As we all know, there were two important events/milestones in Bugatti’s recent history: a joint venture with Rimac in late 2021 and sending-off the legendary W16 quad-turbo engine with the Mistral in mid-2022. Now, what does both of these events mean? It means that the next all-new Bugatti is probably gonna be all-electric, or, it’ll be electrified with a much smaller combustion engine, right? Well, that’s what we all assumed. However, unlike the saying “reality is often disappointing”, in Bugatti’s matter, reality seems to be quite surprising and exciting.
In a social media post, Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac revealed a couple of pictures of a prototype V16 engine – its internals actually, revealing two parallel banks of 8 cylinders in a 90-degree setup and a really long cross-plane crankshaft. Neither Bugatti in its official press release nor Mate in his social media post offered any further details whatsoever, however, the company said that the V16 engine will be part of a hybrid setup. Maybe something along the lines of the Revuelto—which packs a naturally aspirated V12 engine with a PHEV setup.
Unconfirmed but fairly reliable reports claim that the engine in question is a Cosworth-developed 8.3-litre naturally aspirated (yes, you read that right) unit that revs up to 9,000 rpm and produces about 746 kW (1,000 bhp/1,014 metric hp). After listening to that short video clip Bugatti shared, the V16 indeed sounds naturally aspirated. Remember, the number above is only from the ICE and not the hybrid system output—which will be significantly more. I guess Bugatti is taking this hybrid route so that it can continue using massive engines while still meeting the regulatory emission norms.
Eventually, Bugatti—as with any other brand—needs to go all-electric, but I’m glad that at least for a few more years, we get to see V12 and V16 engines still being produced. Watch Engineering Explained’s video if you’d like to learn more about this V16’s firing order.
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