Wishesh magazine january 2018 Wishesh magazine january 2018 | Page 144

AUTOMOBILES The most expensive cars in the world are about so much more than transportation. These rolling art pieces encapsulate the priorities of the one percent, and in that universe, flamboyance and swagger take precedence over practicality and efficiency. 144 tuned by Pagani’s demonic shop gnomes to bring you 790 horsepower and 811 lb-ft of torque. All of this sorcery is run through tripod drive shafts developed through Le Mans prototype program to the rear wheels by way of a seven- speed Xtrac transmission. Got that? The transmission itself is controlled by electro-hydraulic actuation and carbon-fiber synchronizers. Pagani, ever hungry for carbon fiber. Here’s just one of many ways in which the BC takes flight from the planet Huarya: Each shift in this dynamic transmission has been tuned from the standard Huayra 150 milliseconds to the BC’s 75. WWW.WISHESH.COM | JANUARY 2018 That’s taking a fast shift time and slashing it in half. 9- Bugatti Chiron - $2.6 million: When, as legend has it, former VW czar Ferdinand Piech demanded that Bugatti make the fastest car in the world, the masterminds in Mulsanne conjured the Veyron, an insectile example of aerospace colliding with automotive engineering that traveled a laughable 268 mph. Its W-16, 1,001-horsepower engine jacked up the cost to $1.5 million, and the four turbo wastegates were louder than most modern engines. Now, the Veyron-once among the most expensive cars in the world-is gone. In its place, the Bugatti Chiron, an even more expensive Bugatti. Also faster, more advanced, and more powerful than the Veyron, the Chiron boasts a similar quad-turbocharged W-16 8.0-liter engine, but it has tinkered and futzed until the output is now 1,500 horsepower-300 more than even the Super Sport, the fastest model of the Veyron. The Chiron’s top speed has been limited to just 261 mph on the road; its actual top speed has reportedly not yet been tested. But the wealthy and wiling are lining up to set the mark.