Bugatti’s Boss Wants A Manual V16, And He Won’t Fake It Like Ferrari

Just as mainstream brands are dropping stick shifts en masse, exotic makers like McLaren and Ferrari have rediscovered the clutch pedal, and so have builders you have to look harder to find, like Capricorn. Wealthy buyers are paying extra for the privilege of shifting themselves, and Bugatti may be next, with the Tourbillon’s V16 powertrain hooked to a real manual gearbox.

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The last Bugatti with a clutch pedal was the EB110 from the ’90s, which paired a six-speed manual with a quad-turbo 3.5-liter V12. Since the brand’s rebirth in the ’00s, the quad-turbo 8.0-liter W16 has come exclusively with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, first in the Veyron, then the Chiron, then the parade of limited-run and one-off hypercars that followed.

Mate Rimac Says Yes, Twice

The new Bugatti Tourbillon and its hybrid V16 setup are currently automatic-only, with an eight-speed dual-clutch. That might not be permanent. At Monterey Car Week in California, our colleagues at Road & Track asked Bugatti’s CEO about a manual option, and Mate Rimac didn’t leave much room for interpretation: “Yes, definitely. Definitely. I agree 100%. Imagine a V16 with a manual. Real manual.”

That kind of answer suggests the idea has already been kicked around internally, if it isn’t further along than that. What nobody has said is what shape it takes, a one-off under the Bugatti Solitaire program, a separate limited-production model, or a box you tick on the Tourbillon order sheet.

More: Ferrari’s Hardcore 12Cilindri May Get Three Pedals And 850 Horses

In any case, Rimac made it clear that Bugatti won’t follow the example of Ferrari with the simulated manual gearbox of the 12Cilindri Manuale, sticking to a traditional recipe. The harder question is whether a stick shift can work with the Tourbillon’s hybrid hardware, since the engineering involved might cost more than the result is worth, or whether Bugatti goes without the electric assistance entirely. After all, the naturally-aspirated 8.3-liter V16 unit of the Tourbillon generates 1,000 hp (746 kW / 1,014 PS) and 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) on its own before the triple electric motors enter the chat.

The Manual Exotic Renaissance

The automotive world is currently witnessing a resurgence of three-pedal cars at the very top of the market. With electrification having obliterated acceleration times, automakers could stop chasing lightning-fast automatics, prioritizing emotional engagement, tactile feedback, and driver involvement.

McLaren went that way at Monterey with the McL 6GT, which uses a mid-mounted V8 and a six-speed manual with exposed linkage. At the same event, Gordon Murray launched the S1 with a naturally aspirated V12 and six-speed stick, Ken Okuyama showed the Kode89 with its own three-pedal V12, and Spyker announced a comeback with the V8-powered C8 Preliator XXV.

More: Collectors Want A Stick-Shift, Lamborghini’s Boss Says That’s Exactly The Problem

Among rivals already selling cars, Pagani will fit the V12-powered Utopia with a seven-speed gated shifter if you ask. The Koenigsegg CC850 takes a stranger route, using a transmission that can behave as a gated six-speed with a working clutch pedal.

The Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale has a gated six-speed lever and a clutch pedal that operate through the standard eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Lamborghini, meanwhile, has ruled the stick shift out entirely, since every car it sells now runs a plug-in hybrid powertrain.