It’s only human to wind up all interest in something when a newer, shinier version of said thing comes along. But, much like elephants, car enthusiasts tend not to forget - especially when there's a reputation at stake. Just look at the reaction to the new BMW M5 or any electric Lotus. And while there’s a monumental amount of anticipation around Bugatti’s new V16 Tourbillon, there’s no chance the company’s legendary W16 efforts will vanish from memory any time soon. Not with the open-top Mistral on the horizon, which Bugatti has announced is now in its final phase of testing.
Admittedly, it’s been a while since we’ve heard anything on the W16 swan song. The Chiron-based speedster was announced back in 2022 and touted as the world’s fastest drop-top, with the 1,600hp 8.0-litre W16 from the Chiron Super Sport 300+ pushing it towards a target top speed ‘in excess’ of 261mph. All without a roof, remember. Since then, Bugatti has been running through a rigorous test programme to get the Mistral ready for the 99 buyers who have forked out €5m (or £4.2m) to get their hands on one. That includes nearly 20,000-miles of testing on public roads, ranging from mountain passes to gridlocked inner city streets, all of which has been carried out by a single development car codenamed ‘Prototype 2’.
Here’s where the fun really begins, though. Bugatti’s testing target is 40,000km (just shy of 25,000 miles), and 5,000 (3,100 miles) of those have been earmarked for track work. That includes verifying the lofty top-speed target the company has set itself, which is proving a bit of a problem. See, there aren’t many circuits in the world that are long enough and flat enough to get up to Mistral-levels of speeds. Bugatti reckons there are only a handful of suitable tracks in the world, presumably including the Ehra-Lessien facility that played host to the Chiron’s top-speed runs. McLaren voiced similar concerns when it finally came to test the Speedtail back in 2019, eventually settling on the Space Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. On the basis that Bugatti is expecting the Mistral to 'exceed expectations' it's probably a fair bet that it wants somewhere equally cinematic.
You may be wondering why a car based on the Chiron would need to undergo such stringent tests, but such are the demands of a roofless 260mph+ hypercar that drastic alterations were needed. For instance, the air intakes have been split into two sections: two smaller intakes ahead of the rear wheel arches to cool the oil and another two positioned above the seats that can feed 70,000 litres of air per minute into the engine at full bore.
That’s all part of a revised aerodynamics package. Bugatti didn’t want to mess with the car’s slippery silhouette by bolting on aero appendages to make up for the lack of a roof, so it instead gave more care and attention to underbody, resulting in a much larger diffuser to keep it sucked to the road at ludicrous speed. Its radically different look essentially serves as a ‘best of Chiron’, from the Bolide-style X-lights at the rear to the vertical headlights inspired by the Voiture Noire. As it turns out, bits of the Mistral’s design (namely the nose and the shape of the rear end) would wind up on the new Tourbillon.
Emilo Scervo, Bugatti Rimac’s CTO, said: “We are in the last part of the testing program – we are getting close to the finish. From the initial validation stages to the intensive endurance tests, every aspect of the Mistral's development is precisely planned and executed. The Mistral is the ultimate example of our dedication to setting new standards in roadster design.” All that’s left to do is to put its top-speed claim to the test, then. So if you’ve got a test track in your back garden with miles of straights, Bugatti may want to hear from you…
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