Bugatti Bolide: A Cockpit Designed For Track Experiences

The Bolide’s incredible performance – and therefore its resulting interior packaging requirements – necessitated a monocoque even stronger and stiffer than the Chiron’s². A new monocoque created the opportunity for a new seating position – one that leans rearwards into the automobile, allowing for the heels of the driver to sit slightly raised and for the passenger to be optimally angled towards the nose of the Bolide, mirroring similar arrangements that feature 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 that encompass safety, comfort and performance.

Forming a connection to the captivating exterior DNA of the Bolide, where at the rear of the hyper sports car is its instantly recognizable X-shaped taillights that perfectly frames 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 that at its core has an ‘X-theme’ structure. In essence, the design of the Bolide steering wheel is intended to inspire total confidence as the driver and car become one – especially 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, transforming into a creative piece of artistry when the Bolide is resting. The steering wheel can be easily unfastened, taken out of the cockpit, and used to creatively enhance a space in which the Bolide owner sees fit, such as a high-level business boardroom, serving 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 modelling, the latter being an advanced technique established by developers from the gaming and visual effects industry. 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 – including the multitude of complex structures, interactions and meeting points – using just polygon meshes. The entire process enhanced quality and – equally importantly – sped up the design optimization iterations required for the steering wheel as development progressed, allowing 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.

In fact, the design of the steering wheel was also informed by valuable feedback from Bugatti’s test drivers, who specified the need for a tight, compact and ergonomic package featuring eight key buttons placed optimally for ease of functionality when driving at breathtaking speeds on-track and dealing with the g-forces that the Bolide creates.

Tailored specifically for on-track driving, the Bolide must relay data in real-time 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 that was initially requested by the Bugatti test drivers – essentially 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, taking on a greater amount of data inputs, the impact of g-forces and the intense overriding emotions that the Bolide experience provides.

The unique ‘X-theme’ aesthetic on which the Bolide steering wheel is formed upon flows with abundance around the cockpit, creating a compelling design unison. The Bolide’s seats are immersed in a striking ‘X-theme’ treatment that is embedded within the multi-pad-design of the seats. To enable perfect comfort attributes and accessibility when entering the car, the outer pads of the seat’s backrest and of the headrest open together with the door, creating an optimal space in which to enter the cockpit. The ‘X-theme’ aesthetic continues to create a synergy, in this instance featuring within the 3D-printed frame that connects the headrest pad to the door structure.

The multi-pad seats are layered with precision directly onto the monocoque, ensuring an unwavering connection is made between the pilot and their Bolide without any compromise to comfort. Such an arrangement helps to significantly reduce weight and makes the Bolide the first Bugatti to have seats that are fixed, in the process ensuring a perfect seating position is realized 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.