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No expense spared: Bugatti explains how it 3D-prints exotic metal parts

Bugatti deputy design director Frank Heyl told Autoblog his team doesn't balk at using the most expensive materials available, and he meant it. The company described how it 3D-prints titanium and alloy parts to save weight. Look closely at the back end of the 304-mph Chiron Super Sport 300+ or the agile Chiron Pur Sport and you'll spot 3D-printed titanium components. They're the intricately-designed covers installed over the exhaust pipes; they stick out from the carbon fiber diffuser. Each part weighs four pounds, which makes it 2.6 pounds lighter than the one fitted to the standard Chiron. It's one of the weight-saving measures Bugatti took to create both cars. Manufacturing the part requires firing up four 400-watt lasers that stack 4,200 individual layers of metal powder on top of each other while fusing them. The part is extremely thin in places but remarkably solid thanks to what Bugatti refers to as a "bionic honeycomb" structure, and it's capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. That might sound like overkill, but keep in mind the cover is on the receiving end of a 1,500-horsepower, 16-cylinder engine. The exhaust system gets really hot, really quickly under heavy acceleration. Bugatti began using 3D printing in 2018, and now the Chiron Sport, the Divo, the one-off La Voiture Noire, and the Centodieci all use components made with 3D-printed metals. The part that covers the Sport's four visible exhaust tips (there are six in total) is notably manufactured using Inconel 718, a nickel-chrome alloy whose audial resemblance to a mid-engined model is purely coincidental; it's not a blend of molten Porsches. It's a material normally used in gas turbines, the blades attached to airplane engines, space ships, and even rocket engines. Making the cover takes several days. Engineers scan every part they produce with a computer tomograph to detect air bubbles that can get trapped between the layers during the printing process. If there are none, the part is blasted with a material named corundum, painted, and sent to the Bugatti Atelier in Molsheim, France, where it's checked yet again before it's installed on the car. Few exhaust tips have such a fascinating story to tell. "The advantage of the 3D printing process lies in the geometric shapes that are possible," said Nils Weimann, Bugatti's head of body development.

Bugatti SUV is a possibility, automaker's president says

If you think of luxury brands related to the sprawling Volkswagen group, quite a few of them have an SUV in their model portfolio. Porsche offers several, Bentley has the Bentayga, Lamborghini has the Urus, and it appears that Bugatti is also considering expanding its lineup to a high-riding vehicle. At least that's what company president Stephan Winkelmann is saying. Currently, Bugatti makes the Chiron in various guises, and it also showed the Divo at the Paris Motor Show. Speaking to Automotive News at the Paris show, Winkelmann said that "the brand is ready for more," and that while the W16 engine is currently the focal point of the storied carmaker, it needn't always be so. "The W-16 engine is at the core of the brand today, but it won't remain the heart forever." Winkelmann said the company is evaluating engine and chassis options, as well as a possible name for an SUV. Last month, Winkelmann told Car Advice that the 1,500-horsepower W16 isn't irreplaceable, and that the company is thinking ahead. "This will be the last of its kind," said Winkelmann then. "Sooner or later the legislation will force everybody to take radical steps. [...] If you want to be on the edge of advanced technology, it's important you choose the right moment to change." In Paris, Winkelmann, a former Lamborghini executive, added that "a hybrid engine could be part of the future — you have consider social acceptance in terms of emissions." The numbers need to work out, as Bugatti has been making limited-edition hypercars instead of mass-produced vehicles, and an expansion like that must be justified to company shareholders. SUVs have turned out to be profitable for other manufacturers formerly known for just sports cars or luxury cars, and Lamborghini has disclosed that the Urus has been heartily welcomed in regions not normally considered supercar-friendly, such as Russia. Related Video:

Ferdinand Piech (1937-2019): The man who made VW global

Towering among his peers, a giant of the auto industry died Sunday night in Rosenheim/Upper Bavaria, Germany. Ferdinand Piech, a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who conceived the original Volkswagen in the 1930s, was the most polarizing automotive executive of our times. And one who brought automotive technology further than anyone else. Ferdinand Porsche had a son, Ferdinand (called "Ferry"), and a daughter, Louise, who married the Viennese lawyer Anton Piech. They gave birth to Ferdinand Piech, and his proximity to two Alfa Romeo sports cars — Porsche had done some work for the Italians — and the "Berlin-Rome-Berlin" race car, developed by Porsche himself, gave birth to Piech's interest in cars. After his teachers in Salzburg told his mother he was "too stupid" to attend school there, Piech, who was open about his dyslexia, was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. He subsequently moved on to Porsche, where he fixed issues with the 904 race car and did major work on the 911. But his greatest project was the Le Mans-winning 917 race car, developed at breathtaking financial cost. It annihilated the competition, but the family had had enough: Amid growing tension among the four cousins working at Porsche and Piech's uncle Ferry, the family decided to pull every family member, except for Ferry, out of their management positions. Piech started his own consultancy business, where he designed the famous five-cylinder diesel for Mercedes-Benz, but quickly moved on to Audi, first as an engineer and then as CEO, where he set out to transform the dull brand into a technology leader. Piech killed the Wankel engine and hammered out a number of ambitious and sophisticated technologies. Among them: The five-cylinder gasoline engine; Quattro all-wheel drive and Audi's fantastic rally successes; and turbocharging, developed with Fritz Indra, whom Piech recruited from Alpina. The Audi 100/200/5000 became the world's fastest production sedan, thanks to their superior aerodynamics. Piech also launched zinc-coated bodies for longevity — and gave diesel technology a decisive boost with the advent of the fast and ultra-efficient TDI engines. Less known: Piech also decided to put larger gas tanks into cars. Customers loved it. Piech's first-generation Audi V8 was met with derision by competitors; it was too obviously based on the 200/5000.