan Arby top-fueled dragster.
28:10Untouchable to 100, but with the turning circle of a train, it goes round corners only when
28:16it's pushed or crashing.
28:18Dragsters and cornering, two things you don't associate with each other.
28:22Blasting directly to fourth position, it's the sound barrier-smashing Thrust SSC.
28:29Travelling so fast, it liquidised the track.
28:32The driver kept the reaction force at just 0.7g, keeping thrust straight and avoiding
28:37a potentially fatal spin.
28:41Drifting into third, subjecting those on board to almost 1g through the bends, it's the all-electric
28:47roadster from Silicon Valley.
28:50Designed to be the ultimate electric sports car, its low centre of gravity meant the handling
28:55was as much a revelation as its power plant.
28:59One of the most important factors as to why this car handles so well, believe it or not,
29:04is the position of the battery.
29:05I mean, it's the same sort of thing as the fuel tank.
29:07Who would think about that?
29:08Well, with this particular car, it's so heavy, they've positioned it right on top of the
29:13back wheels, which means round a corner, it's on rails.
29:19Hanging out in second place, pulling an impressive 1.4g through the bends, it's the million-dollar
29:25Bugatti Veyron Supersport.
29:27The car of choice for the world's richest petrolheads, it's a grand tourer with sports
29:33car handling.
29:34The Bugatti is a big unit.
29:36It weighs in at almost two tonnes.
29:38I mean, you really feel it when you're cornering as well.
29:41You're submitted to a reaction force of one and a half times gravity.
29:45It throws you back into your luxurious leather seat.
29:51But taking pole position with its incredible cornering prowess, it's McLaren's Formula
29:56One racer, the MP4-27.
30:00Capable of subjecting its driver to 3.8g through the corners, its high downforce design keeps
30:06the racer firmly planted to the track at all times.
30:10This car is so well designed that the suction it creates to stay stuck to the road actually
30:14means that they go around before Monaco and weld up all the manhole covers just in case
30:19they get sucked off the road.
30:21Let's strap in for an exhilarating ride in one of the best handling racing cars in the
30:27world.
30:30The McLaren Technology Centre in Surrey, England.
30:32And there we are, ladies and gentlemen, in all her glory, the MP4.
30:37Launch day of the 2012 McLaren MP4-27 F1 racer.
30:44Expectations for the season are high, but the car has yet to turn a wheel.
30:51First track test is in two days' time, and nobody's more anxious than Mark Taylor, McLaren's
30:56aerodynamics team leader.
30:59This is a very nerve-wracking time for us because it's when we get to truly find out
31:03if the aerodynamic concepts we've been developing for the last 12 months actually make the car
31:08fast.
31:12In the modern era of Formula One, engine size is limited, so teams rely on aerodynamics
31:19to give them the edge.
31:23Over 50% of an F1 car's downforce comes from the air flowing over its aerodynamic body,
31:29pushing it onto the track.
31:31At 300km per hour, an F1 car generates so much suction, it could drive upside down on
31:38the roof of a tunnel.
31:40With a rumoured prize of $800 million, no expense was spared on the top-secret aerodynamic
31:46development of the 2012 car.
31:50This is the McLaren wind tunnel.
31:53This is where we develop the aerodynamic shape of the car.
31:56We run this facility 24-7, 364 days a year we take Christmas Day off.
32:02This is our main tool for developing car performance, absolutely vital part of our design process.
32:09It's very important that we can thoroughly evaluate our parts in the wind tunnel before
32:12we send them to the track.
32:16Since their first Grand Prix car hit the racetrack in 1966, McLaren have spent 40 years mastering
32:23aerodynamics.
32:25But for Mark Williams, head of vehicle engineering, the 2008 car stands out from all the others.
32:33I regard this as the pinnacle of aerodynamic performance.
32:36All the deflectors, the little flicks, the aerofoils, they're all over this car and they're
32:41all managing the flow of the air over the car to generate the most downforce possible.
32:52In November 2008, Lewis Hamilton took this car across the finish line to win McLaren's
32:58first championship title in nine years.
33:02We won the championship in style on the last lap of the last race of the year.
33:07It was a massive, massive relief.
33:10It was actually a culmination of many years of work.
33:13I'm proud of everything in this car.
33:18Carrera, Spain.
33:20A crucial day for the design team as the MP4-27 is taken to the test track for the first time.
33:33As the car is put through its paces, the results are sent back to the UK for analysis.
33:39For Mark, the findings are the culmination of months of hard work.
33:43Personally, I felt very pleased with the track testing.
33:47It was very pleasing to see a well-behaved car with good downforce and good speed, which
33:53is the correct foundation we needed for winning races this year.
33:58And just six weeks later, the MP4-27 staked its name in Formula One history, claiming
34:05victory in the first Grand Prix of the season.
34:09After 20 years of continuous development, the McLaren F1 is still the act to follow.
34:17Coming up, horsepower.
34:19Which of our five cars has the most grunt?
34:22And decision time.
34:24Which of our shortlist is the world's ultimate supercar?
34:36Five automotive giants.
34:39But which is the world's best of the best?
34:42Rated in five key categories, which will be revealed as the ultimate winner?
34:48The sound barrier-smashing Thrust SSC and the million-dollar Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
34:54are currently vying for first place.
34:57But will our final category prove decisive, or will there be a surge from the chasing pack?
35:06Horsepower.
35:08Which of our five contenders has the best pulling power?
35:14Silently bringing up the rear in fifth position, it's California's all-electric Tesla Roadster Sport.
35:22Boasting less than 300 horsepower, the battery-powered sports car favours brains over brawn.
35:29It might only have 288 horsepower, but because of its super-light construction,
35:34the Tesla's still a contender in this group of super-powered beasts.
35:39In fourth, with 740 horsepower, it's the McLaren MP4-27.
35:46Restricted on engine size, this state-of-the-art racer relies on aerodynamics to edge ahead of the competition.
35:54In third, with an impressive 1,200 horsepower, it's the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
36:01Powered by two V8s bolted together, it's the most powerful production car in the world.
36:08Blasting over the finish line in second position, with an incredible 8,000 horsepower,
36:13it's the land missile that is the Alan Arby Dragster.
36:17Pushing its engine to breaking point on every run,
36:20mechanics have just 75 minutes to completely rebuild it between each race.
36:26But taking the top step of the podium, with 110,000 horsepower,
36:32it's the world's fastest car, Thrust SSC.
36:36Powered by two jet engines, it needed every one to push it through the sound barrier.
36:43With 110,000 horsepower, that's the equivalent of 124 Formula One cars.
36:52So the world's fastest car claims a second category win.
36:57Denying victory from the world's fastest production car, the dream machine for generations to come.
37:04I'm an engineer, right? And when I think about what's gone into that car, it's phenomenal.
37:09Let's discover why, as we take a ride in the world's most exclusive supercar.
37:22Alsace, France. The ancestral home of Bugatti, one of the most famous names in the automotive world.
37:39Today, a team of 12 crack engineers are under pressure in the Chateau's state-of-the-art factory
37:45to complete the latest Veyron in time for a client.
37:48This is one of only 30 supersport models to be built,
37:52and each of its 4,000 parts has been individually crafted, ready to be assembled by hand.
38:01Official driver Pierre-Henri Raffanel knows the effort put into building each and every car.
38:07Forty-five, fifty cars a year will be our production capacity.
38:12We can go higher, but our target is not just to produce cars, we're producing a piece of art.
38:21On average, just one supersport rolls out of this workshop each week,
38:26but that's still more than was ever intended.
38:29The Veyron story began as nothing more than a publicity stunt by Volkswagen.
38:35The goal? To build a car with 1,000 horsepower that could accelerate to 100,000 miles per hour.
38:42To accelerate from 0 to 100 in less than three seconds and exceed 400 kilometers per hour.
38:50The engineers had been set an almighty challenge, but there was always only one place to start.
38:59The heart of the Bugatti Veyron is an 8-litre, 16-cylinder W16 engine.
39:06In effect, two V8s bolted together with four turbochargers thrown in for good measure
39:11to produce 1,200 horsepower.
39:16This is nearly one and a half times more powerful than any Ferrari existing in the world.
39:26This engine will fit in this small car and it will give you the possibility to go over 400 kilometers if you decide so.
39:37But there was a problem.
39:41There was no tyre in the world that could cope with the car's demands.
39:46A brand new tyre had to be developed from scratch.
39:49This one is unique because it's the widest tyre in the world for a GT car.
39:54And it's a unique conception project that Michelin achieved for us,
39:58which was to create a tyre which was capable to go from 0 to 400,
40:03soft enough to provide the traction for this powerful engine
40:08and stiff enough to resist the stress of over 400 kilometers.
40:14The Veyron had taken four years to perfect, but the engineers had achieved all their objectives.
40:21The first supercar to be launched under the revived Bugatti name, the 16.4, rolled out of the workshop in 2005.
40:30With a top speed of 408 kilometers per hour, the 16.4 became the fastest,
40:35most powerful and most expensive production car ever built.
40:42Six years later, the super sport was let loose, breaking all previous records,
40:48whilst in the capable hands of test driver Pierre-Henri.
40:52The top speed I achieved was 434 kilometers, nearly 270 miles per hour.
40:58But to make a world record, you have to make an average of two runs.
41:01So the official world record now is 268 miles per hour, 431 kilometers.
41:08And just to give you an idea, it's just like 120 meters per second.
41:13And you're doing this exercise for over 25 seconds.
41:17So, I mean, you have time to enjoy the trip.
41:20With another super sport finally completed and ready for delivery,
41:24the Bugatti engineers aren't resting on their laurels.
41:29The next generation of the Veyron has already been unveiled.
41:32The 1200 horsepower Grand Sport Vitesse, the fastest roadster in the world.
41:50When I took a little test drive in the Bugatti Veyron, it was incredible.
41:54Once we got moving on the auto routes, the rest of the traffic seemed to be standing still.
42:02Five incredible cars, five miracles of automotive engineering.
42:09Each of them a world leader in key categories.
42:12But which is the overall best of the best?
42:15In identifying the single car which leads the pack, all-round performance is key.
42:21So we've totaled the rankings for speed, acceleration, horsepower, cornering and fuel consumption.
42:28And here is the final result.
42:34In fifth place, it's the electric roadster from Silicon Valley, the Tesla Roadster Sport.
42:41At four, it's the world's fastest accelerating car, the fire-breathing sprinter that is the Allen Arby Dragster.
42:52Screaming into third to take the bottom step of the podium, it's McLaren's 2012 F1 challenger, the MP4 27.
43:03In second, tying in points with thrust but failing to win a category, it's the world's most powerful production car, the Bugatti Veyron Supersport.
43:17But the world's number one ultimate supercar, pushing the boundaries of motoring into previously uncharted territory.
43:27It's the 1,200 km per hour thrust supersonic car, a masterpiece of pioneering automotive engineering.
43:35Capable of travelling faster than the speed of sound and making history as the fastest car in the world.
43:42With the speed that it does, if it left LA in the morning, if the track was long enough, it could make it to New York for lunch.
43:49That's how fast it is.
43:51Transcribed by ESO, translated by —