Bugatti Bolide, the best Bugatti ever made?
Bugatti is well known for the 1001 PS Veyron from the early 2000s with its an 8-lt W16 engine. VW Group spent years developing this monster, during which it was a fantastic car. Sadly, many people assumed Bugatti was just a car manufacturer and never fully understood the its heritage.
In following years, we had the limited edition Veyron and SuperSport, among others. With the Super Sport, Bugatti reached up to 1200 PS. Sadly, Veyron was losing money for every car they sold, which is presumably why servicing the Veyron is still too expensive.
After the Veyron, we had the Chiron. By the way, I didn’t have many opportunities to see it. HR Owen Bugatti used to be part of the HR Owen Bentley showroom and after the Chiron, HR Owen Bugatti had its showroom and getting inside it is literally impossible, so I didn’t get many opportunities to see the Chiron. Nevertheless, I wasn’t impressed as much as the Veyron. It was heavier, and the engine and the transmission were from the Veyron. And that’s acceptable, VW Group spent lots of time developing the W16 (there were some rumours that the W16 is two Audi V8 engine glued together) and the transmission. They can’t get rid of them; they had to use them to get more power!
Despite my lack of excitement. I really admired the Chiron, and it was kind of an updated version of the Veyron. It had new materials and more efficient engine but something was still missing. Bugatti used to criticise Bentley for being the fastest truck in Le Mans, and now Chiron was taking that role. After the Chiron, we saw Chiron Sport, Pur Sport, Sport 110 Ans and we had SuperSport 300+. Both of these cars were on the same Chiron platform. They look like heavyweight cars. They didn’t have the lightweight heritage of the Bugatti’s of old.
Until now! Bugatti Bolide made it! Bugatti Head Office removed everything from the Chiron, all the unnecessary parts designed to show off in the streets of London and Monaco. The engine was beefed up to 1850 PS on racing fuel—everything designed for the circuit like the old days. Bugatti wasn’t creating the impression of a truck anymore. I always felt like Veyron and Chiron were the shrunk version of MAN trucks. Bolide is designed purely for Le Mans racing. Every single bit was designed to get the best from the engine and the aerodynamics. They made it!
The Bolide is the best contemporary Bugatti after the Veyron. Veyron introduced the four-digit horsepower league to the automotive industry, and the Bolide was introduced to show how to deliver that power into a racing circuit.
I wonder if the current Bugatti owners will be able to drive this car. As the car is not designed for comfort, driving it will be a challenge. I hope to see more electric-powered Bugattis in future as well.
I assume the Bolide will visit HR Owen Bugatti, and I don’t know if I will be able to see it. As you may notice, I am not an influencer even though I’ve blog about cars for 11 years. If I manage to spot it, I will share the photos.
Interesting facts of Bugatti Bolide:
– 1,850 PS and 1,240 kilograms – weight-to-power ratio of 0.67 kg/PS
– 1,850 PS and 1,850 newton-metres of torque
– With 98 octane fuel at 1,600 PS
– The Bolide takes 3:07.1 minutes to complete a lap of Le Mans and 5:23.1 minutes to get around the Nordschleif
– Top speed is well above 500 km/h
Images // Bugatti