11 RADIATORS. 16 CYLINDERS. 1,500 HORSES. HOW BUGATTI BUILT THE MONSTROUS CHIRON
bugatti engineering chief willi netuschil interview chiron plus webbugatti engineering chief willi netuschil interview chiron dynamic front printbugatti engineering chief willi netuschil interview chiron dynamic front print
A Bugatti is more of a work of art with four wheels than a car. And new models don’t come around very often. When one is introduced, the entire auto industry sits up and takes notice.
Introduced at the Geneva show, the Chiron receives an 8.0-liter W16 engine that uses four turbochargers to generate a jaw-dropping 1,500 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque from 2,000 all the way up to 6,000 rpm. That’s enough power to fling the carbon fiber-bodied coupe from zero to 62 mph in 2.5 seconds, from zero to 124 mph in less than 6.5 seconds, and from zero to 186 mph in 13.5 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 261 mph, though insiders suggest the Chiron maxes out at over 290 mph when the limiter is turned off.Digital Trends sat down with Willi Netuschil, the head of Bugatti’s engineering department, to find out what makes the Chiron tick.Digital Trends: Saying that the Chiron has big shoes to fill is an understatement. What was the most challenging aspect of designing it?
Willi Netuschil: The most challenging aspect was clearly to combine that much power and that much torque in a package that the driver can really control. As you can imagine, putting all that power to the ground is difficult, even with four-wheel drive. We looked into a lot of different solutions, and we ultimately developed a special two-stage turbocharging system that delivers a very straight power curve. In other words, it’s easy to control the Chiron.
How much of the engine is new?
Keep in mind the base engine was developed to generate 1,000 horsepower. We increased that figure to 1,200, and now we’ve just bumped it up again by 25 percent, so we re-worked it entirely for the sake of durability and efficiency.
bugatti engineering chief willi netuschil interview chiron speed key webWe didn’t stop at the engine, either. Notably, the air intake system is very innovative and completely new. It’s a one-piece component made out of carbon fiber in order to reduce back pressure and to shed as much weight as possible. We did the same with the exhaust system, which is made out of titanium.
The transmission is a seven-speed, dual-clutch unit that has also been redesigned. The W16 generates a lot of torque over a very wide band so the durability requirements are much higher.
Why did you choose 1,500 horsepower?
We spent a lot of time discussing how much power we should give the Chiron. We knew we had to set a new high speed record, and it was clear from the beginning that we needed 1,500 horsepower. With eight liters of displacement we achieved more or less 200 horsepower per liter, which is amazing.
