The hyperexclusive Bugatti costs a cool $5 million and can only be driven on track. For those who can afford it, the experience is beyond intense. Let’s start with the name. Bolide (boh-LEED), Bugatti’s moniker for the limited-production track monster, translates from French as a “fast car” or “race car.” It is also used to describe a particularly bright meteor. Only one of these definitions is literally true, but the other two are metaphorically correct.
As I stood in pit lane at Miami International Autodrome, mentally preparing myself to drive one of the $5 million Bolides that surrounded me, I was trying to not think about the definition that describes an item that explodes in the atmosphere. I wilted in my driving suit as Bolides blasted down the front straight, all high-volume bass blasting out of the quad tailpipes. If the Bolide were a normal sports car or race car, it might pop or bang on the overrun as the driver braked hard into the Turn 1 right-hander. But what the 1578-hp quad-turbo W-16–powered Bolide actually does in this scenario is set off a depth charge, blasting deep sound waves through south Florida’s waterlogged air.
View Price on AmazonThe Bolides making all the racket are privately owned cars being driven by their owners. This event was created by Bugatti specifically for these owners. Each of the 40 Bolides sold worldwide came with a fully supported, luxury-appointed track day with full telemetry and race-crew support. This is not a car you drive to the track for a spontaneous day of lapping. Bugatti transported five privately owned Bolides and their owners to Miami for the occasion. I was the conspicuously not-rich person in pit lane trying to stay out of the way of the pro racing crew in their tidy black outfits. The scene had a very Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne vibe.
The cars certainly looked like the largely unseen and ultra-expensive playthings of the extremely rich. This is because that’s exactly what they are. When it was announced in 2020, the Bolide was intended as something of a send-off for the W-16 engine with which the current version of Bugatti was revived more than 20 years ago. The next Bugatti, the Tourbillon, will be powered by a Cosworth-built V-16. The Bolide is also a nod to Bugatti’s long-ago racing glory.
But the Bolide is neither an exclusive roadgoing hypercar nor a race car. It is not homologated for on-road usage, and despite its standard A/C, you really wouldn’t want to use it for that anyway. And there is no racing series in the world in which this beast would be allowed to compete. The Bolide is, like the upcoming Red Bull RB17 and several limited Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins over the years, a sort of real-world racing simulator. Its Michelin slicks are essentially the same as those mounted to Le Mans Hypercars. It can make about 6000 pounds of aerodynamic downforce, about 50 percent more than a modern Formula 1 car. The Bolide’s Chiron Super Sport–based W-16 makes 1578 hp, about the same as a current F1 power unit plus a 2025 Porsche 911 Turbo S. This is enough power to push the Bolide to a claimed top speed of 236 mph.
Source: roadandtrack.com
