The Bugatti Mistral has some trick aero along with its topless shape

Don’t you think the Bugatti Mistral is just a Chiron with the roof cut off. This car is as technologically impressive as everything else they’ve designed. From the Veyron to the upcoming Tourbillon, Bugatti doesn’t ever let us down with some magic to keep their cars planted over two hundred miles per hour.

Much like Lamborghini names its cars after famous fighting bulls, Bugatti has named its Mistral after the French winds that fill the south during the change of seasons. The name marks the end of the W16 and holds to the corporate ethos of ‘form follows performance.’ 

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The roofless, fifteen-hundred horsepower experience to two-hundred sixty miles per hour requires some trick cooling and aerodynamics, starting with the functional horseshoe grill at the front. Widened with perfectly aligned 3D printed mesh to channel air into the central radiator, the unique to Mistral design is enhanced by utilizing areas around the front lighting units.

Once the air has entered the grill, the encapsulating C-line captures it. It functions as an air diverter with “intelligent air inlets” by processing the air for use in the engine, gearbox, and rear axle. At the point where the C-line meets the windshield, it follows the same trajectory and directs air to the rear wing for downforce. The hot air eventually used by the radiators leaves the car through venting around the X-shaped taillights.

Frank Heyl, director of design was quoted as saying, “From the very beginning of the design process, it was clear to us that the W16 Mistral represented a thrilling opportunity to make history. This moment was not only an opportunity to look back wistfully at the closing of Bugatti’s monumental W16 era, but also to inspire a sense of awe with the next generation of aerodynamic art. Fusing Bugatti’s signature performance, luxury and elegance – in a meticulously engineered, safety-driven open-top design that can reach 420 km/h – is an achievement that firmly etches the W16 Mistral into a century-long story of Bugatti masterpieces. Like the evocative wind it is inspired by, the W16 Mistral stirs irresistible emotions of wistfulness, while conjuring an overwhelming sense of adventure for the future. It offers an experience that is quintessentially Bugatti; it is truly incomparable.”

Cheers!

M. T. Blake

(IG @autohabitblake)

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