Geneva 2012: Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse

Let's cut to the chase, this is the most powerful production roadster in the world, but Bugatti can't obviously prove that the Grand Sport Vitesse is the fastest roadster in the world just yet as it hasn't even done a speed run.

Even so, the chances are it will break the current record, which was set by the standard Grand Sport, thanks to the power plant under the bonnet. It's essentially the same 8.0 quad-turbo W16 that you would find in the Super Sport coupe which produces an astonishing 1200hp and 1,100lb ft of torque. It took the Super Sport coupe from 0-60mph in 2.46 seconds and all the way to a top speed of a mind blowing 267mph.

The Vitesse's top speed has been reported to be around 255mph with the targa roof on which of course is less than the Super Sport, but that's still flipping quick! The quoted 0-60mph time is 2.6 seconds.

All of these astounding figures are achieved thanks to some revisions. Firstly, the turbochargers are larger than on the normal quad-turbo W16 which increase the power but also, interestingly, reduce fuel consumption slightly. The chassis and the suspension have been reconfigured too to provide better balance around corners and the ESP has been tweaked so that it comes into action a little later when you lose grip. There have been some exterior changes such as bigger air intakes and a new front spoiler which help keep the engine cool and finally there are more carbon fibre materials used to reduce weight.

Bugatti even claim that with the targa roof off, you and your passenger can have a "relaxed" open-top driving experience at 124mph thanks to a roof spoiler and a wind break which reduce buffeting.

So the big question is how much is it going to cost? Well no official price has been released yet but expect it to be in the region of £2 million. That kind of money could buy you 4 Eagle Speedsters, 5 Lexus LFAs, 15 Aston Martin DB9s or 33 Nissan GT-Rs.

Images courtesy of Autoblog