It's all about the noise. How the mighty 1200-hp W-16 growls like a badly hungover grizzly bear when you punch the gas pedal. The psychotic calliope routine from the four turbochargers as you change gears, a cacophony of chuffs and puffs, whooshes and whistles right behind your head that sounds like you're about to be run over by the 20th Century Limited. And the white-noise roar of the wind over your head as you effortlessly blow through the 200-mph barrier, headed, like a ground-based Chuck Yeager, for the outer limits of road car performance. But there are subtle differences between the Super Sport and the Vitesse. Removing the roof changes the way the air flows around the car, and in a car with the Veyron's V-max, that demands you pay attention to aerodynamic details. The rear spoiler, for example, knows whether the detachable hardtop is on or off the car, and so changes its angle of attack to ensure it delivers the same level of downforce at high speeds (with the roof off, the Vitesse is limited to a mere 233 mph; roof on, it will hit 255 mph). The rear differential oil cooler has been moved from the right-hand side of the car to under the rear diffuser, and the spring rates have been softened slightly to compensate for the reduction in body rigidity.Simply put, the Vitesse alters the way you perceive the world. See a straight on any regular road, think of a number, and double it. That's the speed at which the Vitesse will be traveling when it arrives at the next corner. And that's no problem, because you simply hammer the carbon-ceramic brakes and the Vitesse stops. Just like that.
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