The Bugatti Tourbillon sets a new standard in the automotive industry with its innovative design and advanced technology, propelling the Bugatti legacy to new heights.
In 2004, the revived Bugatti brand revolutionized the world of automotive performance and luxury with a 1,001-hp hyper sports car: the Veyron. This first road car with more than 1,000 hp was succeeded in 2016 by another engineering feat so ambitious that it reconfigured all performance expectations, the world’s first car with 1,500 hp: the Chiron.
At the heart of these cars was the world’s most advanced automotive engine: an 8.0-litre W16 with four turbos. Now, 20 years after Bugatti invented the hyper sports car, it is redefining the concept entirely with an all-new powertrain and platform. This is the Bugatti Tourbillon.
Legacy and Philosophy Behind the Tourbillon
Mate Rimac, CEO of Bugatti, commented: “The development of the Bugatti Tourbillon was guided at every step by Bugatti’s 115-year history and the words of Ettore Bugatti himself. His mantras ‘if it’s comparable, it’s no longer Bugatti’ and ‘nothing is too beautiful’ were a guiding path for me personally, as well as for the design and engineering teams looking to create the next exciting era in Bugatti’s hyper sports car history.”.
Icons such as the Type 57SC Atlantic, renowned as the most beautiful car in the world, the Type 35, the most successful racing car of all time, and the Type 41 Royale, one of the most ambitious luxury vehicles of all time, provide the three pillars of inspiration: beauty, performance and luxury.
These formed the basis of the Tourbillon; a car more elegant, more emotional and more luxurious than anything before it. Simply put, incomparable. And like those icons of the past, it would not simply be for the present or even the future, but For eternity – for eternity.
As the first Bugatti in over 20 years not to be powered by the iconic W16 engine, the tradition of naming core models after legendary Bugatti racing drivers no longer applies.
Instead, the name Tourbillon was chosen as the perfect encapsulation of this car’s character. The word tourbillon is a watchmaking invention by a Swiss genius born in France in 1801. A completely original creation without comparison, it is both complex and beautiful, helping to counteract the effects of gravity on a watch to ensure greater precision in timekeeping. More than 200 years later, it is still revered as the pinnacle of watchmaking.
Tourbillon Design and Aerodynamics
As with every Bugatti of the modern era, the Tourbillon is ‘designed for speed’. The ability to travel at over 400 km/h requires every surface, inlet and ridge to be finely tuned to ensure it is not only aerodynamic but also beneficial to the car’s thermodynamics. This is the guiding principle of the Tourbillon, which then evolves around four historically inspired Bugatti design elements: the horseshoe grille, the Bugatti line, the central ridge and the dual colour division.
Frank Heyl, Bugatti’s Chief Design Officer, said: “Ettore and Jean Bugatti’s creations are ingenious in their aerodynamics, innovation and enduring beauty. We were inspired by the Bugatti Type 35, where the entire shape of the car was guided by the shape of the horseshoe grille, tapering towards the rear into this streamlined fuselage form. We were inspired by the Type 57SC Atlantic – the S stood for Surbaissé, which essentially meant lowered – reducing the frontal area, lowering the roofline, lowering the driver and creating this wonderful stance and proportion.”
Although beautiful in its design and proportions, every surface, inlet and vent is carefully tuned to balance the enormous aerodynamic forces of a car travelling at more than 400 km/h, as well as the thermodynamic requirements of a V16 engine, electric motors and batteries at full capacity.
Innovations in the Interior
Since car manufacturers began adopting digital and touchscreen displays in cars, the rate of progress has been so rapid that in less than a decade, the technology seems obsolete. Imagining the Tourbillon on the concours d’elegance tracks not just in 10 years but perhaps in 100 years, the interior design philosophy focused on timelessness. Inspired by the world of horology, where wristwatches over 100 years old can still be worn and used today, integrated into modern fashion and lifestyles seamlessly, the design and engineering teams pioneered an authentically analogue experience in the cabin.
The focus of this takes the philosophy of horology to its most literal conclusion; an instrument cluster designed and built with the expertise of Swiss watchmakers. Comprised of over 600 parts and constructed from titanium as well as gemstones such as sapphire and ruby, the skeletonised instrument cluster is built to a maximum tolerance of 50 microns, with the smallest at 5 microns, and weighs just 700g.
Powertrain and Performance
The Bugatti W16 engine was unlike any other automotive engine in the world when it was revealed. With its four turbos and prodigious power figures, it set a new standard for the limits of combustion engine technology, and two decades after its creation it still has no equal or replica. Following in its footsteps is another unrivalled masterpiece of internal combustion engineering, paired with the immediate torque and flexibility of electric motors.
This next-generation hyper sports car from Bugatti is powered by an all-new, naturally aspirated 8.3-litre V16 engine, developed with the help of Cosworth, paired with an electric front axle with two electric motors and an electric motor mounted on the rear axle. In total, the Tourbillon produces 1,800 hp with 1,000 from the combustion engine and 800 hp from the electric motors.
Perspective and Future
The Bugatti Tourbillon is now entering its testing phase, with prototypes already on the road ahead of customer deliveries in 2026. A total of 250 examples will be built, with a starting price of €3.8 million net. Hand assembly will take place at the Bugatti Atelier in Molsheim, following the latest Bugatti models powered by the W16, Bolide and W16 Mistral.
The Bugatti Tourbillon not only represents a breakthrough in automotive design and technology, it also honours the legacy of Ettore and Jean Bugatti, taking ambition and engineering excellence to new heights.
Source: geeksroom.com
