Bugatti has released a new episode of its “A New Era” development documentary series, this one following Tourbillon validation prototypes through hot-weather testing in Seville, Spain, where ambient temperatures run past 104°F (40°C). The program covers three areas: cabin climate-control performance, temperatures across the car’s critical components, and validation of the wider cooling architecture. More than 200 thermocouples are fitted to the prototype to track how each area of the car responds as conditions and driving loads change.
The Tourbillon pairs a naturally aspirated V16 with three electric motors for a combined 1,800 hp, with two motors driving the front axle, a third working alongside the V16 at the rear, and an 800-volt battery at the center of the system. Bugatti Rimac vehicle development engineer Daniel Ríos Hidalgo said the main task in Seville was keeping cabin and engine bay temperatures under control without altering the car’s exterior shape, which the team addressed through the cooling circuits packaged inside the body. Vehicle development driver Paolo Magrone said cabin temperature directly affects a driver’s ability to be precise on track or road, so cabin comfort is treated as a performance requirement rather than a convenience.
Testing splits between public roads, where temperatures reach about 113°F (45°C), and the racetrack, where tires, brakes, powertrain, and cooling are loaded simultaneously and repeatedly. The Seville session follows an earlier hot-weather program in Dubai roughly 15 months ago, where an earlier XP prototype saw temperatures above 122°F (50°C), and winter validation in Arjeplog, Sweden, where temperatures dropped to -22°F (-30°C) and the focus was low-grip dynamics, braking, stability systems, and cabin operation in severe cold. Bugatti says the physical testing confirms what its simulation work predicts, and that the systems targeted in the Seville session were validated with stable HVAC airflow and cabin temperature under sustained load. The Tourbillon has not yet received type approval.
GalleryPhotos by Bugatti
