Video: Under the skin of the Bugatti Tourbillon

In the fourth episode of its ‘A New Era’ docuseries on YouTube, viewers are invited to get up close and under the skin of the Tourbillon with chief vehicle engineer, Paul Burnham. The main thrust of the content is the packaging challenges that present themselves when engineers are attempting to cast the smallest possible chassis, while also making space for a naturally-aspired V16 engine, three electric motors, eight radiators and two occupants and their luggage.

He talks us around the rolling chassis and the ways in which all those components have been carefully packaged. The occupants sit closer together than they did in the Tourbillon’s predecessors to reduce the frontal area. For the first time, the seats don’t adjust fore and aft so the wheelbase can be kept shorter. Instead, the pedals and steering wheel move the meet the driver. We also get an insight into how air is flowed around the car, and through those numerous radiators.

Furthermore, Burnham shows us the ‘skeletonised’ structure of the suspension components. They look how you might imagine from the description, the wishbones take on an even more bone-like appearance than regular items in order to reduce weight while maintaining strength.

And that’s a theme that continues throughout the car: retaining integrity while reducing weight. For instance, there’s no dedicated rear crash beam, instead the impact-absorbing structure is incorporated into the diffuser so that one component can do two jobs.

In a world of ever more intergalactic power and performance figures, it’s easy to become blasé about what can be achieved with a modern hypercar. It’s only when you take the time to understand the engineering that goes into reaching those goals that you fully appreciate the ground-breaking technology required to hit such heights.