Bugatti's Tourbillon Hides 800 Electric Horsepower Behind a Rotary Switch That Leaves a Naturally Aspirated V16

Just to the right of the steering wheel hub in the Bugatti Tourbillon sits a rotary dial, and one of its positions does something unusual for a car that cost this much effort to electrify: it removes 800 horsepower from the equation. Select combustion-only, and the electric propulsion Bugatti worked to add simply drops out of the car's behavior.

The numbers on either side of that switch are large. The Tourbillon's centerpiece is an 8.3-liter naturally aspirated V16, which makes 1,000 hp at 9,000 rpm and 664 lb-ft of torque. Three electric motors add another 800 hp, for a quoted total of 1,800 hp. Bugatti claims 62 mph in 2.0 seconds and a target top speed of 276 mph, the latter reached with the Speed Key.

Two of the three motors drive the front wheels, and the third works at the rear. In combustion-only mode all three are out of the picture, leaving the V16 to drive the rear wheels alone. The result is effectively two cars: an all-wheel-drive hybrid hypercar with 1,800 hp, and a more traditional exotic with a high-revving V16 pushing the rear axle. With the front motors no longer driving, Bugatti says it was able to tune for progressive oversteer, so the car slips smoothly into a slide and is easy to catch.

What Bugatti has not done is publish separate acceleration or top-speed figures for the two modes. A significant difference in how the car responds is clearly expected, but it remains unquantified.

The V16 itself was created with Cosworth, and its output is notable. Bugatti's earlier W16 engines needed four turbochargers to reach a similar figure; the original Veyron made 1,000 hp that way before the company pushed well beyond it with the later Chiron. The Tourbillon's engine reaches roughly the Veyron's original output with no forced induction while revving to 9,000 rpm. Bugatti has effectively traded turbocharging for natural aspiration, high engine speed and electrification.

So why bother with the hybrid hardware at all? Bugatti's answer is that the system was engineered to complement the engine. The motors deliver torque instantly while the V16 is still climbing toward its peak. They also provide a claimed electric range of around 37 miles from the 25 kWh, 800V battery, enough to move silently through town before the full powertrain is deployed. The V16, the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission and the rear electric motor together weigh about 430 kg (948 lbs), roughly what the old W16 weighed on its own in the Chiron. According to Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac, the hybrid system is there to make such an ambitious engine program possible.

Other makers have gone different ways. Ferrari dropped its famous V12 for the new F80, which uses a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 making 900 hp, plus a hybrid package adding 300 hp. Lamborghini's Revuelto is closer to Bugatti's thinking, with three electric motors and a new 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12, together amounting to around 1,000 hp by an approximate conversion of manufacturer figures. Ford's forthcoming 2027 Le Mans Hypercar pairs a naturally aspirated 5.4-liter Coyote-based V8 revving beyond 9,000 rpm with the hybrid architecture its racing category requires.

At the far end is Nilu27, whose NILU has a bespoke 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 making 1,070 hp at 11,000 rpm, a dry weight of 1,200 kg (2,645 lbs), and an emphasis on mechanical controls and simplicity. It is pitched as a response to the industry's retreat from the analog world, and it suggests some hypercar buyers care more about mechanical engagement than ever-larger numbers.

The open question is how much the Tourbillon changes when the dial is turned. Until Bugatti releases figures for combustion-only running, the difference is described in character rather than in seconds or miles per hour.