The W16 engine is almost over. But not because Bugatti has assembled the last 100 copies of the engine that will go into the open Mistral.
An era is coming to an end. Once Bugatti has built the 100th Mistral, the big W16 engine will never return.
At the end of last week, the French brand announced that it had assembled the first of a total of 100 cars. One of them will be kept by the factory itself, while the other 99 have already been ordered by wealthy customers.
The fact that the W16 engine is coming to an end soon does not mean that the factory in Molsheim is in favor of downsizing. Quite the opposite.
Because it continues with an 8.3-liter V16 engine developed by the English Cosworth. Unlike the Volkswagen-developed W16, the new Bugatti Tourbillon does without turbocharging.
Still, there is 1,000 horsepower to be had. And that's just in the engine. To that, the muscles from a very small hybrid package must be added. This gives a total output of 1,800 horsepower and almost 2,000 newton meters.
Conversely, there is no indication that the V16 engine is under threat. At least Bugatti director Mate Rimac has admitted that his customers don't really care about electric cars anymore.
Not even if Rimac actually puts its name to the world's fastest electric car. Those who really have the money still want cars with combustion engines.
"Rimac is not just an electric car brand. We build what is most interesting at a given time," says Mate Rimac in an interview with Autocar .
– I fought Volkswagen – and I got my way – the next Bugatti will NOT be an electric car, he said already in August 2022.
