As the adage goes, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. However, I’m sure no one will disagree with me when I say that the new Bugatti Tourbillon is a piece of automotive artwork. While the French hypercar maker purposefully retained the design language, the Tourbillion shares not a single component with the Chiron or its derivatives. One of the most noticeable design changes comes in the form of its upward-opening dihedral doors.
The Bugatti Chiron and its predecessor, the Veyron, are beautiful-looking hypercars, but both lacked the “billionaire doors.” You might think that Bugatti added the dihedral doors on the Tourbillon for attention, but it was done out of necessity rather than for styling. In an interview with Carbuzz, Bugatti’s Director of Design, Frank Heyl, spoke about the reason behind the new hypercar’s one of the most distinctive details.
Bugatti Tourbillon’s dihedral doors open up and forward along with a portion of the roof. From a styling point of view, it looks dramatic and is bound to grab attention. However, the wild doors are meant to make entering and getting out of the cabin easier and more comfortable. Heyl explained: “You want to be able to take your missus to the opera house in the ball dress and get out on the red carpet without looking funny. So we opened part of the section of the roof together with the door so you could get out gracefully.”
The brand’s design chief disclosed that the dihedral doors were designed due to another design decision. “We made the car 33 millimeters (1.3 inches) lower while maintaining the same cabin ergonomics,” Heyl said. “You’re sitting at the same backrest inclination, you have the same legroom, same headroom, and same shoulder room. How did we do that? We deleted the rails underneath the seat and put them right on the floor. It will still move up and down and the backrest will still incline, but now the pedals and steering wheel come at you.”
Heyl said if the Tourbillon had traditional doors like its predecessors, entry into the cabin would have been very awkward, as it would have required crawling under the roof. It “wouldn’t be Bugatti-like,” the designer claimed. Every single detail of the Bugatti Tourbillon is well thought-out, offering a perfect blend of form and function. The horology-inspired analog gauge cluster is the best example. The three-dial gauge cluster is crafted out of titanium, and the entire unit only weighs 700 grams. It comprises 600 individual parts and is assembled with a precision of 50 microns.
