Not even four years after it was first presented as a concept, the Bugatti Bolide is just a few months away from delivery to customers. Bugatti describes the car as “finely tuned for track dominance, a pure track hyper sports car that invites drivers to explore their limits.” As the French brand completes development of the Bolide, Bugatti says the Bolide isn’t just formula racing. 1 cars, but will also be too fast for most FIA-approved race tracks.
In case you need a refresher, the Bolide will be Bugatti’s last car the quad-turbo 8.0-liter W16 this was first seen in the Veyron, here with 1,578 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque. Unlike most other track-only hypercars, the Bolide features all-wheel drive and uses a carbon fiber monocoque developed with Dallara, which helps give the Bolide a curb weight of just 3,197 pounds – over 1,000 pounds less than a Chiron. Its supersonic jet-like bodywork looks like nothing else, with aerodynamics that provide three tons of downforce and help the Bolide achieve up to 2.5g sideways.
The Bolide’s top speed in its low drag configuration is 236 mph, 5 mph faster than the Formula 1 top speed record in the race and 1 mph faster than the overall record, both of which were set Valtteri Bottas in 2016. According to Bugatti, the only problem is finding a track that can even reach these speeds, as FIA-approved tracks are not allowed to have straights longer than 1.2 miles.
Additionally, the Bolide will outperform Formula 1 cars in general. Triple Crown winner Andy WallaceWHO set the McLaren F1’s top speed recordHe has been and has been Bugatti’s official test driver since 2011 the first person to break the 300 mph barrier in a production car. This is what he says about the Bolide:
Everything about the car is on a completely different level than anything I’ve driven before. All cars are difficult to drive at their limits, but even at the limits of their performance, the Bugatti Bolide remains remarkably easy to drive. When you have a car with this much performance and this much downforce, not many people would believe that it was possible. Even I was in a state of disbelief after my first outing in the Bolide.
The feeling when you come out of a corner, step on the accelerator and experience the constant surge of power is incomparable. Coming out of that corner at 100km/h, and from there to 200km/h and then 300km/h, it’s an absolute revelation. In this particular scenario, the car would pull away from a Formula 1 car.
Despite its exceptional capabilities, the Bolide has been designed to be as accessible to drivers as possible, something Bugatti wouldn’t really be able to do if restricted by LMH or LMDh regulations. The driver sits in a reclined position, similar to an F1 car, and the Bolide has air conditioning and power steering.
Only 40 Bolides will be built at a cost of 4 million euros each, and Bugatti says the first deliveries will begin in just a few months. Once development is complete, Bugatti will hopefully aim for some lap records with the Bolide – in simulation the concept would beat the Bolide The Le Mans record of the Toyota TS050 and come closer The Nürburgring time of the Porsche 919 Evo.
