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New Models

Bugatti takes the wraps off 500km/h hypercar

One-off, track-only concept can accelerate from zero to 500km/h in 20 seconds.


Bugatti has released details of what it has been teasing for the past week, confirming the track-only Bugatti Bolide, a one-off concept hypercar capable of hitting 500km/h from standstill in around 20 seconds.

Based on the road-going Bugatti Chiron and powered by the same W16 engine, the Bolide’s power unit has been uprated via the addition of four new turbochargers with more boost and which are claimed to have added 282kW over the outgoing turbos.

Total outputs are now rated at 1361kW (at 7000rpm) and 1850Nm (from 2000-7025rpm). It should be noted, these numbers require 110 Octane race fuel. With regular 98 Octane pump fuel, the Bolide is still good for 1176kW.

Tipping the scales at just 1240kg, amounting to a weight-saving of 755kg over the regular Chiron, the Bolide can – theoretically – post some astonishing numbers. That svelte frame combined with its prodigious power is responsible for the 0.67 figure Bugatti has been teasing recently. It is, of course, the Bolide’s power-to-weight ratio, 0.67 kilograms per Pferdestärke (metric horsepower).

The claimed 0-100km/h sprint is dealt with in 2.2 seconds, about par for the course in this stratosphere hypercars play in. Standstill to 200km/h is dispatched in 4.36 seconds, and if you push on, the Bolide will travel from 0-300km/h in 7.37 seconds.

From here, it gets frankly, a bit silly. Zero to 400km/h takes just 12.08 seconds while Bugatti claims a near-mythical 0-500km/h sprint time of 20.16 seconds.

But it’s not just how fast it moves from standstill. According to Bugatti, the run from 0-500km/h and then back to 0km/h is completed in 33.62 seconds. Stopping power comes courtesy of a Formula One-style carbon ceramic package.

While those numbers are eye-watering, it’s worth noting these are simulated times provided by Bugatti, and not actual performance figures. It’s also worth noting the Bolide is a one-off concept car, strictly an exercise in seeing what could be achieved.

As Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann said in a statement: “For the first time, we are showing what the W16 engine is really capable of. We have freed the vehicle of all baggage and have illustrated and combined the engine with the lightest possible chassis to create the ultimate Bugatti.”

Some of those weight-saving measures include liberal use of carbon-fibre and titanium. Every screw, bolt and fastener used to hold the Bolide together, for example, are fashioned from titanium, while the auxiliary drive-shafts have been made from a blend of carbon-fibre and titanium. And the rear sub-frame is made of high-strength stainless steel, measuring exactly 1mm thick.

Bugatti claims its all-wheel drive track monster could post a theoretical Nürburgring Nordschleife lap of 5:23.1s while La Sarthe at Le Mans could be covered in 3:07.1s. For context, that would have placed the Bolide on pole by eight seconds at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.

Bugatti says Bolide means ‘very fast car’ in French. Seems apt.


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Rob Margeit

Rob Margeit is an award-winning Australian motoring journalist and editor who has been writing about cars and motorsport for over 25 years. A former editor of Australian Auto Action, Rob’s work has also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Wheels, Motor Magazine, Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. Rob’s current rides include a 1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a 2000 Honda HR-V Sport.

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