Ricardo secures more Veyron work for Leamington

AUTOMOTIVE and engineering consultancy Ricardo in Warwickshire has secured a major order from Bugatti for its Veyron supercar.

Bugatti has placed a further contact with the group for the Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) system, which is so important to the 1,001bhp Veyron’s performance.

The new order represents a further two years of production for the DCT unit – which was designed in collaboration with Ricardo. The system will be manufactured at the Ricardo facility at Leamington Spa.

The seven-speed DCT is the result of a highly successful and long-standing design, development and manufacturing collaboration between Ricardo and Bugatti. The system encompasses both the transmission hardware and its electronic control unit and software.

In addition to providing support on the design and development of the DCT, Ricardo has been responsible for the manufacture and supply of the transmission systems for all versions of the Veyron since the launch of the supercar five years ago.

Mark Barge, Ricardo’s director of high performance transmission products, said: “Ricardo is really pleased to see a further extension of the partnership with Bugatti on the dual clutch transmission of the Veyron, a supercar that represents the ultimate in high quality automotive design, engineering and manufacture.

“We look forward to two further very successful years in the story of this truly great automobile with its advanced Ricardo transmission.”