2008 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

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Bugatti Bolide's Le Mans-ready underpinnings highlighted

The limited-edition, track-only Bugatti Bolide uses the familiar 8.0-liter W16 engine, but writing it off as merely a rebodied Chiron would be a cruel understatement. The French company is highlighting the new monocoque it developed for the model to show some of the differences. While nothing suggests that Bugatti will enter the Bolide in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the model's carbon fiber monocoque is capable of withstanding such an arduous race because it was designed to the meet the same requirements that apply to LMDh cars. Starting with a blank slate allowed engineers to move the quad-turbocharged engine forward by about 2.4 inches to better integrate it into the monocoque.  Bugatti then turned its attention to what it calls one of the most difficult requirements to meet: rollover protection. LMDh regulations require a car to withstand a 7.5-metric-ton load on each A-pillar without bending more than approximately two inches. Additionally, the car fails this test if the A-pillar breaks within about four inches of the impact point. The upcoming Bolide passed this test as well as two other roll-over tests. There's more to safety than the ability to withstand one hell of an impact. Bugatti installed an automatic, military-grade fire extinguisher system and integrated the outer section of the headrests into the doors to facilitate the task of getting in and out of the cockpit. It also added six-point harnesses for the two passengers but it didn't forget about comfort: a high-performance climate control system comes standard. Running the air conditioning at full blast shouldn't have a noticeable effect on performance, as power comes from an 8.0-liter W16 engine that's quad-turbocharged to develop 1,578 horsepower. The Bolide weighs under 3,200 pounds and develops 6,600 pounds of downforce.  Bugatti will continue testing the Bolide in the coming months, and deliveries are scheduled to start in 2024. Production is limited to 40 units, and pricing starts at approximately ˆ4 million (about $4.29 million at the current conversion rate). Every example is already spoken for. Related video: Featured Gallery Bugatti Bolide monocoque Bugatti Coupe Racing Vehicles Performance

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:

A revving Bugatti Chiron is our new favorite sound

The new Bugatti Chiron has an 8.0-liter, quad-turbocharged W16 engine that produces about 1,500 horsepower. We desperately want to drive it, but as that doesn't look like it's going to happen for a while, the best thing we can do is just sit and listen to that powerplant. We've said it before, and we'll say it again, the Chiron sounds like an absolute monster. Of course, you've heard the Chiron already. Bugatti fired it up on the Geneva Motor Show stand, and more recently, it was caught being unloaded and driven into a dealership in – where else? – Monaco. What makes this video different is that rather than just angrily idling away, the lucky guy behind the wheel actually revs the huge engine a few times. It still doesn't compare to actually hearing the Chiron under load – get on that Bugatti – but this latest taste of the new hypercar showing off its singing voice will have to do. Related Video: