Bugatti Tourbillon Summary Points
Legendary French automaker Bugatti has unveiled the Tourbillon, the much-awaited successor of the Chiron hypercar. A French word and a subtle reference to Bugatti’s heritage and home in Molsheim, the tourbillon is a watchmaking invention patented in 1801.
“Beauty, performance, and luxury formed the blueprint for the Tourbillon, a car that’s more elegant, more emotive, and more luxurious than anything before it,” said Mate Rimac, Bugatti CEO.
The Tourbillon shatters convention with its naturally aspirated V16 engine and hybrid powertrain. It’s the first Bugatti with an all-new gasoline engine since the Veyron and Chiron broke speed records with their quad-turbocharged W16 motors.
Bugatti Tourbillon: What’s New?
The Bugatti Tourbillon may closely resemble the Veyron and Chiron at first glance, but it’s an all-new hypercar that manages to outclass its predecessors by shattering conventions while still harking back to the brand’s illustrious history.
Starting with its name, the Tourbillon marks the end of an era where Bugatti production cars got their names from the company’s racing drivers. Instead, the next-gen Bugatti supercar drew its moniker from an 1801 watchmaking invention (the tourbillon) that helped increase the accuracy of timepieces.
The horology inspiration didn’t stop at the name. The Bugatti Tourbillon features a timeless cabin hallmarked by an analog instrument cluster “designed and built with the expertise of Swiss watchmakers,” Bugatti said in its press release.
Whereas other sports car and hypercar builders are introducing interactive digital instrument displays, the Tourbillon’s skeletonized cluster has more than 600 intricate mechanical parts made of exotic materials and gemstones like titanium, sapphires, and rubies.
“The development of the Bugatti Tourbillon was guided at every step by the 115 years of Bugatti history and the words of Ettore Bugatti himself,” said Mate Rimac, Bugatti CEO. “His mantras ‘If comparable, it is no longer Bugatti’ and ‘Nothing is too beautiful’ were a guiding path for me personally, as well as the design and engineering teams looking to create the next exciting era in the Bugatti hyper sports car story.”
Michelin Pilot Cup Sport 2 tires (285/35 R20 front) and (345/30 R21 rear) are bespoke for the Tourbillon. Photo: Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.
Bespoke V16 Hybrid Powertrain
It’s not hard to get distracted by the new Bugatti Tourbillon’s vintage-inspired detailing, but the most luscious components are beneath the hypercar’s evolved body shell.
Power comes from an all-new and naturally aspirated 8.3-liter V16 engine co-developed with British automotive engineering expert Cosworth. The lightweight gasoline engine weighs no more than 555 lbs. (252 kg), can spin to a heady 9,000 rpm redline, and produces 1,000 horsepower while at it. Yes, Bugatti ditched the turbos, and Gordon Murray would certainly approve.
Meanwhile, the Tourbillon has a front e-axle with two electric motors and a single motor at the rear axle, drawing power from an 800-volt, oil-cooled 25 kWh battery that rests neatly in a central tunnel behind the cabin.
The three electric motors feature fully integrated dual silicon-carbide inverters, spinning up to 24,000 rpm and producing an additional 800 horsepower. All told, the Bugatti Tourbillon has 1,800 horsepower of available thrust, which goes to all four wheels using a custom eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Although power, throttle response, and torque fill are the main priorities, the energy-dense 25 kWh battery unlocks up to 37 miles (about 60 km) of all-electric range.
“Ultimately, we chose the hardest possible option, creating a powertrain from scratch and pairing it seamlessly with a complex system of e-motors, a new generation eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, and more, all developed from the ground up specifically for the Tourbillon,” explained Emilio Scervo, Bugatti CTO. “But it was important to us that this car retained that pure and raw analogue feel of a naturally aspirated combustion engine, while pairing it with the agility and ability provided by electric motors.”
Bugatti Tourbillon Acceleration & Top Speed
The Bugatti Tourbillon could go from zero to 60 mph in two seconds and reach 248 in under 25 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 236 mph or 276 mph with the Speed Key. For context, the Chiron takes 2.4 seconds to reach 60 mph and has a top speed of 261 with the Speed Key engaged.
Join Automoblog Managing Editor Carl Anthony for a special tour of the Autoworld Museum in Brussels, Belgium. The tour includes a trio of rare Bugatti supercars: the Centodieci, Divo, and a La Voiture Noire.
Lightweight Construction
The Bugatti Tourbillon weighs under 4,400 lbs. (1,995 kg), which is lighter than the Veyron and Chiron. It’s an impressive feat given the Tourbillon’s all-new V16 combustion engine, three electric motors, and energy-dense battery. Weight optimization starts with the Tourbillon’s T800 carbon composite and aluminum chassis, which are fully bespoke for Bugatti’s latest hypercar.
The front and rear frames feature low-pressure thin-wall aluminum castings and 3D-printed structural braces, contributing to a light and stiffer architecture. Meanwhile, the front and rear multilink suspension has 3D-printed forged aluminum parts with organically designed suspension arms, helping save 45 percent in unsprung weight compared to the Chiron.
“The Tourbillon had to be incomparable in every respect,” Scervo said. “Our philosophy has been to take any single aspect of Chiron and elevate it, looking for elegant and sophisticated engineering solutions and new technologies to deliver a timeless masterpiece.”
Inside the Bugatti Tourbillon, the aluminum parts of the console are anodized and milled from a single block of metal, while the knurled aluminum switches sit at the head of a mechanism that is fully visible beneath the crystal glass, which Bugatti developed in-house. Photo: Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.
Timeless Design
The Tourbillon’s drool-worthy styling encompasses the four Bugatti design elements: the horseshoe front grille, the Bugatti line, the central ridge, and the dual-color split. We longed for a fresher take on the Veyron or Chiron’s aero-optimized shape, but the Tourbillon boasts many design aspects to elicit a double take.
It has fancy dihedral doors inspired by the EB110, an absent feature in the Veyron or Chiron, which came with plebian car doors. The electric-actuating doors open or close using the key fob or by pressing a center console button.
Meanwhile, the cabin has crystal glass and aluminum detailing, knurled aluminum switchgear (including a pull-to-start lever), and floor-fixed seats. The Tourbillon’s stereo has no conventional speakers or subwoofers. Instead, the system utilizes the interior panels as the speakers and woofers, helping save weight.
Moreover, the Tourbillon has a fixed-hub steering wheel design that enables an unobstructed view of the analog instrument panel no matter how you turn the wheel. But since the Tourbillon is a modern hypercar, Bugatti has cleverly integrated a high-definition screen on top of the center console that is hidden from view until desired.
“It is crazy to build a new V16 engine, to integrate with a new battery pack and electric motors, and to have a real Swiss-made watchmaker instrument cluster and 3D-printed suspension parts and a Crystal Glass center console,” Rimac said. “But it is what Ettore would have done, and it is what makes a Bugatti incomparable and timeless.”
Photo: Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.
Bugatti Tourbillon Pricing & Availability
Bugatti will only build 250 examples of the Tourbillon, with the base price starting at $4 million (€3.8 million) each. The car is currently in a prototype testing phase, but the first customer deliveries will arrive by 2026.
“We look back through Bugatti history at the creations of Ettore and Jean, and you can immediately see that they refused to compromise. The amount of patents Ettore had to his name was incredible because he didn’t ever want the simplest solution; he always wanted the best solution, even if it didn’t exist yet,” Rimac exaplined. “He’d go away, and he’d build it, test it, and refine it until it was perfect. And then he’d make it beautiful. It is why the cars are so revered today, and it is the driving force behind everything we have done with Tourbillon.”
“We wanted someone to be able to take any piece of this car, from inside, outside, or under the skin, and believe that it could be placed in an art gallery,” Scervo added. “The result is a car which is beautiful inside and outside, the most powerful Bugatti to date which simultaneously elevates mechanical fascination and technical beauty to a whole new level.”
Alvin Reyes is an Automoblog feature columnist and an expert in sports and performance cars. He studied civil aviation, aeronautics, and accountancy in his younger years and is still very much smitten to his former Lancer GSR and Galant SS. He also likes fried chicken, music, and herbal medicine.
Bugatti Tourbillon Design Sketches
Photo: Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.
Original article: Inspired by Watchmaking, Bugatti Tourbillon Debuts With Hybridized V16 Powertrain & Elegant Interior
