As Bugatti has unveiled its Chiron successor to select customers, a growing number of anecdotal reports from reputable sources are filling in the gaps with fascinating details. Let’s start with the already confirmed fact that a fresh engine placed at the back of the fresh carbon fiber monocoque would replace the Chiron’s quad-turbocharged W16 with a 90-degree V16.
The best source for additional information is Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac, who joined Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder as one of the guest speakers at the conference Financial Times.The Future of the Car Summit in London. Car reports he told his listeners that the engine itself was 39.4 inches long (one meter), making it 15.8 inches longer than the W16. Germany Car, automotive and sports I’m writing that after including the hybrid element, the powerplant is almost two meters long and almost 78.7 inches.
Rimac had to win boardroom battles to get this engine approved. A little background: Years ago, when Stephan Winkelmann drove a Bugatti, not only has he repeatedly hinted at some kind of electric SUV, but when asked about an “ultra-premium three-door crossover SUV” in 2019, he replied: “The project is already ready. Some potential customers saw it and liked it.” At the London Summit, Mate Rimac confirmed that work on such a vehicle was underway and that the Rimac chassis was planned to operate battery electricity.
However, Mate managed to convince Volkswagen Group bosses that a fully electric vehicle is not the right solution at a time when most company bosses believe that electric vehicles have all but stopped working by reducing the internal combustion of fossil fuels. He was proven more right than anyone expected or wanted; said Rimac Automobili still hasn’t sold out 150 slots for the Nevera kits.
There’s no turbo in this PHEV – it’s a free-breathing V16 engine, just like the last V16 to hit the market, the 6.0-liter unit in the Cizeta V16T. AMS says the Bugatti engine was developed with the support of Cosworth, has a displacement of 8.3 liters, revs to 9,000 rpm and produces around 1,000 horsepower (986 horsepower in the US) on its own. That’s almost double the output of the Cizeta’s V16 engine, which produced 540 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. The mill was on a dynamometer at least from the end of 2022.
Instead of turbochargers from Molsheim, it is believed that the hybrid element will add another 800 hp in the final configuration. If this happens, the fresh Mistral roadster will surpass the W16’s 1,587 hp swan song. What is this hybrid element? One 340-hp electric motor is said to be housed in the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, while two more 340-hp electric motors are located at the front and turn the front wheels. The 24.8 kWh battery is said to fill the center tunnel and space behind the cockpit, in a Nevery-like arrangement, providing 60 kilometers of pure electric driving on the European cycle. This would represent a departure from other high-performance PHEVs such as Lamborghini and Mercedes, which can only achieve single-digit range with hybrid components.
Target weight is under 4,400 pounds, which is about 500 pounds heavier than the BMW M4 Competition. Success in this arena will make the car around £150 cheaper than the Chiron. Preliminary figures predict 0-60 mph in two seconds, 200 mph in less than five seconds, 186 mph in less than 10 and 249 mph in less than 25. The base trim is believed to be confined to 177 mph hour; However, graphics on the gift box acquired by YouTuber Marques Brownlee shows a speed that reaches 550 kilometers per hour, which is a noteworthy 50 kilometers per hour more than the speed of the Chiron. That’s 342 mph, 31 mph over the Chiron. And while we’ve seen a deployable wing on the prototype, one report says the fresh car’s wing isn’t necessary for high-speed stability, the aerodynamics of the coupe’s chassis are enough. We’ll have to look into it. The Nevery’s wing is more tactful than the wings of any Bugatti to date, but it rises and adjusts its angle at high speeds.
The reveal will take place next month, possibly on June 20 at the headquarters in Molsheim, France. After that, A blog about supercars records the production process can be confined to 300 units or less.