Bonkers track-only 1361kW Bugatti Bolide makes debut

The Bugatti Bolide is, in the car-maker's words, "the most extreme, uncompromising, fastest and lightest vehicle concept" in the French brand's history.

Developed to rival track-focused machinery like the upcoming Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR and the McLaren Senna GTR, the Bugatti Bolide sheds an astonishing 756kg from the donor Chiron's 1996kg kerb weight in the pursuit of ultimate track day performance.

It tips the scales at just 1240kg, lighter than most hot hatches, while engineers have also boosted power in the already-mighty quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 engine to an astonishing 1361kW.

That's up from the 1177kW in the Chiron Super Sport 300+ – but the higher output is only possible when you run 110-octane race fuel.

Bung in regular 98-octane petrol and total output falls back down to Super Sport levels.

Despite this, a huge amount of work has been done to extract that extra power.

It involved developing a new intake and adding four new turbochargers and redesigning the dry-sump lubrication to save weight.

New air-to-air intercoolers that feature water pre-cooling have also been added to ensure only the densest air enters the combustion chamber, while three air-cooled oil coolers, with pre-coolers, keep the engine, transmission and differential at optimum temperatures, even after track use.

Reining in the insane levels of performance are huge brakes that get neat carbon-titanium radial turbofan compressors that channel high-pressure air to the callipers and rotors.

Believed to sit on a development of the Chiron's full carbon-fibre monocoque, the Bolide's underpinnings are, Bugatti says, super-light and super-stiff and, thanks to a body made from the same lightweight material, offers tensile strength matched only by that used in the aerospace industry.

Reducing mass further, all screws and fasteners are made from titanium – metal that's also been 3D-printed for many parts used on the Bugatti.

Keeping weight down to just 1240kg saw engineers create ultra-lightweight brake callipers that weigh just 2.4kg, while the centre-lock forged aluminium rims tip the scales at just 7.4kg up front and 8.4kg at the rear.

Ensuring high cornering speeds, the specially developed tyres are 340mm wide at the front and 400mm wide at the rear.

Despite the extreme diet, the Bolide still comes with a compressed air-driven jack to enable easier tyre changes trackside.

In keeping with the race car feel, the new Bugatti concept comes with pushrod suspension and horizontal dampers, with pushrods that weigh only 100g.

Featuring motorsport-inspired aerodynamics that include some wild air-bending aids, a centre dorsal fin and a roof-mounted air scoop that deforms at speed to reduce drag, Bugatti claims the Bolide can generate up to 1800kg of downforce at 320km/h, with 800kg of that over the front axle.

Said to have been inspired by the 1947 Bell X-1 jet aircraft that first broke the sound barrier, Bugatti's designers have blended elements from F1 and LMP1 cars with an 'X' design theme.

When it comes to performance, Bugatti has made some bold claims for the Bolide.

Not only is it capable of a top speed "well above" 500km/h, the French car-maker predicts at Le Mans it will be fast enough for a 3:07.1 lap, while at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the VW-owned hypercar brand claims it will storm around the Green Hell in just 5:23.1 minutes – just a few seconds off the lap record posted by the Porsche 919 Evo LMP1 race car.

Indicating that the Bugatti Bolide is more than just a concept, the car-maker says it has been designed to meet FIA race regulations – a hint that it could be entered in the new Le Mans hypercar class.

If so, Bugatti might be forced to make a batch of 20 road-legal versions of the Bolide for public consumption.

Commenting on the wild Bolide, Bugatti boss Stephan Winkelmann said that driving the Bolide is akin to "riding on a cannonball", hinting that the car-maker already has up-and-running mules that it is testing.