‘We can do bold things’: Bugatti might do a lightweight V16 Tourbillon with a manual

The Rimac Group and a consortium of money have officially bought out the entirety of the Bugatti brand, meaning there’s no more Porsche or VW Group interest anymore. According to boss Mate Rimac, that allows him the ‘freedom’ to do bold things.

One of which could very well be the boldest thing Bugatti’s done for about 100 years: a ‘lightweight’ version of the epic, V16-engined Tourbillon. With a manual gearbox.

“Now with the freedom, having the company independent from any car manufacturer, we can really think long-term and do bold things. And we will do lots of cool stuff,” Rimac told TopGear.com.

He notes how the Tourbillon is a “platform” rather than a standalone machine. “As it is now it will not be the last one that we’ll do,” Rimac said. Is he thinking about slinging in a proper manual gearbox? “Absolutely. You bet.”

And when asked about making something like those early pre-war Bugattis – light, nimble – he added: “I think the Tourbillon as it is now made a lot of sense as a successor to the Chiron. It’s an incredible car.

“But I wonder myself, what’s next for Bugatti and what would be interesting to do? And I think light weight and simplification of stuff.

“Instead of a sledgehammer as Bugattis were the last 20 years, could you do something that’s also more engaging, more back to the roots, more Type 35?

“There’s so many ideas,” he added. Likely because there’s so much car. To recap: the Bugatti Tourbillon, successor to the Chiron and Veyron, carries an all-new Cosworth-developed 8.3-litre naturally aspirated V16 engine. Sixteen cylinders. Heck, the crankshaft alone measures one metre.

Bolted to this leviathan is an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, while there’s also a 25kWh battery stuffed down the spine of the car powering a pair of electric motors on the front axle.

So you can see how Rimac’s brain is working: with the engine and motors combined, the Tourbillon creates a mammoth 1,775bhp… but weighs 1995kg. Strip away the electricity (battery/motors) and heavy DCT gearbox and you’re left with 986bhp from that nat-asp V16 and a kerbweight some 300kg lighter.

Could probably manage that with a manual, no?