Bugatti is set to reveal its first all-new car in eight years later this month, with an as-yet unnamed hypercar sporting an entirely new V16 powertrain waiting under the covers untl June 20.
It’ll be the first wholly new vehicle for the brand under its current guise as part of the Bugatti Rimac joint venture between Porsche — for parent company Volkswagen — and Croatian EV specialist Rimac, formed in late-2021.
Unsurprisingly, Bugatti is somewhat coy about the details of the car at present. Mate Rimac, speaking in London in May, stated that the vehicle will be an “evolution” in terms of exterior design, while designers Achim Anscheidt (who stepped down in February 2023) and Frank Heyl commented that it would keep design cues like the horseshoe nose and C-shaped side line.
It doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest then that the new car will be a two-seat hypercar, following the line drawn from the EB110 in 1991 right through to the Chiron (a car first previewed in Gran Turismo 6!) which finally finished production in May. However, it’ll also be the first car since then not to employ quad-turbochargers as the brand switches to naturally aspirated power.
The big V16 engine is rumored to be 8.3 liters in swept capacity, up from the eight-liter W16, and with input from British specialist Cosworth. It’ll be narrower than the four-bank W engine, but two-thirds longer at almost a meter from crankshaft pulley to flywheel — which should markedly change the profile.
Various reports put this unit alone in the region of 1000hp, matching the original Veyron. That’ll be supplemented by an electric system of unknown type, but given that Rimac is best known for its pair of 1,888hp, all-electric hypercars we’re assuming it’s going to be something remarkable. All-wheel drive is also likely, continuing the tradition since the EB110.
It’s also not yet clear if Bugatti will continue its pursuit of ultimate speed. The Veyron was legendary for moving the production road car record over both 400km/h and 250mph, and subsequent models have raised that bar up to 267mph. The later Chiron Super Sport did hit 300mph, but only in one direction and was not classed as an official record.
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