Bugatti is a car brand that is synonymous with outright power, and the company once again cemented itself as an automotive tour de force with the unveiling of the special edition Bugatti Centodieci. Just 10 units of the Centodieci will be made, all of which have been snapped up, of course. Prices start at over eight million euros (over RM37 million) a piece.
Now, the Centodieci is still completely free of hybrid tech, and at heart is the iconic 8.0 litre W16 turbocharged petrol engine that delivers 1,600 hp at 7,000 rpm. This is good for a century sprint time of 2.4 seconds (same as the Chiron, despite being more powerful); the 0-200 km/h is done in 6.1 seconds, and 0-300 km/h is achieved in 13.1 seconds. The top speed is electronically limited to 380 km/h, versus the Chiron’s 420-km/h threshold.
Company boss Stephan Winkelmann said the Centodieci saves 20 kg of unladen weight compared to the Chiron, enabling a power-to-weight ratio of 1.13 kg per horsepower. To achieve this, several items such as the windscreen wipers and stabilisers are made of carbon-fibre.
The Centodieci was created to pay homage to the Bugatti EB110 supercar that was built in the 1990s. In fact, the name Centodieci is Italian for the number 110. In terms of design, one can see the similarities between the EB110 and Centodieci, although it’s quite evident that the latter is still based on the Chiron.
Up front, it gets a pair of squinted LED headlights with a trailing edge that leads over the wheel arch, giving it a menacing, concept car-esque look. This trait is further accentuated with the huge seven-spoke wheels (shod with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres), chiselled profile with sharp-cut lines and five-holed side intake panels.
Over to the back, a continuous strip of LED light underscores the car’s width, while a fixed wing provides the necessary downforce to stay glued to the road. Interestingly, the super over-the-top rear diffuser features integrated “2+2 exhaust exits,” perhaps a deliberate design choice to resemble a gun barrel of sorts.
Just like the EB110, the Centodieci features a transparent glass surface that reveals the mid-mounted 16-cylinder engine, and the rear window in question has been aerodynamically optimised using laminar flow technology. A single ventilation hole is cleverly incorporated into the tail lights section.
Of course, customers get to choose exactly the colour they want with the Centodieci. All 10 units will be hand-built in Molsheim, France, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2021. The French facility is also where founder Ettore Bugatti produced the very first few cars which bore his name at the end of 1909. Thoughts?
-paultan