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Bugatti Chiron gets soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo's seal of approval

The first few Bugatti Chirons are about to hit the street, but before that happens the French automaker allowed soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to get behind the wheel. As Bugatti puts it, the automaker wanted to give "a real champion" the chance to drive and approve of the 1,500-horsepower luxury cruise missile before it officially hits the road. The short video shows that even in a garage full of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and a Rolls-Royce, the Chiron stands out. The video features a brief glimpse at Ronaldo's impressive collection of cars just before the low rumble of 16-turbocharged cylinders rolls in with test driver Andy Wallace behind the wheel. Wallace won the 24 Hours of Le Mans but is probably most famous for setting the McLaren F1's top speed record in 1998. Few drivers in the world are more qualified to drive what is believed to be the fastest production car ever built. After Ronaldo steps inside, the video cuts to some clips of the Portuguese player blasting around the track. We're not sure if it's really Ronaldo behind the wheel, but it is fun to see the Chiron in action. In the end Wallace tells Ronaldo he must make a call to Bugatti if he wants to keep it. Ronaldo apologizes to his other cars and picks up his phone. Related Video: News Source: YouTube/Bugatti Celebrities Bugatti Coupe Luxury Supercars Videos viral video hypercar Bugatti Chiron top speed

Bugatti will send 'Flying Doctors' as part of Chiron recall

Normally, the owner of an automobile gets a letter in the mail when they need to be informed of a recall. But 'normal' isn't nearly good enough for Bugatti owners. When the Chiron is recalled, the owner gets a house call from a so-called 'Flying Doctor' who will, in this case, inspect all 47 Chirons sold worldwide for what could be improperly welded seat brackets. If necessary, according to Bloomberg, the car will be loaded onto a truck and transported to the nearest Bugatti service center where the entire seat assembly will be replaced free of charge. Now that's what we call service. If we're honest, anyone spending upwards of $3 million for a Chiron should quite rightly expect a different level of service from someone spending $30,000 on a Volkswagen. But what makes the entire situation even more offbeat is that Bugatti estimates only one percent of all Chiron models will need to be fixed. If you do the math, one percent of 47 total vehicles means less than half of one car is expected to be improperly welded. At least Bugatti is being thorough, right? Related Video:

Coming Bugatti reportedly gets NA V16 PHEV powertrain making 1,800 horsepower

With Bugatti having shown the Chiron successor to select clientele, a growing number of unconfirmed reports from reputable sources are filling in blanks with fascinating details. Let's start with the already confirmed fact that the new engine unit nestled at the back of the new carbon monocoque would trade the Chiron's quad-turbocharged W16 for a 90-degree V16. The best source for more intel is Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac, who joined Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder as one of the guest speakers at the Financial Times' Future of the Car summit in London. Autocar reports he told his audience the engine by itself is 39.4 inches long (one meter), making it 15.8 inches longer than the W16. Germany's Auto, Moto, und Sport writes that when including the hybrid element, the power unit is nearly two meters long, almost 78.7 inches. Rimac had to win boardroom battles to get that engine approved. Some background: Years ago, when Stephan Winkelmann ran Bugatti, he not only hinted repeatedly at some kind of electric SUV, but when asked about a "three-door, ultra-premium crossover SUV" in 2019, he replied, "The design is done. Some potential customers have seen it, and they liked it." At the London summit, Mate Rimac confirmed such a vehicle had been in development, and that it was planned to use battery-electric power on a Rimac chassis. But Mate managed to convince Volkswagen Group bosses that a full EV wasn't the way to go at a time when most company chiefs believed EVs had almost finished starving internal combustion of its fossil fuels. He's been proved more right than anyone expected or wanted; he said Rimac Automobili still hasn't sold out its 150 Nevera build slots.  There are no turbos involved in this PHEV — this is a free-breathing V16, just like the last V16 to reach the marketplace, the 6.0-liter unit in the Cizeta V16T. AMS claims Bugatti's engine has been developed with Cosworth's help, is bored out to 8.3 liters, revs to 9,000 rpm, and makes about 1,000 metric horsepower on its own (986 U.S. horsepower). That's close to double the power from the Cizeta's V16, which made 540 hp and 400 pound-feet of torque. The mill has been on the dyno since at least the end of 2022. Instead of turbos from Molsheim, a hybrid element is thought to add another 800 hp in final configuration. If that's the case, the new car will go beyond the W16's 1,587-hp swan song in the Mistral roadster. What is that hybrid element?