Pierre-Henri is a bit of a legend. He’s raced F1 at Monaco, been on the podium at Le Mans in a long-tail McLaren F1… but more than anything he’s just a good bloke. And refreshingly honest: ‘The Grand Sport is for most people more interesting to drive than the Veyron. The noise is so much more and because the car is not so structurally stiff there is more interference with the steering. Less understeer too – you will feel how responsive it is at the front. The car also feels harder in ride, more connected, although it is actually softer.’ Why? ‘We tried the same settings as the Veyron but it didn’t work (As he says this he puts his hand up to mimic the car and then spins it violently). So we have new suspension and even a different tyre compound, which makes it more progressive at the limit.’ This we’ll have to take his word for because Qatar has one meaningful corner that we can find and the Veyron can take it in fourth. At 241km/h.
I drop into the Grand Sport’s slim seat. You sit really low, the side glass up at shoulder height. The steering wheel is small, the little metal paddles attached to the rear of its spokes have an incredibly light action when you consider the thunderous forces at work. Twist the key, push the Start button and a high-pitched starter motor squeal is replaced with a breathy, deep but unremarkable noise. The W16 sounds vast but doesn’t have that inertia-free feel that usually characterises a supercar. This is heavyweight engineering. And yet the pedals are so light, the throttle – oddly set lower than the brake – feels almost like it isn’t connected. I later discover it definitely is.
These first few moments in a Bugatti are to be savoured. You quickly get over the ‘I’m-driving-a-bloody-Veyron-who-shall-I-call’ euphoria, but only because the quality of the experience is, frankly, stunning. The steering is light and quick but also humming with detail, the gearbox seems to have had all the big metal cogs replaced with helium-filled parts that meld in total harmony. In fact this seven-speed twin-clutch transmission is the most incredible element of an incredible car. You hear the changes but you don’t feel them. Not even when that power dial is pinned at 1015PS. Amazing. Imagine how clunky and crude a manual ’box would feel with 1250Nm to transmit. 
P-H R is right though, the ride does feel a few notches stiffer than I remember with the closed Veyron. And the noise, oh my, the noise. In the coupé the W16 feels like a power-making device with little charm other than the sheer stonk it produces, but in the Grand Sport, with nothing to separate you from the twin snorkel intakes slurping in fresh air, it feels like a living, breathing monster. Only an F40 sounds so conspicuously turbocharged and even the old Ferrari can’t match the sheer cubic volume of air that the Bugatti sucks up. Even at half speed you expect trees and shrubs to perish as you drive past them, people to keel over and die. Do you care? Nah.
