Bugatti Bolide's Claimed Nurburing Time Isn't Real

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

The Bugatti Bolide Concept, which is a track-focused supercar has impressive numbers. An 8.0-liter W16 engine, 1,824 horsepower, 1,364 lb-ft of torque, a power-to-weight ratio of 0.67 kg/PS, and a weight of 1,240 kilograms — all dazzle.

Another impressive number — the claimed 3:07.1 lap time around LeMans and 5:23.1 around the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife. Problem is, those numbers are based on simulations.

There’s nothing wrong with automakers using a simulation to find out how fast their cars might go around famous race circuits, but it’s a bit unusual for a company to use a simulated time as a claim, as opposed to waiting until it can get a prototype out for a real-life lap.

Perhaps this would be less annoying if it was clearly marked as a simulation in the press release, but Bugatti instead used a footnote to quietly note the truth.

There’s no reason to think the Bolide won’t be amazing to drive, and amazingly fast, if it’s built. But using simulated runs around two of the world’s most famous racetracks to make claims is more than a little shady.

A bit of free advice to Bugatti PR: If you’re going to make a claim based on a simulation, make it extremely clear from go.

A quick scan of a few news articles shows that while journalists were quick to point out that the claims were made by Bugatti but not verified, they didn’t point out that the claim was based on a simulation. Having read the release, I wouldn’t be surprised if they simply didn’t notice.

On the list of shady things an OEM can do, this is pretty low and exceptionally annoying. As for the news writers who didn’t mention that it a simulation was the cause of the claims, let’s hope it was simply a failure to notice a small-font footnote. Being too credulous because you failed to spot an easy-to-miss caveat is understandable. Spotting it and failing to care is not.

[Image: Bugatti]

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
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