Were you dreaming about a new extreme, track-focused hypercar? One featuring an outrageous design and boasting an unprecedented weight-to-power ratio of only 0.67 kg per PS? Well, you may actually skip the dream and enjoy the ravishing hypecar in front of you, called the Bugatti Bolide.
The French supercar maker just unveiled this monstrous beast, and it makes us think of the Gremlins – you know, those devilish creatures spawned by the cute little and fluffy Mogwai, the instant it was touched by water. It seems that someone really hosed down the Chiron – Look what it spawned!
Before you get way too excited, it is worth mentioning that the Bugatti Bolide is an experimental study, but it would also be safe to assume that if there’s demand from proper car enthusiasts and brand fans, you know – the ones with a budget to match – Bugatti might actually turn this wild project into a road going hypercar.
It seems they’ve developed this beast to prove a point – a radically light vehicle, built around its iconic 8.0-liter W16 engine, would get everyone excited. Who knew, right?
Luxury Features
When it comes to modern luxuries and comfort, well, there are two seats and.. that’s about it. One quick glance at this baby and you instantly think about F1 cars and the pure and thrilling experience they deliver.
Envisioned as the ultimate automotive project from Bugatti, the Bolide combines the powerful Chiron W16 engine with an aggressive body that brags about offering the maximum downforce.
Long story short, this would mean that you could put your foot down, keep it there in the bends, and nothing dangerous would happen – well, except dangerous levels of Adrenaline surging through your body.
But, aside from that, nothing but pure fun.
Performance
According to the minds behind the Bolide project, top speed is expected to be upwards of 310 mph (500 km/h), while 0 to 186 mph would most likely take 7.37 seconds – some pretty accurate assumptions here, to be honest. Math was never my passion, but I would gladly verify these results with a more hands-on approach, if you know what I mean.
The improved W16 engine develops 1,850 PS (1,824 HP) and 1,850 Nm (1,364 lb-ft) of peak torque, about 10 times as much as an ordinary car. Weighing in at 1,240 kg (2,733 lbs), the Bolide easily strays away from such trivial notions – nothing ordinary to see here, folks; just, Bugatti magic all around.
The Bolide is ultra light, and that’s because the Bugatti team used anything they could to strip down some extra weight: titanium screws and fastening elements, 3D-printed aerospace titanium alloys, ceramic brakes and coatings – obviously, the carbon fiber monocoque helped.
Talk about calculations – According to Bugatti, the Bolide would require merely 3:07.1 minutes to complete a lap of Le Mans’ Circuit de la Sarthe and about 5:23.1 minutes to pass the Nürburgring Nordschleife’s finish line. Any bets?
I was mentioning some magic earlier, and the morphable outer skin of the intake scoop on the roof is nothing short of that.
It delivers active airflow optimization, which is to say that slow speeds allows it to remain smooth while a more frivolous driving attitude will enable a field of bubbles to bulges out, reducing the aerodynamic drag of the scoop by 10 percent and ensuring a 17 percent reduction in lift forces. If all this sounds complicated, that’s because it is; however, the end result will have anyone looking hypnotized.
Other Specs
Bugatti also claims that at 320 km/h (199 mph), the car’s downforce reaches 1,800 kilograms (3,968 lbs) at the rear wing and 800 kg (1,764 lbs) at the front wing. I can’t help but think about that Mercedes commercial, filmed quite a few years back, with a Mercedes SLS AMG driving on the ceiling of a tunnel. I would love nothing more that to see this Bugatti beast do the same.
The Bolide would be built it according to FIA’s safety requirements, making this project a much to big of an effort to let it collect dust inside a Bugatti design office, wouldn’t you say?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5t0PLqMy74
Breathtaking in more ways than one, the Bolide will surely transform into a limited series production hypercar – mark my words.
All we have to do is to calculate how many lives would we require to work before affording one.
