Mastering incredible speed and unparalleled power in a timelessly elegant design has always been a core part of Bugatti’s DNA. The most extreme roadster in Bugatti’s history – the last street appearance of the iconic W16 engine – the W16 Mistral is a masterpiece celebrating the pinnacle of symbiosis of design and engineering.
Emilio Scervo, Bugatti Rimac Chief Technology Officer, said: “Managing both thermodynamics and aerodynamics effectively is key to achieving more than 420 km/h in an open top car, even with 1,600 PS from perhaps the most advanced automotive engine ever created. We have to think very carefully about how we shape the W16 Mistral1 to guide air through the car and around the car to delicately balance both cooling and aerodynamics. But, of course, we must do all this with a sense of elegance befitting a Bugatti roadster. A car that is both designed for purpose, but simultaneously evokes a sense of timelessness.”
Bugatti’s design and engineering teams combine pure artistic vision with a mastery of the laws of physics. At the front of the W16 Mistral, a new, wider, deeper and more three-dimensional iteration of Bugatti’s famous horseshoe grille allows the high-temperature engine radiator to be fed entirely from one intake, leaving the intakes on either side free to focus The air is delivered to the intercooler.
Airflow around the front corners is controlled by two air intakes; one near the wheel and one seamlessly integrated into the new three-dimensional headlight design. Air flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure in the wheel arches, which would otherwise create turbulence and drag, affecting the performance of the W16 Mistral.
Achim Anscheidt, Bugatti Rimac Design Director, said: “The frontal appearance of the car is dominated by these large intakes, and while recognizably Bugatti, we take a number of cues from the few-off models; Divo2, Centodieci3 and La Voiture Noire4. The windscreen wraps around in an elegant visor motif and the front becomes more vertical to create a design that is both shaped for speed and beauty at the same time.”
With the new sports car shape, the team integrated the newly invented Bugatti C-Line, a traditional shape feature of the Chiron5. The design lines that surround the side air intakes now flow into the upper edges of the side windows and then run three-dimensionally over the upper edge of the windscreen. Crucial to the visual identity of the W16 Mistral – which seems to be moving forward – the creation of this new collection was no easy feat.
“To get it right we needed to separate the air intake for the engine from the air intake for the oil cooler,” continued Achim. “If we kept them together, the intake on each side of the car would have had to have been enlarged out of proportion. So, instead, we hark back to the Veyron 16.4 Vitesse and the Type 57 Roadster Grand Raid by incorporating engine air intakes behind the occupant headrests. This solution is both elegant, functional and safe; the svelte side intakes are proportionally perfect and feed air purely to the oil coolers, while the headrest engine intakes create a huge sense of aural drama, while also working to protect occupants in the event of a rollover.”
All air taken thru the perimeters receives channeled throughout the 2 radiators – one on every facet – over the rear wheels after which out thru the W16 Mistral’s X-fashioned taillights – an fashionable reinvention of the Bolide’s6 iconic design. The vents emerge withinside the triangular terrible area in among the ‘X’ beams of the light, developing a stress drop among the facet intakes and the shops behind the W16 Mistral which facilitates to manipulate the temperature of the engine, even beneathneath excessive loads.
Emilio Scervo continues: “The W16 Mistral will be capable of 420 km/h in ‘Top Speed’ mode, while still inspiring ultimate confidence in the driver. Supreme control in all conditions and at all speeds is a core part of Bugatti DNA, and to deliver this characteristic, the aero map of W16 Mistral has been carefully defined. Through the synthesis of engineering prowess and design talent, W16 Mistral achieves a delicate balance of drag reduction and downforce through its carefully designed front splitter, aerodynamic underbody and the high energy air flow around the airfoil shaped rear wing when deployed.”
W16 Mistral will run in ‘Top Speed’ mode with the minimal quantity of rake on rear wing to lessen drag, however the rear diffuser has been optimized due to the fact downforce created via way of means of a diffuser comes with little or no penalty for drag. The diffuser side has been expanded to growth its rake attitude and enlargement ratio, supporting to keep each W16 Mistral’s sure-footed coping with and its record-breaking pinnacle speed. As properly as its recognition because the final roadster.
Achim concludes: “The W16 Mistral is a special moment in the history of Bugatti; the kind of car that will be seen on the lawns of top Concours d’Elegance events for decades or even centuries. We created a timeless interior for this car, including the introduction of an intricate woven leather used on newly designed door panels, meticulously tested and produced to Bugatti quality standards. And in a nod to the W16 Mistral’s illustrious forebears, like the Type 41 Royale, the gear shifter – machined from a solid block of aluminum – features a touch of wood and an amber insert with Rembrandt Bugatti’s famous ‘dancing elephant’ sculpture locked within.”