The Bugatti Bolide is a bonkers 1825bhp track-only hypercar
Words by Marcus Boothby
Well, we weren’t expecting Bugatti to release a bonkers, track-only lightweight, hypercar in 2020. The Bolide is just that, with styling straight out a video game, with performance figures to match. The Bolide is a car which is designed to destroy lap records around many famous tracks including Le Mans and the Nurburgring. Oh, more on the Le Mans part soon.
The Bolide is the latest in the crop of track only hypercars, joining the Ferrari FXXK, Aston Martin Vulcan and McLaren Senna GTR, and other upcoming projects. The Bolide though, has the most impressive numbers, which genuinely hurt our heads when we first had a look at them.
Engine wise, it’s the familiar 8.0-litre W16 as seen in the Chiron but comes with much, much more power now. The engine has two power outputs, which entirely depends on what fuel you put in it. If you give it regular 98-octane fuel, you’ll get the same power output as the Chiron Super Sport 300+, meaning 1578bhp. However, if you give it 110-octane race fuel, you’ll achieve peak power output of a mind boggling 1842bhp. This is being sent to all four wheels and results in a power-to-weight ratio of 1,471bhp per tonne. This is thanks to a weight of 1240kg, which is 10kg less than a Porsche Cayman GT4. This is insane considering that the Bolide had a complicated 4WD system and that massive 8.0-litre W16 engine.
Speed wise though, the Bolide is standard Bugatti, with a 0-62mph time of 2.17 seconds and a top speed well into the 300mph area, which will scare SSC. These numbers are even more impressive as Bugatti claims the Bolide handles as well as the Chiron Sport.
Bugatti also quote some projected lap times for the Bolide, with two key ones being Le Mans and the Nurburgring. The Le Mans time is estimated to be 3:07.1 which if it were to enter the 24 hours of Le Mans right now, it would take pole position with a comfortable lead of 8 seconds. While the Nurburgring time is estimated to be 5:23.1, which is only a few seconds off the current record holder, being the Porsche 919 Evo.
Styling wise, the Bolide is very different to anything Bugatti has shown us over the past few years. Sure, it has all the typical Bugatti styling cues, including the horseshoe grille, but everything else is designed around speed and maximum performance. It’s very low and sleek, with every panel of the car designed with aerodynamics in mind. Up front, you have two massive holes where the bonnet should be, in order to channel air through the front of the car to keep the front end planted, while the rear has a massive, full width wing at the back, along with a central fin, not to dissimilar to a modern LMP car. Also round back, there’s a diffuser the size of Belgium to keep the car planted. All of this aerodynamic stuff is there in order to make the car as fast as possible, while producing nearly 2000kg of downforce at 200mph. Basically, it’ll be hard to flip or crash the Bolide.
Along with the sleek bodywork, the Bolide has some of the fattest tyres we’ve ever seen fitted to a car. It has 340mm width front tyres and 400mm width rear tyres for maximum grip. We’re told to believe that these tyres help the Bolide generate 2.8g of grip.
Anyway, back to that Le Mans part. The Bolide is just a concept for now, but we’re convinced that it previews an upcoming Bugatti endurance racer to take part in the upcoming Hypercar class at Le Mans. The Bolide has all the necessary FIA approved safety equipment and is supposed to meet the regulations for the class, so time will only tell. Also, the Bolide has been seen testing at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France, so Bugatti must be up to something.