I don't know about that... I feel like it's pretty darn different. When it come to forces or energy in regards to physics don't things tend to grow exponentially?
It depends on the force and what's changing. That's not really what I'm talking about though, changing the exact number of pounds that a surface feels as it goes from one speed to another doesn't really constitute a change in the physics if the relationship between force and speed stays the same. For example, when it comes to aerodynamics:
You have changes in physics at certain Mach numbers (M). From 0-0.8M, physics remains the same (well there is a regime from 0 to 0.3M not shown here because the image I posted is related to planes and planes tend to fly faster than M 0.3, also the effects are a bit less significant).
Cars are pretty firmly in the subsonic regime, so we can reliably say that aerodynamics will behave consistently through their entire speed range.
Meaning that the forces at 250 aren't just going to be 2.5 times stronger than 100 but potentially 3, 4, 5, or even 10 times stronger? If I'm correct that would mean 100 and 250 are very very different.
If everything scales by 10 times, what changes? Things could very well end up feeling identical. If two people push against each other with 10 lbs of force, the net is zero and no one moves. If they both push 10 times harder, the net is zero and no one moves.
But stable enough for any ding dong to do it half asleep? Or stable enough for a professional on a closed course, under optimal conditions.
That's a good question, though given that this car isn't a racecar, it probably wasn't aimed at professional drivers.
I don't know and maybe I'm just doubtful but something tells me Bugatti doesn't just let anyone buy a veyron and take it up to 250 whenever/wherever they like. I feel like several crashed veyrons with dead owners wouldn't reflect well on their PR department/brand as a whole.
You can find plenty of amusing videos of supercar owners on youtube, so I don't think it's that big of a deal.
Don't they also need special tires to reach those speeds? Ones that are only good for one use? I might be talking out my rear here but that's what I remember hearing. I don't know.... Designed to capable of something, and designed to do something regularly are two different things.
Top speed in the Veyron did require some special conditions I believe. Tires may have been involved, but in GT we're dealing with very simple tires. I'll admit that I'm not super familiar with the games after GT5, but for most the series tires have been indestructible pieces of rubber with a fixed grip number. If that's not how they work in GT7, I'm happy to be corrected. Anyway the point here is, we're not dealing with a perfect simulation of the real car, so we can look over some detail and focus more on general physics.
Going fast in a sporty car tends to produce downforce which improves grip and stability. If a car moving at high speed is prone to suddenly loss of control, that's pretty odd. I'm not totally sure what the problem is with the Veyron here, but from post 55 by
@Topsu it looks like it might be an aero problem. The car doesn't seem to have any rear grip, and the tiniest tap on the wheel exceeds the rear tires' ability to hold the road, which is would be extremely surprising in the real car.
@Pizzapants suggested the issue is bottoming out, which I think is also a good potential explanation, especially if GT isn't modeling the suspension correctly, but from videos it doesn't look like it's the case.
"You can make predictions based on physics". Okay, fine. Show your math. Prove your predictions.
"250mph isn't terribly different than 100mph"... I think Bugatti would beg to differ. If it were so easy, everyone could do it.
OK, some quick math, (250/100)^2 = 6.25 x downforce. I don't know how much downforce is produced by this car in total, but let's say this is a two times increase in total normal force on the tires. The tires now have twice the grip capacity at 250 mph vs 100 mph. This doesn't tell us the entire story, but for one thing we know the tires have a better hold on the road the faster the car goes. Spontaneous spin outs seem a bit questionable given the above.
I didn't say that 250 mph was easy, but that kind of speed isn't exclusive to Bugatti. Wiki says we first broke that speed on land in 1932. In the air we passed that in 1923. Bugatti's achievement wasn't in challenging physics, it was achieving accessibility.
), Ferraris, Corvettes, etc. I haven't broken 300 kmh but got real close. All of these vehicles felt very comfortable to drive at these speeds. Even when applying steering input. Much more comfortable and stable than my little Jetta at 220-230 kmh. From this experience I'd infer that the instability of the veyron is a bit excessive. But it is just that, an inference. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that driving anything at 350 kmh plus is a deathwish even with all the technology of the veyron. Maybe I'm wrong but I feel like one should be able to put at least some steering input, even at 350 kmh plus, without dying. Particularly in a videogame that's just as much about having fun, as it is simulating real life imo. I'm going to try it again today on route x or sarthe and see if I get the same results.
