With testing completed, Bugatti have revealed additional information about their track-only hypercar.
Completion of the testing phase for the Bolide means that the 40 customers lucky enough to purchase one can expect to be the talk of track days worldwide starting in a few months. Bugatti took this opportunity, therefore, to give us some more details about their latest creation.
“Each and every aspect is finely tuned for circuit dominance” say Bugatti about the Bolide, partly by way of explaining its top speed of 256 mpg, paltry compared to the 310 mph the company claimed back in 2020 when they unveiled the Bolide concept. The other reason for the lower top speed figure than expected, Bugatti say, is because there aren’t any FIA-approved race tracks where the car could go faster than 256 mph anyway.
Instead of their usual modus operandi of making the fastest production road cars in the world, Bugatti’s focus with the Bolide is to make a “master of the track”. With almost 1,600 horsepower and Le Mans-inspired aero, that goal seems all-but-achieved. In fact, Bugatti suggest that the Bolide is closer to a Formula 1 car than to other track toys. Bugatti’s chief test driver Andy Wallace said in today’s press release that the Bolide’s acceleration out of corners is superior to that of F1 machinery, though he’s quick to point out that that’s likely the only scenario in which the Bolide would come out on top. Still, that would make the Bolide close in speed to endurance prototype cars, and indeed, Bugatti designed the Bolide’s monocoque chassis to FIA LMh/LMDh specifications.
Bugatti, though, want us to know that despite performance like Wallace describes, the Bolide owner doesn’t need to have Max Verstappen’s skillset to enjoy it on the track. The Bolide features carbon-carbon brakes that Bugatti says “offer stopping power on par with … LMh/LMDh and Formula 1” cars. ABS and traction control, not typical for track cars, help reign in the power too. With air conditioning and power steering, Bugatti suggest the Bolide will “make sure that every lap is just as comfortable as it is memorable”.
Bugatti call the Bolide their “most extreme creation to date”. If Buick had said their newest model was their “most extreme” eyes would roll, but a statement like that from Bugatti holds considerable weight. Customer deliveries of the Bolide, all 40 of them, are set to begin in the next few months