Bugatti unveils their fastest roadster – The Bugatti Mistral

Bugatti have unveiled what appears to be potentially the world’s fastest roadster in the form of the Bugatti Mistral. First things first, Bugatti and Koenigsegg seem to be the only to companies that actually design cars that look like they can go as fast as they’re claiming to be! Probably why both the brands have unveiled their special models within hours of each other’s reveals.

Design

Bugatti’s future is hybrid. This is not a surprise for anyone since we know the EV revolution is coming but it was confirmed by Matte Rimac who has been calling the big shots at Bugatti ever since Rimac and Bugatti merged together. Rimac will be EVs while Bugattis will be hybrids is what he said. So, this Bugatti Mistral is the final hurrah for Bugatti’s quad-turbo W16 engine. Also, Bugatti has launched a roadster after 10 years. Yeaup! The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse was he last open top Bugatti before the Mistral.

The design will remind you of many Bugattis from before. The front is a call to the Divo as the rear sees some similarity to the multi-million dollar Bugatti La Voiture Noire. Bugatti also knows how to do LED lighting and so does Koenigsegg. The Hennessey Venom F5 Roadser for example, is abysmal when it comes to the design especially the LEDs. Anyway, the horseshoe grille on the Mistral is quite bigger allowing all the air to the intercooler from the front itself. So, the side inlets or intakes can provide all the cooling to the massive quad turbos. The horizontal slits as LED DRLs aren’t just for show. The gaps in between them provide for better aero and drag so, even those serve a purpose.

Over at the rear, the X-shaped taillights are taken from the Bugatti Bolide concept which Bugatti plans to put into production “soon.” The triangular space between the tail lights is also for aero purposes as it sucks out hot air from the engine and gearbox. Bugatti didn’t cut any corners with this one. They didn’t just decide to make a convertible version of the Chiron which would’ve been far cheaper, easier and quicker. Just like they did with the Veyron. Instead, they redesigned the monocoque to make sure it looks perfect. Till now, it pretty much does look picture perfect with its silhouette. The interior design doesn’t appear to be any different from the Chiron or the other Bugattis. Doesn’t mean it feels less special, it is still Bugatti’s minimalist look with exceptional quality and no gizmos visible to keep it “Timeless” but, it’d be nice to have a screen on a multi-million dollar 4-wheeler.

Performance

The quad turbo W16 powering the Bugatti Mistral produces 1600 HP and 1600 NM of torque. All of this power is mated to a 4-wheel drive system using the same dual clutch transmission as before. Bugatti have kept quiet on the performance numbers like 0-100 KPH or its top speed but they stated that they want it to be the fastest production roadster in the world. Koenigsegg’s recently unveiled CC850 is also a convertible with a stowable roof and it also has 1385 HP, 1385 NM with a 1385 KG kerb weight. Interesting!

Bugatti’s problem will not be limited to one Koenigsegg. The current record holder for the roadster would be with the Koenigsegg Agera RS which was set on a Nevada highway in 2017. Bugatti also has another competitor to beat in the form of the Hennessey Venom F5 roadster which again was launched a day before. I guess these hypercar launch calendars got mixed up like F1 launch dates. The fact is that Bugatti states their new MID can display info clearly at speeds of upto 420 KPH which translates to around 261 MPH. That is lower than Ksegg Agera RS and the potential 311 MPH top speed of the Venom F5 coupe. The Venom F5 Convertible could easily cross the 300MPH barrier if the coupe goes up to 311 MPH!

Pricing and exclusivity

Unlike the recent hypercars or even Bugatti models, the Mistral will be made in quite high numbers. 99 units of the Mistral will be made priced at £4.2 million before taxes. Don’t worry though, all of these have already been sold out and Bugatti just made north of £400 million selling all of these in advance. Just a normal day on planet Earth I guess.