After churning out countless derivatives of the Chiron over the last few years, Bugatti finally revealed its third new model of the 21st century. Called the Bugatti Tourbillon, the Chiron replacement marks the beginning of a completely new chapter for the legendary French automaker. While the newest Bugatti hypercar looks familiar to its predecessors, it’s completely new from the ground up, with no shared components with Chiron or Veyron. One of the biggest highlights of the Tourbillon is its completely new hybrid powertrain that combines an 8.3-liter naturally-aspirated V16 engine developed by Cosworth with 3 electric motors. The combined output of the new powertrain is 1800hp, which is much higher than the Chiron and all its derivatives. Naturally, this forces us to ask if the Tourbillon is the fastest Bugatti ever made.
According to Bugatti, the Tourbillon can accelerate from 0-62mph (100km/h) in less than 2 seconds, while it will take only 5 seconds to reach 200 km/h (~124mph) and 10 seconds for 300 km/h (~186mph). French publication Challenges relevantly put those numbers into context, stating the Tourbillon will have a lead of one kilometer (0.62 miles) from the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport in an acceleration test by the time the new hypercar reaches 400km/h (~249mph).
The top speed of the Tourbillon is electronically restricted at 276mph for customers; however, we’re pretty sure it can go much higher. But how much? In 2019, a pre-production Chiron Super Sport 300+ prototype managed to hit a top speed of 490.484km/h (304.773mph), setting a new record. Will the Bugatti Tourbillon be the first-ever road-legal production car to break the 500Km/h barrier?
Well, after crossing the haloed 300mph barrier in 2019, the company’s then-CEO Stephan Winkelmann announced that Bugatti would no longer break speed records. However, Bugatti has a new CEO, Mate Rimac, at the helm, and the young leader isn’t the kind to back away from setting new records. Last year, the Croatian electric hypercar company set 23 new records in one day with its 1900hp Nevera. We strongly believe that Rimac won’t compromise with his obsession with setting new standards as the CEO of Bugatti. The Tourbillon’s incredibly beautiful gauge cluster also indicates the same, which tops out at 550km/h (~342mph).
“The Tourbillon is electronically restricted, it is capable of much more in reality,” Mate Rimac told the French publication while pointing out the speedometer. It’s just a matter of time! But it’ll be interesting to see if Bugatti can beat the Koenigsegg Jesko and the Hennessey F5 Venom to a new speed record.
