Bugatti Tourbillon reinvents the wheel
This exquisite new creation has extraordinary technology and design elements to match a truly eye-watering price tag.
Motoring News
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Like a Rolex in a world of G-Shock watches, Bugatti’s new supercar is a world beyond conventional supercars.
There is nothing on the road like the Bugatti Tourbillon, an ultra-luxurious supercar set to cost €3.8 million ($6.1m) plus taxes that push its price beyond $9 million in Australia.
Side-stepping the trend for digital driver displays, the Bugatti has an intricate mechanical readout for vehicle speed and engine revss. Inspired by the world’s finest watches, the Tourbillon’s speedo is unobscured by a steering wheel that revolves around a fixed centre element that does not rotate.
There are more than 600 parts in the intricately crafted cluster, which is made from precious material including titanium, sapphire and ruby.
The engine is similarly unique.
While Bugatti’s previous efforts – the EB110, Veyron and Chiron – relied heavily on turbocharging, the new machine has a howling naturally aspirated 8.3-litre V16 cylinder engine that makes 745kW at a staggering 9000rpm.
Hybrid energy lifts the total power output to more than 1340kW, allowing the beast to streak beyond the 400km/h mark.
A 25kWh battery allows owners to drive using electric power alone for 60 kilometres.
Bugatti says the jewel-like motor sits in a carbon fibre chassis that uses the hybrid’s battery as a structural element. There is cutting-edge tech everywhere you look, from suspension 3d printed in aluminium, to aero parts sculpted using artificial intelligence.
Bugatti chief executive Mate Rimac said the Tourbillon was an ambitions machine.
“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 centre console,” he said.
“But it is what Ettore [Bugatti] would have done, and it is what makes a Bugatti incomparable and timeless.
“Without that kind of ambition, you might create a great hyper sports car, but you wouldn’t create an icon Pour l’éternité’.”
Originally published as Bugatti Tourbillon reinvents the wheel
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