Unveiled last summer, the W16 Mistral is the most extreme roadster in Bugatti history that waves goodbye to the iconic W16 engine.
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. – Emilio Scervo, Bugatti Rimac Chief Technology Officer
The front of W16 Mistral is garnished with a new wider, deeper and more three-dimensional variant of the famous Bugatti horseshoe grille that allows the high-temperature engine radiator to be fully fed purely from one intake. Two side intakes provide air to the intercoolers. The airflow around the front corners is driven by two intakes; one by the wheel and one integrated within a new three-dimensional headlamp design. The air is guided from an area of high pressure to low pressure area in the wheel well.
A reinvented Bugatti C-line connects to the top edge of the side windows and then three-dimensionally transforms across the top edge of the windscreen. All air taken through the sides gets channeled across the two radiators over the rear wheels and then out through the W16 Mistral’s X-shaped taillights. The vents appear in the triangular negative space in between the ‘X’ beams of the light.
The W16 Mistral can reach 420 km/h in ‘Top Speed’ mode. To provide ultimate control in all conditions and at all speeds, the aero map of the car has been carefully defined. It will run in ‘Top Speed’ mode with the minimum amount of rake on rear wing to reduce drag, but the rear diffuser has been optimized because downforce created by a diffuser comes with very little penalty for drag.
All 99 examples of the W16 Mistral, priced at 5 million euros net, are already sold out. Deliveries will commence in 2024.
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