2008 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

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Bugatti teases Chiron again, shows and tells us nothing

The television spots Infiniti released in the eighties for the original Q45 still carry the torch for arcane teaser commercials, but Bugatti might try to steal some of that light this year. The Franco-German automaker released a 41-second teaser video for the Chiron with quick-cut shots of just about everything except the supercar. The fighter jet, the volcano, even the guy running on top of the sideways skyscraper we get, since the tagline is "Breaking new dimensions." But the elevator and the drummer? We already know the rumor that it's going to break the Veyron Super Sport's terminal velocity, hitting something above 290 miles per hour. Continuing the theme of tweaks that advance the entire package, it's been reported that an analog speedometer will keep track of that vitesse with hash marks running all the way to 500 kilometers per hour, taking the place of the centrally-placed tachometer. Cabin ergonomics should take a step up, while a larger windshield will improve visibility, and the seating position moves outward to become more conventional. Oh, and since the car is named after French auto racer Louis Chiron and not the mythological Greek centaur, it is pronounced Shir-on, not Kai-ron. You can check out the latest teaser in the video above - at 41 seconds, the spot is about a second less than the time it took the standard Veyron to hit its top speed. Related Video:

Bugatti promotes 27-year-old former intern to head of special projects

Bugatti has put the future of its one- and few-off projects in the hands of a former intern. 27-year-old Nils Sajonz has been promoted to head of special projects to oversee the development of upcoming models. Sajonz joined the French carmaker as an intern in 2015, and he wrote his university thesis on a race car developed for autonomous racing. While the prototype never hit the track, executives hired him as a designer after he graduated. He contributed to projects like the La Voiture Noire, the Centodieci, the Divo, and the Bolide. Working in Bugatti's design department requires a thorough understanding of its heritage, which includes obscure electric cars and championship-winning single-seaters. Many of the unbuilt projects that Autoblog discovered earlier in 2020 were visibly inspired by the company's past. Sajonz is still in his 20s, so he views design through a different lens than some of his older colleagues, but he noted he aims to bring new ideas to the team without diluting the key styling cues that have defined most of Bugatti's cars since its inception over 100 years ago. "The heritage of the Bugatti brand is not lost on me," he said in a statement. "It is important that future special projects retain the design identity of the brand, which is simply unrivaled." Interestingly, he shed light on why the recently-introduced Bolide track car has X-shaped rear lights. It's a styling cue that echoes the Bell X-1, which was the first plane to break the sound barrier, but it's also a reference to the tape that race car drivers used to put over their headlights to ensure the glass didn't spread on the tarmac if it broke. Sajonz will work directly under Achim Anscheidt, the company's head of design. We don't much about the future special projects he referenced, but we shouldn't have to wait too long to find out what his team has in store. Related video:

Coming Bugatti reportedly gets NA V16 PHEV powertrain making 1,800 horsepower

With Bugatti having shown the Chiron successor to select clientele, a growing number of unconfirmed reports from reputable sources are filling in blanks with fascinating details. Let's start with the already confirmed fact that the new engine unit nestled at the back of the new carbon monocoque would trade the Chiron's quad-turbocharged W16 for a 90-degree V16. The best source for more intel is Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac, who joined Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder as one of the guest speakers at the Financial Times' Future of the Car summit in London. Autocar reports he told his audience the engine by itself is 39.4 inches long (one meter), making it 15.8 inches longer than the W16. Germany's Auto, Moto, und Sport writes that when including the hybrid element, the power unit is nearly two meters long, almost 78.7 inches. Rimac had to win boardroom battles to get that engine approved. Some background: Years ago, when Stephan Winkelmann ran Bugatti, he not only hinted repeatedly at some kind of electric SUV, but when asked about a "three-door, ultra-premium crossover SUV" in 2019, he replied, "The design is done. Some potential customers have seen it, and they liked it." At the London summit, Mate Rimac confirmed such a vehicle had been in development, and that it was planned to use battery-electric power on a Rimac chassis. But Mate managed to convince Volkswagen Group bosses that a full EV wasn't the way to go at a time when most company chiefs believed EVs had almost finished starving internal combustion of its fossil fuels. He's been proved more right than anyone expected or wanted; he said Rimac Automobili still hasn't sold out its 150 Nevera build slots.  There are no turbos involved in this PHEV — this is a free-breathing V16, just like the last V16 to reach the marketplace, the 6.0-liter unit in the Cizeta V16T. AMS claims Bugatti's engine has been developed with Cosworth's help, is bored out to 8.3 liters, revs to 9,000 rpm, and makes about 1,000 metric horsepower on its own (986 U.S. horsepower). That's close to double the power from the Cizeta's V16, which made 540 hp and 400 pound-feet of torque. The mill has been on the dyno since at least the end of 2022. Instead of turbos from Molsheim, a hybrid element is thought to add another 800 hp in final configuration. If that's the case, the new car will go beyond the W16's 1,587-hp swan song in the Mistral roadster. What is that hybrid element?