A silent 1578 bhp Bugatti?

When Bugatti revealed the €8 million (£7.3 million at current rates) Centodieci at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours D'elegance, the limited production supercar promised to be the fastest most expensive Bugatti to date. Recently the Centodieci was filmed driving at Zoute Grand Prix Concours d'Elegance in Belgium moving in complete silence.

So how does a 1578 bhp hypercar move in complete silence? Well, it appears that the show car used to promote the Centodieci is powered by an electric motor. An electric motor setup makes it very easy to move a car like this at low speeds. A silent electric motor is especially helpful when moving indoors where a massive W-16 isn’t welcomed. 

Gallery: Bugatti Centodieci filmed being manoeuvred in complete silence

The Bugatti Centodieci was built to pay tribute to the EB110 supercar of the 90s. For its day the EB110 was an astonishing performer. In 1991 the EB could sprint from 0-60 in 3.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 209 miles per hour. This performance becomes even more astonishing when you consider the EB110 used a 6-speed manual transmission instead of today’s lightning-fast dual-clutch transmissions.

The EB110’s engine was an engineering marvel. This quad-turbo V-12 featured 12 individual throttle bodies and produced 553 bhp and 451 lb-ft of torque. This highly advanced 3.5-litre V-12 revved all the way to 8,000 rpm and set an engineering benchmark that is only bested by the latest hypercars

The Bugatti Centodieci may have polarising styling, however, the 1578 bhp W-16 is a worthy tribute to the game-changing EB110. This is especially apparent when you realise a similar spec engine was used to set the production car speed record of 304.77 miles per hour. 

It’s too bad we weren’t able to listen to that glorious W-16. Instead, we watch as the Centodieci silently sneaks back to its trailer. Loaded up on its way to its next media appearance to display Bugatti’s dominance over the hypercar market.

Source: Gumbal