Tag Archives: Bugatti

Story

On Ice With the 1,800-HP Bugatti Tourbillon

The Arctic has a way of exposing weakness. At -30 degrees Celsius, with polished ice stretching to the horizon and the sun barely clawing its way above the Swedish treeline, there’s nowhere for engineering shortcuts to hide. Which is exactly why Bugatti hauled its all-new Bugatti Tourbillon prototypes to the frozen proving grounds of Arjeplog.

If the Chiron represented the peak of brute-force excess, the Tourbillon feels like Bugatti attempting something more sophisticated: building a hypercar that doesn’t merely overwhelm physics, but negotiates with it. The company calls this a “new era,” and for once, the marketing department may not be exaggerating.

At the center of the Tourbillon sits one of the most audacious powertrains ever fitted to a road car: a naturally aspirated V16 paired with three electric motors, producing a combined 1,800 horsepower. In an era increasingly defined by turbochargers and silent EVs, the decision to build a screaming atmospheric sixteen-cylinder engine borders on rebellion.

But in northern Sweden, outright horsepower matters less than what the car does with it.

That’s the uncomfortable truth of winter validation. Ice doesn’t care about Nürburgring lap times or top-speed records. On low-grip surfaces, every flaw in calibration becomes immediately obvious. The Tourbillon’s all-wheel-drive system, torque vectoring, regenerative braking, ABS, and electronic stability systems are forced to work together under conditions where grip can disappear in an instant.

And that’s precisely the point.

“We are here to test and develop the Tourbillon in extreme conditions,” explained Miroslav Zrnčević, Bugatti Rimac’s chief development driver. “HVAC, ABS, ESC systems, traction control, and vehicle dynamics in general.”

That may sound routine, but nothing about validating a 1,800-hp hypercar on frozen lakes is routine. Particularly when Bugatti insists the car must behave with the same composure in a blizzard as it would storming down an unrestricted autobahn.

Modern hypercars often chase performance through sheer computational force, burying drivers beneath layers of electronics. The Tourbillon appears to be chasing something subtler: preserving emotional connection while allowing technology to quietly save the day underneath.

That balancing act becomes clearest in the car’s driving modes. Comfort mode prioritizes stability and confidence, taming the V16 hybrid monster into something surprisingly approachable. Sport loosens the leash, shifting the balance toward neutrality and allowing the chassis to rotate more freely. Then comes Track mode, where torque migrates rearward and the car begins to behave less like an all-wheel-drive missile and more like an oversized rally weapon with impeccable tailoring.

Bugatti says the systems remain harmonious even as the car permits greater slip angles and more aggressive responses. Translation: the Tourbillon wants to entertain you, not merely intimidate you.

That matters because Bugatti’s biggest challenge today isn’t building speed. Rimac can do speed. Koenigsegg can do speed. Even heavily electrified luxury sedans now produce absurd acceleration figures. The real challenge is building character in an age where performance is becoming increasingly digitized.

And character is exactly what the Tourbillon seems determined to preserve.

The engineering effort behind that goal borders on obsessive. Bugatti’s winter campaign lasted four weeks, with teams working day and night as temperatures fluctuated and surfaces transformed from polished ice to slush to dry asphalt. The changing conditions allowed engineers to test “MU-jumps,” moments where the car transitions suddenly between dramatically different levels of grip mid-corner or under braking.

For a machine combining regenerative braking with traditional hydraulic systems through brake-by-wire technology, those transitions are critical. The brake pedal can’t feel artificial or unpredictable. In a Bugatti, it has to feel natural, even while an orchestra of computers works invisibly beneath the surface.

There’s also something wonderfully old-school about the entire exercise. While much of the automotive industry leans heavily on simulation, Bugatti still sends engineers into the Arctic wilderness to chase perfection the hard way. Real ice. Real cold. Real risk.

And somewhere in that frozen silence — between the aurora overhead, reindeer crossing the proving grounds, and the howl of a naturally aspirated V16 echoing across a Swedish lake — the Tourbillon begins to make sense.

Because this car isn’t simply replacing the Chiron. It’s attempting to answer a larger question: what should a hypercar feel like in the electrified future?

Bugatti’s answer, at least for now, is reassuringly irrational. A sixteen-cylinder engine. Three electric motors. Enough computing power to rewrite the laws of traction. And an engineering team stubborn enough to spend sleepless Arctic nights making sure all of it feels utterly seamless from behind the wheel.

If that sounds excessive, well, that’s because it is.

And a Bugatti should never be anything less.

Source: Bugatti

News

Porsche Exits Bugatti Rimac

In the rarefied air where nine-figure hypercars are less transportation and more philosophy, tectonic shifts don’t happen with tire smoke or Nürburgring lap times. They happen in boardrooms. And this week, one of the biggest just did.

Porsche AG is stepping away from the very empire it helped build, agreeing to sell its stakes in both Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Group to a consortium led by HOF Capital. It’s the kind of move that sounds clinical on paper—equity stakes, regulatory approvals, confidential terms—but underneath it hums with the same intensity as a quad-turbocharged W-16.

To understand the magnitude, rewind to 2021. That’s when Porsche and Rimac joined forces to create Bugatti Rimac, a joint venture designed to shepherd one of the most storied names in automotive history into an electrified future. Porsche held 45 percent, Rimac the controlling 55, while also enjoying a 20.6-percent slice of Rimac Group itself. It was a carefully calibrated alliance: Stuttgart’s legacy and engineering rigor paired with the raw, electrified audacity of Mate Rimac.

Now, Porsche is cashing out entirely.

The buyers? Not a legacy automaker, but a financial syndicate—HOF Capital at the helm, backed by BlueFive Capital and a slate of institutional investors spanning the U.S. and Europe. Once the ink dries and regulators give their blessing—expected before the end of 2026—Rimac Group will tighten its grip on Bugatti Rimac, while HOF Capital steps in as a major shareholder alongside Rimac himself.

If that sounds like a changing of the guard, that’s because it is.

Porsche CEO Michael Leiters frames the decision as focus: a return to core business, a strategic narrowing of scope in an industry increasingly defined by costly transitions. It’s a pragmatic exit, but also a telling one. Porsche didn’t just invest in Rimac—it legitimized it, helping transform a Croatian startup into a bona fide Tier-1 technology player.

And yet, the student is now very much the master.

For Mate Rimac, this is less an ending than an acceleration. With fewer cooks in the kitchen and fresh capital at his back, the path clears for a more singular vision—one that doesn’t have to reconcile the competing priorities of a legacy OEM shareholder. His statement reads like a founder finally handed the keys to his own creation, ready to push harder and move faster.

The wildcard, of course, is the new money. Investment firms aren’t known for sentimental attachment, but both HOF Capital and BlueFive Capital are striking a tone that leans more Pebble Beach than private equity. They speak of heritage, craftsmanship, and legacy—language that suggests Bugatti’s future won’t be reduced to quarterly returns and spreadsheet efficiencies.

Still, the balancing act will be delicate. Bugatti isn’t just another brand; it’s an altar to excess, a rolling expression of engineering maximalism. Keeping that spirit alive while scaling Rimac’s technology ambitions is the kind of challenge that doesn’t come with a blueprint.

But if there’s anyone suited to the task, it’s the guy who once turned an electrified BMW E30 into a global calling card.

The broader takeaway? The hypercar world is evolving—not just in what powers the cars, but in who powers the companies behind them. As Porsche retreats to its core and financial players move in, the lines between passion project and portfolio asset blur a little more.

And somewhere in Croatia, the future of Bugatti is being rewritten—not with a signature exhaust note, but with the quiet, relentless whir of electric ambition.

Source: Bugatti

NEW CARS

Bugatti Mistral “Caroline” Blends Brutality with Beauty

The last chapter of the quad-turbo W16 isn’t going out quietly. With the arrival of the bespoke W16 Mistral “Caroline,” Bugatti turns its swan song into something closer to rolling haute couture—equal parts hypercar, heirloom, and heartfelt tribute.

This one-off commission, created through Bugatti’s Sur Mesure division, takes the already outrageous W16 Mistral and filters it through a deeply personal lens. The customer—a long-time Bugatti collector—wanted delicacy to complement brutality, poetry to soften 1600 horsepower. The result is a hypercar inspired by flowers, named after his daughter, and executed with the kind of obsessive detail that would make a watchmaker blush.

From Bugatti’s historic atelier in Molsheim to its modern design outpost in Berlin, the Color & Material Finish team, led by Sabine Consolini, dove headfirst into botanical references and couture palettes. Lavender fields in Provence, manicured gardens in Paris, and fabric swatches worthy of a runway show shaped the car’s personality. The goal wasn’t just a color scheme—it was emotional resonance translated into carbon fiber and leather.

The exterior’s headline act is a bespoke “Lavender” paint, developed through dozens of samples and endless tweaking. It’s a hue that morphs under changing light, shifting between bluish and reddish violet tones, highlighting the Mistral’s sculptural bodywork in dramatic fashion. Beneath it, exposed “Violet Carbon” grounds the design, providing contrast while reminding you this isn’t just art—it’s a 260-mph sculpture.

The flourish that seals the deal sits at the rear. The retractable wing doubles as a canvas for a hand-painted floral composition layered in lilac and iris shades. Each petal is painstakingly applied, masked, and refined until the surface transforms into something closer to fine art than aerodynamic hardware. When the air brake deploys, the painting reveals itself in full—performance theater with a personal touch.

Inside, the theme continues with a serene mix of Blanc and Minuit leather, accented by violet tones and matching carbon fiber. The headrests feature mirrored floral embroidery executed with thousands of stitches, while the door panels suggest petals drifting in the wind. It’s delicate work, yet it somehow fits the kinetic energy of Bugatti’s design language.

At the center of the cabin sits a subtle nod to heritage: Rembrandt Bugatti’s iconic “Dancing Elephant,” encased in violet-tinted glass. It’s a reminder that even as the W16 era closes, Bugatti’s blend of art and engineering remains intact.

What makes the W16 Mistral “Caroline” remarkable isn’t just the detail—it’s the cohesion. Every stitch, every brushstroke, every shade converges into a single identity. It’s a hypercar that trades loudness for elegance without sacrificing presence, a farewell to the W16 that feels more gallery opening than track day.

And as final acts go, this one doesn’t just bow out—it blooms.

Source: Bugatti