Bugatti

Two of the fastest production cars in the world go head-to-head in the latest video from the Hamilton Collection YouTube channel. Steve Hamilton, who owns the collection and his team went to great lengths to organize an epic showdown between a Bugatti Chiron and Rimac Nevera. They also needed a location for this historic race and chose the Space Coast Testing Facility, in Florida. This 3.0-mile long, 100-meter-wide stretch of pavement was originally a runway for landing space shuttles.

Bugatti has dropped its latest masterpiece, the Tourbillon, and it’s unlike anything we’ve seen from the French automaker before. This bad boy isn’t just another W16-powered behemoth, oh no. It’s a hybrid hypercar with a heart that’ll make even the most die-hard gearlhead weak in the knees.

The worlds of horology and automobiles share a surprising kinship. Beneath the gleaming exteriors of these timepieces, lie intricate mechanisms, meticulously crafted to propel us forward, whether on the road or through time. The name Bugatti has become synonymous with speed, luxury, and exclusivity. Bugatti has also forged relationships with luxury watchmakers. From 2004 - 2019, Luxury watchmaker Parmigiani Fleurier and Bugatti joined forces in a licensing partnership that would blossom into a remarkably long and successful collaboration between the two high-end brands. This partnership resulted in several limited edition and high-end watches that captured our imagination for the better part of two decades. Since 2019, luxury Swiss watchmaker, Jacob and Co. have taken over this partnership.

The Porsche 918 Spyder was an absolute beast, a hypercar that debuted the plug-in hybrid system and set the bar high for both performance and efficiency. Now, as the world awaits with bated breath for its successor, an unexpected muse emerges from the world of Bugatti: the Tourbillon. While the Tourbillon’s mind-blowing naturally aspirated V16 will remain its exclusive powertrain, could its more potent hybrid system hold the secrets to Porsche’s next hypercar adventure?

The newly formed Bugatti-Rimac has already proved that it doesn’t lack the boldness to make some radical changes to the revered and historic French marque. The all-new Bugatti Tourbillon features a newly designed, naturally-aspirated V-16 engine that revs to 9,500 RPM and works with three electric motors to produce 1,800 metric horsepower. In July 2021, the Croatian carmaker, Rimac Automobili, acquired Bugatti. Technically, Volkswagen still partially owns Bugatti through Porsche, which has a 45-percent share in the French hypercar manufacturer. The Porsche connection might prove to be instrumental in making the first-ever, production Bugatti sedan, rumored to already be in the works. For better or worse, a Bugatti sedan is more plausible than you may think. Here’s why.

Electrification isn’t the end of internal combustion, but in a way is its evolution. In the hypercar segment, hybrid technology is breathing new life into high-performance combustion engines, marrying raw power with performance and efficiency. A trend that really began with the Holy Trinity (La Ferrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, and McLaren P1) has evolved significantly over the past decade with automakers finding better ways to integrate green tech with traditional ICE.

The all-new Bugatti Tourbillon is here as the successor of the iconic Chiron hypercar. This beast of a hypercar, named after the intricate mechanism in mechanical watches, was unveiled in June 2024, and it’s got everyone talking. Why? Well, for starters, it’s Bugatti’s first-ever hybrid! That’s right. This monster combines a massive 8.3-liter naturally aspirated V16 engine developed with Cosworth with three electric motors, and boom: total system output is a whopping 1,775 horsepower!

After long-standing speculations and teasers, the Chiron replacement is finally here! The Bugatti Tourbillon ditches the EV trend and sticks to its internal combustion heritage with a twist. Yes, it’s a plug-in hybrid and the first Bugatti under Mate Rimac’s leadership. Beneath its elegant silhouette lies a carbon fiber monocoque chassis, holding a Cosworth-developed 8.3-liter naturally aspirated V16 coupled with three electric motors. Combined, the hybrid powertrain cranks out 1,775 horsepower. With a 0-60 mph time of two seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 276 mph, the Tourbillon is not only more potent than the outgoing Chiron but also faster.

The story of French automaker Bugatti after the Volkswagen Group’s acquisition in 1998 is a wild ride. Remember the outrageous EB110? Yeah, Bugatti needed to blow everyone’s minds again with its successor, and the Veyron concept, which debuted in 2001, just did that. With a quad-turbocharged W16 engine pumping out a mind-boggling 987 horsepower, the Veyron shattered records and became the world’s fastest production car of its time. Some even consider the Veyron to be the world’s first hypercar, with its reign lasting nearly 15 years! And that was just the beginning of Bugatti’s prowess under VW’s guidance.

Mate Rimac, the Croatian innovator and entrepreneur, is now the CEO of Bugatti Rimac. He also founded Rimac Automobili, the EV hypercar manufacturing company that unveiled the 1877-horsepower electric Nevera in August 2021. In November of that same year, Rimac Automobili merged with the iconic French automaker Bugatti, to form Bugatti Rimac. The merger saw Rimac Group, the parent company of Rimac Automobili, become the majority shareholder with a 55 percent stake. Porsche, under the Volkswagen Group, holds the remaining 45 percent stake. This partnership brought together two powerhouses in the automotive world, merging Rimac’s EV technology expertise with Bugatti’s luxury and performance heritage.

Top Gear’s Tom Ford recently spent a day at Cosworth’s high-tech facility where he spent some one-on-one time with the Bugatti Tourbillon’s brand-new V16 engine. Cosworth and Bugatti worked together to produce the V16 engine which makes 1000 HP on its own. This engine will be paired with three electric motors and have a combined output of 1800 horsepower! The Tourbillion is estimated to go from 0-60 MPH in under 2.0 seconds and attain a top speed of 277 MPH. In the video, we get to hear what the V16 engine sounds like and how it compares to all the different V-engines from years past.

After a successful eight-year reign and 500 examples later, the iconic Bugatti Chiron is bowing out, leaving behind an even outrageous successor, the Tourbillon. Taking its name from an intricate mechanism in a watch, this all-new hypercar just debuted on the 20th of June 2024 as a 2026 model year, boasting a unique hybrid powertrain that combines a Cosworth-developed 8.3-liter naturally aspirated V16 engine with three electric motors, pushing out a total of 1,775 horses! This marks a significant milestone for Bugatti, as the Tourbillon is the French carmaker’s first-ever hybrid vehicle.

With Automobili Rimac taking over Bugatti in 2021, the world expected the Chiron’s successor to be a rebadged Nevera. However, the French automaker just defied expectations and has instead stuck with internal combustion. Forget, turbocharged hybrids; Bugatti has ditched the W16 and in its place has worked with Cosworth to develop an all-new, naturally-aspirated V16 engine that revs to 9,000 rpm. It produces 1,000 horsepower. Additionally, there’s a tri-motor setup with 800 horsepower and a 37-mile all-electric range. Combined, this is an analog hybrid supercar with 1,800 horsepower on tap. For the first time, we actually have a modern-Bugatti that actually sounds good. This move begs the question: with Porsche holding a fat 45% stake in the recently formed Bugatti-Rimac, could we see a similar surprise approach from the upcoming flagship Porsche, i.e. the 918’s successor?

Bugatti has kicked off an exciting new chapter with a YouTube docuseries. This series takes viewers on a journey into the brand’s future, led by the visionary Mate Rimac, CEO of Bugatti Rimac. The pilot episode, released on June 18th, features Rimac outlining his vision for the successor to the legendary Chiron supercar. The successor has big shoes to fill, but Mate seems up to the challenge. As a CEO who launched a hypercar company from his garage in Croatia, he understands the expectations of automobile enthusiasts everywhere. "Bugatti is a legacy built by extraordinary people," Rimac states in the film.