Bugatti W16 Mistral bids farewell to iconic engine
The world's mightiest petrol unit goes out swinging with limited-edition 1600hp speedster...
This is it. Bugatti is calling time on its W16 engine, and is doing so in style. Behold the W16 Mistral, a limited-run speedster that not only bid farewells to the Chiron platform, but will also be the final road car installation of the now legendary W16 engine. And there’s no better send-off than building what Bugatti hopes will be the fastest production roadster ever made.
I know what you're thinking: isn’t Maserati’s gorgeous two-seater GT from the 1960s called the Mistral? Well, yes, and that was something Bugatti’s design chief Achim Anscheidt was keen to point out early on. Apparently, the name was up for grabs, so Bugatti snagged it before Maserati could use it again. It’s the name given to a powerful wind that runs from the Rhone river to the Mediterranean, and is also the name of the back straight at the Paul Ricard circuit – and we all know Bugattis love a good straight.
But enough about the name. From a distance, the Mistral looks like a new car but, in reality, it’s almost a ‘greatest hits’ of the Chiron era. The headlights sit vertically, taking on a shape similar to that of the one-off La Voiture Noire, while the anteater-style nose comes from the Divo track car, albeit with a slightly larger opening to channel more air to the radiator. Speaking of cooling, Anscheidt said he wanted a tighter, more streamlined look down the flanks, so the large c-shaped air intakes of the Chiron have now been split into two sections: a smaller intake in front of the rear wheel arch to cool the oil, with the other opening positioned above behind the seats to feed air into the engine. In fact, it’ll suck up 70,000 litres of air per minute at full chat. Better strap yourself in, then.
Arguably the most striking feature of the Mistral is found at the back of the car. Anscheidt wanted to incorporate the x-style taillights from the Bolide to the Mistral, though this proved difficult for homologation purposes. The end result is something that carries the same signature as the Bolide, but it takes the appearance of a single light-up assembly rather than four separate LED strips. Not only do they look cool, but they help create a drop in pressure between the side intakes and rear outlets to improve cooling efficiency.
Remarkably, the Mistral is the first (and likely only) time the Chiron will undergo the roadster treatment. In reality, it’s more of a speedster, taking on an ultra-low windscreen with nearly invisible A-pillars, creating what Bugatti likes to call a ‘visor effect’. There’s no retractable roof section, though, nor has the firm created a detachable roof section that fits above the cockpit. Instead, you’ll get a fabric emergency roof that you can clip on when it starts bucketing it down.
No major changes on the inside, aside from new sports seats that’ll grip you tighter than a regular Chiron and prevent you from being sucked into the engine. A neat touch on the launch car is the drive selector, which features a small replica of the elephant statue carved by Rembrandt Bugatti and fitted as a bonnet ornament on his Type 41 Royale. It’s sealed in resin, as if it were frozen in amber, but you can have whatever you want in your Mistral’s gear selector – albeit at a (very likely) silly price.
At the centre of it all is, of course, a quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 engine. Not the one from the regular Chiron (which puts out a measly 1,200hp) but the 1,600hp unit from the Chiron Super Sport 300+. While the motor was able to hurtle the Super Sport to a record 304.773mph, the lack of a fixed roof has forced Bugatti to lower its top speed target to a more pedestrian 261mph. With a bit of preparation and a long enough stretch of road, Bugatti thinks the Mistral could become the fastest production roadster… in the world.
So there we have it. The final chapter of the W16. Like all good books and shows that come to an end, there’s always anticipation around what comes next. It’s long been rumoured Bugatti would switch over to electric power after Rimac took a 55 per cent stake in marque last year. While Anscheidt announced the Chiron successor would be electrified, he confirmed it would take the form of a plug-in hybrid hypercar rather than a full EV. That’s all he's willing to give away, for now at least, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see whether the W16 returns with a battery pack and some electric motors.
Besides, it’s not like the 16-cylinder monster is going anywhere anytime soon. Bugatti has limited Mistral production to 99 examples (plus one development car that we want to have a play in), which isn’t as scarce as it sounds when you consider the firm has built 500 Chirons since 2016. And you’ll be paying considerably more for the Mistral, which carries a €5m (£4.2m) price tag before taxes. Not that Bugatti will have any trouble shifting them, of course.
It was always the same for Too Gear challenges. Hyper car vs plane, train, boat etc. yes, the hyper car could go 200 mph+ but, on the road it isn’t. This is where cars like the Senna make more sense to me.
With all things considered, I think the golf does a better job in the Bugatti segment of road cars as I can travel from the UK to the South of France with 3 passengers and their luggage.
It was always the same for Too Gear challenges. Hyper car vs plane, train, boat etc. yes, the hyper car could go 200 mph+ but, on the road it isn’t. This is where cars like the Senna make more sense to me.
With all things considered, I think the golf does a better job in the Bugatti segment of road cars as I can travel from the UK to the South of France with 3 passengers and their luggage.
It was always the same for Too Gear challenges. Hyper car vs plane, train, boat etc. yes, the hyper car could go 200 mph+ but, on the road it isn’t. This is where cars like the Senna make more sense to me.
With all things considered, I think the golf does a better job in the Bugatti segment of road cars as I can travel from the UK to the South of France with 3 passengers and their luggage.
1950s Mercedes Gullwing
1970s Lamborghini Countach
1990s McLaren F1
2000s Bugatti Veyron
We are now due another.
Although the McLaren F1 was a technical marvel, the Veyron really pushed the engineering to the limit. I will be sad to see the end of the era.
What's next?
We are now due another.
The rear and side profile look amazing.
I do wonder though, the air intakes now being behind the seats and can suck 70,000 litres of air a minute:
- how many toupe will end up sucked into the engine?
1950s Mercedes Gullwing
1970s Lamborghini Countach
1990s McLaren F1
2000s Bugatti Veyron
We are now due another.
Although the McLaren F1 was a technical marvel, the Veyron really pushed the engineering to the limit. I will be sad to see the end of the era.
What's next?
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