Bugatti to Unleash All-New Savage Divo Hypercar
After two years of development, Bugatti is ready to start delivering the turbocharged hyper sports car later this year.
When it comes to exotic and daring, Bugatti does it with no lack of restraint. And we love it. The all-new Bugatti Divo will finally be hitting the road. Exceptionally crafted, striking in character, strictly limited, and with completely different handling performance–this is an entirely unique project. In the Divo, Bugatti has created a very exciting hyper sports car.
It took two long years of strident testing and development period, but the first models of the coveted small series are now being delivered to customers. A very lucky few.
“With the Divo, Bugatti is reviving a long-forgotten coachbuilding tradition,” says Stephan Winkelmann, President of Bugatti. “Bugatti will build only 40 of the unique Divo – at a net unit price of [approximately 5.6 million dollars]. The limited and extremely high-performance hyper sports car has its own exclusive character, features enhanced lateral acceleration, agility, and cornering characteristics and is an absolute must-have for any Bugatti enthusiast’s hyper sports car collection. With the new design of the Divo and its completely different handling performance, we have succeeded in creating a true masterpiece of automotive craftsmanship that fully revives our long-standing tradition of coachbuilding.”
Powered by an 8.0-liter W16 engine with four turbochargers, the Divo produces 1,500 horsepower. Mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, this monster can accelerate 0 to 62 mph in just 2.4 seconds.
But it was a long road to from concept to reality.
“At the beginning of 2018, our aim was to develop a particularly sporty vehicle as the first project under the leadership of new Bugatti President Stephan Winkelmann. We had lengthy discussions – and above all, we listened to our customers. Some of them were longing for an agile and corner-hungry car. That’s definitely what the Divo has turned out to be,” says Pierre Rommelfanger, project manager for limited edition models at Bugatti.
A short time later, a small team of experts began development. The goal they set themselves: the Divo was to be very different from the Chiron–even more exclusive and designed to be more sporty and agile on bends, though without sacrificing comfort and supremacy. A great challenge.
Within a few months, an initial design model was created and presented to Chiron owners in Molsheim, France, with explanations provided in one-on-one discussions.
“Every Divo customer owns a Chiron, knows what the brand stands for, and is a true Bugatti enthusiast,” adds Winkelmann. “Our customers instantly understood the sporty approach of the Divo and supported our project,” The response was overwhelming: all 40 Divo cars planned will immediately go to a new owner. “This is a great confirmation for the Bugatti team, who have developed this outstanding vehicle with a huge amount of heart and soul.”
Improved agility was accomplished by using less weight, more downforce, and a more direct chassis setup. This includes a change in wheel camber on the front and rear axles, harder springs and a more front-oriented balance. Bugatti also devoted particular effort to developing the aerodynamic properties of the Divo. Now the hood has air inlets that reduce the frontal area of the vehicle and improve the airflow. An optimized air curtain provides enhanced air ducting in the front and rear areas of the vehicle sides, and the newly shaped front spoiler serves to increase downforce, directing more air to the front air intakes and supplying the cooling system with a greater air mass and overall cooling capacity.
Other features that increase performance are the roof, modified rear end, and the rear wing. The latter ensures a high level of downforce as it is 23% wider than the rear wing on the Chiron, but its angle can still be adjusted for individual vehicle modes and continues to function as an air brake. The wing is supported by the rear diffuser, which is more efficiently designed and accommodates the four exhaust pipes.
Sadly, we won’t be test driving the Divo any time soon. But we can still look, and leer from afar.
Photos: Bugatti