I'm really excited today because I finally have a chance to drive this beauty,
the pinnacle of automotive technology - the Bugatti Veyron.
It has an 8L engine,
16 cylinders,
4 turbochargers and in this version 1,200hp and 1,500Nm.
I learnt it all by heart so that I don't mess anything up.
Overall, 450 Veyrons will be produced.
But can you imagine that this is not the most exclusive vehicle produced by Volkswagen Group?
The Volkswagen XL1 is Piech's famous 1-litre car.
Many years ago the head of Volskwagen announced that the company could build a car
which would consume just 1 litre of fuel per 100 km.
And it's this very car.
There will be just 200 of those on the market
and the whole batch for the German market has already been sold.
We've landed in Phaeno, an equivalent of Warsaw's Copernicus Science Centre, in Wolfsburg.
"Landed" is the right word which goes perfectly with our vehicles or rather our "space ships".
These cars have a rather unusual appearance.
This car is a perfect match with this place because it's truly unique.
It's built entirely from carbon fibre with just a few aluminium components.
It has 2 engines - electric with 27hp and diesel with 48hp.
It's right here.
Thanks to the use of carbon fibre, this car weighs only 795kg.
The whole concept of a car's been reinvented, the XL1 is different from an ordinary car in nearly every respect.
But it does have wheels, right?
It does, but at the back they're hidden to cut air resistance.
The radiator is also interesting. Its inlet in ordinary cars would be at the front, right?
Whereas here, it's at the back.
When you drive, low pressure is generated here, air is sucked to the radiator through here
and comes out warm on top through here.
How many radiators do you have?
One, but cleverly hidden.
OK, great. Really fascinating.
I have 10 radiators here and I don't need to lift a carbon fibre lid to show you the engine.
Look, 16 cylinders, 4 turbos and 1,200hp.
Let me put it this way - I'm not impressed.
The tyres I have in my car cost EUR25,000 per set
and this is probably why we've never seen a Veyron going sideways on dry grippy tarmac.
And we probably won't be seeing it today either.
But we can have a ride.
The Volkswagen XL1 is innovative in pretty much every aspect.
For example, instead of side mirrors it has cameras on both sides.
It's one of the reasons why there was trouble getting a vehicle approval for this car in Poland.
However, since last Friday the problem has been solved and the XL1 can be registered in our country.
The first impression when you get into the car is quite intimidating.
I can't imagine anyone unleashing its full potential.
On the left we have a dial which shows how much power is being used or rather generated at a given moment.
It's now indicating around 100hp.
Just 100, imagine what happens when it hits the 1,200 mark.
We're about to find out because there's a tractor in front of us and we'll have to overtake it.
I've downshifted to 2nd gear, I'll wait till the road ahead clears and let's go.
Now here's a car for the Polish roads full of trucks,
tractors and various surprises which can spring up at any moment giving you just a split second to overtake.
I'm only in 3rd gear now and there's 7 altogether.
You can imagine what kind of acceleration you can achieve in time,
how fast you can sprint to, say, 300km/h.
According to Bugatti, this car hits 300km/h in 14.6 s, whereas the XL1 goes 0-100km/h in 12.7.
So in the time the XL1 reaches 100-120km/h the Bugatti blasts to 300.
While Szymon is cruising around in the Veyron,
which consumes insane amounts of fuel easily reaching 20-30L per 100km, we're calmly driving in the XL1,
which consumes around 1-2L per 100km.
For the first 50km of leaving your garage with fully charged batteries,
you can drive in the electric mode. However, the 2-cylinder 0.8L diesel engine with 48hp is helping all along.
Firstly, it re-charges the batteries if they go flat and secondly, it drives the wheels.
This car weighs nearly 2 tonnes but is peppered with technology, t
this amazing mechanical force from the huge engine delivering power to 4 wheels
through a 7-speed twin-clutch gearbox.
It's become synonymous with luxury, speed and incredible price.
Right now, to become the owner of a new Veyron you have to spend EUR 2 million plus excise duty,
which would total around PLN 10 million.
You can really feel the low weight in this car.
The steering in the Volkswagen XL1 is not power assisted,
which is no problem at all because the wheel turns effortlessly even when the car's not moving.
It's all down to the front wheels which are very narrow.
They're 11 cm wide and look like somebody's taken them from a motorcycle.
The sound inside is incredible.
The Veyron is this mechanical hornet, an insect flapping its mechanical wings all the time.
You can hear the 8L engine puffing from time to time through its 4 blowoff valves.
The Volkswagen XL1 is one extreme car.
Fuel consumption in the range of 1-2 litres per 100km is hugely impressive but unfortunately so is the price.
The XL1 costs EUR 111,000,
which means that the cost of 1hp is higher than in the Bugatti Veyron driving in front of us.
I've just located the on-board computer, which you switch on with a small lever.
For a while I thought that the Veyron consumes 30.5L per 100km
but it's just turned out that it's the outside temperature.
It's 30.5 ̊ C.
In fact, during our test drive this car is consuming 34.9L per 100km.
A 100L fuel tank will let you have a fast drive for about 300km.
What acceleration!
Obviously, the Veyron comes with ceramic brakes and a rear wing, which rises when you have to brake hard.
They're necessary to shed speed.
Just think about it - Bugatti really wants to keep its customers
because the company will soon introduce a new car which will be marketed at an exorbitant price again.