The 3 Most Ridiculous Features Of The New Bugatti Tourbillon
Bugatti's successor to the Chiron is here, and it's every bit as flamboyant. It's called the "Tourbillon," after a mechanism typically seen in very high-end wristwatches that have a value somewhere around that of a decent house. In typical Bugatti fashion, there is nothing even sort of restrained in the Tourbillon's design, and any thoughts of subtlety were likely discarded as heresy during the design and engineering phase of Bugatti's new 16-cylinder wonder.
While the entire car is certainly a spectacle, the Tourbillon's V16 drivetrain is the focal point of the car and the first feature fans are likely to take notice of. Bugatti must have thought that the W16 engine used in previous models was old hat at this point and it needed to go even wackier.
As one would expect, the V16 is huge, clocking in at 8.3-liters, not only ranking it within the largest engines ever featured in a production car, but also allowing it to overshadow the previous 8.0-liter W16 that gave Bugatti a modern name. It's naturally aspirated, meaning that it doesn't need any help from turbos, and it produces an otherworldly 1,000 horsepower. There really is no replacement for displacement. The V16 is then joined by three electric motors that bring the power to 1,800 horsepower.
The bedazzled interior
Fast cars with flashy engines have been around for a while, after all, the Dodge Viper has been terrorizing its drivers for over 30 years now. It's a different thing entirely, however, when an automaker puts as much care into the interior of a car as it does the engine. According to Bugatti, it wanted to design an interior that stood the test of time. Bugatti thinks that touchscreen-covered interiors may look nice now, but won't look good years or decades down the line.
The automaker wants the Tourbillon to dominate posh car shows until the heat-death of the universe. That's why the gauge cluster was put together "with the expertise of Swiss watchmakers," per a Bugatti press release. It's adorned in titanium but also literal rubies and sapphires. A digital screen is still present, but it can be hidden away from view. No one wants to see anything as ghastly as driving directions or music choice when driving a Bugatti.
Wild aerodynamics
The Tourbillon couldn't reach speeds of more than 250 miles per hour if it didn't have its aerodynamic properties obsessively sorted out. Bugatti says, "Although beautiful in its design and proportions, every surface, intake and vent is carefully honed to balance the enormous aerodynamic forces of a car traveling at over 400 km/h as well as the thermodynamic requirements of a V16 engine, electric motors and battery at full performance."
Bugatti's new avant-garde hyper sports car design is as functional as it is entirely overstimulating to look at. All those diffusers, lines, and the huge wing aim to keep the car planted and firm during high-speed runs and prevent it from experiencing any slippery air when speeding down the track. The functional design is, of course, punctuated by Bugatti's typical ostentatious insanity in that it has a two-tone paint job and a huge "horseshoe" grille.
You already know the Tourbillon won't even be in the same plane of reality as anything even approachable to an affordable car. Bugatti's seven-figure cars put Ferrari and Lamborghini to shame. It has a "starting" price of 3.8-million euros (more than $4,000,000 USD), and it will hit the streets sometime in 2026. Only 250 will ever be built. Of course, by that time, Bugatti will get bored and build something even more ridiculous.