What’s the first thing your mind recollects when you hear the word Bugatti? We are sure it brings the visuals of the legendary Veyron and the mighty Chiron. These two hypercars have gained cult status for their sheer excellence in touching astronomical top speed figures hard to beat. Behind all the benchmarks created by these two hypercars is their heart, the 8.0-liter W16 engine. After making a stellar debut in the Veyron 16.4 in 2005 and establishing Bugatti's glory for almost 17 years, the W16 gas engine bids adieu with the recently-unveiled W16 Mistral.

Limited to only 99 units, the all-new Bugatti Mistral Roadster is the last car to feature the 8.0-liter W16 engine, which ranks as one of the most sensational engines ever produced. Even after 17 years of its successful run, this 8.0-liter W16 engine still ranks as the only 16-cylinder engine for a production-spec car. Engineered to shatter all the speed and acceleration records, the W16 made the Bugatti Veyron a cult car. Here's a quick recap of how this W16 engine shaped the future of Bugatti we all have experienced in the last 17 years.

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Inception Of The Iconic Bugatti W16

The engine and the transmission assembly at the Bugatti Atelier
via Bugatti

Legends are not born overnight, as they take a lot of time and perseverance - something proved by the W16. It all started in 1997, when the then chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen AG, Ferdinand Karl Piech, thought of an idea of a superfast production car while traveling on a high-speed train in Japan.

In 2002, the idea got conceptualized by Gregor Gries, the-then head of technical development and one of the first employees of Bugatti after its resurrection in the 21st century. He started working on the project to create a high-performance engine with a power output of at least 1000 PS. With inputs taken from Piech’s idea, the team led by Gries developed an 881.4 lb engine, which had a W configuration different from the V configuration of performance cars. For this engine, two eight-cylinder blocks received positioning at 90-degree angles from one another, which gave it a unique ‘W’ configuration. These blocks then got fed by four exhaust gas turbochargers.

This engine then made its high-profile debut in the all-new Veyron 16.4 in 2005, with its maximum power output rated at a mind-boggling 1001 PS (987 hp). With a claimed 0-62 mph acceleration time of just 2.5 seconds and a top speed of over 400 kmph for the Veyron 16.4, the W16 instantly claimed a godlike status among modern car engines.

Challenges Faced By The W16 Engine During Veyron’s Development

New and specially developed test stand for the Bugatti W16 engine
via Bugatti

The W16 is no ordinary engine but a product of extensive developments and testing leading to a successful run. Given the larger-than-life stature of the 16-cylinder layout, Bugatti developed new ventilation systems and an engine test bench, as the previous ones were not capable enough to cope with the massive performance output. For channeling the hot exhaust gases, a first-in-industry titanium exhaust came into effect.

While developing this 16-cylinder engine, a big challenge got addressed as incorrect detection of misfire and knocking using conventional methods. To overcome this, Bugatti Ion Current Sensing (BIS) tracks the ion current flowing at each spark plug. In case of a misfire detection, the ignition timing gets slowed down, thus deactivating the cylinder and reducing the boost pressure to get things back to normalcy.

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The next big challenge came in cooling such a large engine. For this, Bugatti developed a complex water-cooling system featuring two water cycles – a high-temperature cycle and a low-temperature cycle. Around 40 liters of water flow through the high-temperature cycle with three coolers in the front end. At the same time, some 15 liters of cooling water are available in a separate water pump in the low-temperature cycle to cool down the turbochargers.

Other big-ticket highlights of this powertrain include a quad-turbocharger setup and asymmetric firing order with firing gaps of 45 degrees for a unique sound. For further variants of the Veyron, Bugatti kept on tweaking this engine. In 2010, it delivered 1,200 PS (1,183.5 hp) power and a top speed of 431.072 kmph (267.9 mph) in the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, thus earning it the title of the fastest production car in the world in the Guinness Book of Records.

The Streak Continued With the Chiron

Hyper sports cars assembly by hand at the Bugatti Atelier in Molsheim.
via Bugatti

While the W16 was getting better with every new version of the Veyron, such as Grand Sport, Super Sport, and Grand Sport Vitesse, Bugatti had bigger plans revolving around the successor of Veyron, the ‘Chiron’. For the all-new Chiron, Bugatti aimed at carrying forward the legacy of the W16 as a quieter, more powerful, and more usable engine than before. Except for the compact shape of the engine, all its other components got replaced with newer and better ones. With this improvement, the maximum power output shot up to 1,500 PS (1479.5 hp) – almost 50 percent more than the original Veyron 16.4.

Bugatti Chiron Super Sport front three-quarter
Via: Bugatti

Of all the changes and new components responsible for the massive hump in performance, the new sequential turbocharging ranks highest. With further tweaks to this method, including two-stage turbocharging, the engine claimed 1,600 PS (1,578 hp) power output in the limited-run Centodieci. These turbochargers are 60 percent larger than those used in the Veyron.

An overview of the Bugatti's 8.0-liter W16 engine
via Bugatti

In the new version, the Chiron Super Sport 300+, the engine received a few more improvements, including high-temperature material alloy for the prime components. In 2019, the Chiron Super Sport 300+ touched 490.484 kmph (304.773 mph) top speed, thus becoming the first production car to reach the 300 mph barrier.

The Bugatti Mistral Roadster might be the swansong for this gem of an engine. Till the car gets delivered to all of its 99 customers, the legacy of the W16 engine will live a glorious final ode.