Being behind the wheel of Bugatti’s track-only hyper sports car is a multi-dimensional sensory experience that is unlike anything else. Central to this immersive driving adventure is the Bolide’s interior. The cabin draws inspiration from the high-level world of motorsport and is influenced by exquisite craftsmanship and peerless luxury.
Facilitated by the advancement of an all-new lightweight and high-strength monocoque, every facet of the Bolide’s interior has been created specifically for Bugatti’s track-only hyper sports car.
The Bolide’s incredible performance necessitated a monocoque even stronger and stiffer than the Chiron’s. This, in turn, led to specific interior packaging requirements for the Bolide. A new monocoque created the opportunity for a new seating position. This position leans rearwards into the automobile, allowing for the heels of the driver to sit slightly raised. Additionally, it enables the passenger to be optimally angled towards the nose of the Bolide, mirroring similar arrangements found in some of the world’s most extreme racecars. Due to the raw and uncompromising nature of the Bolide, there are no parts nor trim levels shared with the Chiron family. On the contrary, the interior of the Bolide has been exclusively crafted just for this project, including optimized racing seats, a high-tech steering wheel, and an array of bespoke arrangements. These arrangements encompass safety, comfort, and performance.
Forming a connection to the captivating exterior DNA of the Bolide is the instantly recognizable X-shaped taillights located at the rear of the hyper sports car. These taillights perfectly frame a striking new central exhaust configuration. The Bolide’s cockpit melds elegantly around the same daring ‘X-theme’ design. Just as instantly visible as the exterior rear lights, once inside the Bolide, the primary focal point is a visionary steering wheel. At its core, it has an ‘X-theme’ structure. The Bolide steering wheel design aims to inspire total confidence, uniting the driver and car as one. This is especially true when taking on the extreme forces that Bugatti’s track-only model will let the driver experience.
Yet with its finely balanced proportions, the steering wheel also takes on a peerless artistic form in its own right. It transforms into a creative piece of artistry when the Bolide is resting. Unfasten the steering wheel easily and take it out of the cockpit. Moreover, can use it creatively to enhance a space of your choosing, such as a high-level business boardroom. This serves to remind them that another thrilling on-track Bugatti driving experience is never far off.
State-of-the-art modelling software enhanced the development process of the Bolide’s innovative ‘X-theme’ steering wheel. The Bugatti design team intuitively embraced high-tech 3D shaping with polygonal modeling. Developers from the gaming and visual effects industry established the latter as an advanced technique. Such a technique allowed the Bugatti specialists to accurately model the steering wheel with all its advanced components and subsystems. Using this innovative process, the team were able to simulate each feature and the varying surfaces of the steering wheel. This includes the multitude of complex structures, interactions, and meeting points, all achieved using just polygon meshes.
The entire process enhanced quality. Equally importantly, it sped up the design optimization iterations required for the steering wheel as development progressed. This allowed the design team to react in real-time to each new feedback based on testing sessions located on race tracks in other parts of the world.
Bugatti’s test drivers provided valuable feedback that informed the design of the steering wheel. They specified the need for a tight, compact, and ergonomic package. The wheel features eight key buttons placed optimally for ease of functionality when driving at breathtaking speeds on-track. It also handles the g-forces that the Bolide creates.
Tailored specifically for on-track driving, the Bolide must relay data in real-time. Present the information to the driver in a highly precise and easy-to-interpret manner. The driver therefore has the option to engage with one of two Bolide display interfaces. The first mode features complex and sophisticated data. The Bugatti test drivers initially requested this data. It essentially represents core motorsport values that the pilot needs to monitor when undertaking a high-performance on-track drive. The second mode makes available an overview of key information to the customer. This mode provides customers the opportunity to attain a sense of familiarity when being in command of the Bolide. It involves taking on a greater amount of data inputs, including the impact of g-forces. Additionally, it encompasses the intense overriding emotions that the Bolide experience provides.
The Bolide steering wheel features the unique ‘X-theme’ aesthetic, which flows abundantly around the cockpit. This creates a compelling design unison. The Bolide’s seats feature a striking ‘X-theme’ treatment embedded within the multi-pad design of the seats. The outer pads of the seat’s backrest and the headrest open together with the door to enable perfect comfort attributes and accessibility when entering the car. This creates an optimal space in which to enter the cockpit. The ‘X-theme’ aesthetic continues to create a synergy. In this instance, it features within the 3D-printed frame that connects the headrest pad to the door structure.
Layer the multi-pad seats with precision directly onto the monocoque. This ensures an unwavering connection between the pilot and their Bolide without any compromise to comfort. This arrangement significantly reduces weight and makes the Bolide the first Bugatti with fixed seats, ensuring a perfect seating position for a high-performance track-only car. Both the steering wheel and pedals are adjustable to meet the exact needs of the driver.
Four seating size options – all of which cocoon the driver seamlessly within the interior of the Bolide – are available, including one seat package that takes in the specific and unique shapes of the customer’s body. A range of materials can be specified for the seat, including leather, suede, napa and Alcantara, and detailing that ranges from dynamic quilting’s into fine laser perforations, staying true to the personalization concept at the heart of each Bolide configuration.
Keeping the experience cool for the customer when on-track and behind the wheel of the Bolide is a lightweight climate control system, which channels its airflow out of a beautifully symmetrical quad design system incorporating four pipes with aluminum nozzles – another aesthetic connection to the Bolide’s exterior DNA.
With Bolide customers close to completing the personalization process of their on-track racing masterpieces, Bugatti’s expert test drivers, designers and engineers are finalizing the last remaining modifications to ensure each Bolide example is unparalleled in every respect.
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