For any car, four small patches of rubber are all that keep it in safe contact with the road. For the Bugatti Tourbillon with its 1,800 PS hybrid powertrain, those contact patches have to work extra hard. In the summer of 2025, the development team for the Tourbillon travelled to Michelin’s Ladoux test facility in France to validate the tyres developed specifically for the hypercar.
The visit to Ladoux formed part of a broader validation programme that included many miles of evaluation and data collection, from the frozen proving grounds of Sweden to the high-speed circuit at Nardò.
The star of the programme was Miroslav Zrnčević, chief test and development driver at Bugatti Rimac who, together with his team of specialists, were tasked with creating the Tourbillon driving experience.
Their mission at Ladoux was to identify the optimum specification from a range of potential tyres created specifically for the Tourbillon. Bugatti and Michelin collaborated to engineer tyres that could meet the unique demands of a 1,800 PS hypercar, using simulations and virtual development to help optimise the designs before physical tests began.
The teams began with multiple bespoke front and rear tyre concepts, which were gradually refined through evaluation and crossmatching until the ideal combination was identified. By the time the team arrived at Ladoux, months of simulation work and joint development had reduced the options to just three specially developed tyre sets. The facility’s specialised tracks then allowed Bugatti to evaluate each option across a wide range of scenarios, including high-speed cornering and handling assessments.
The team combined objective measurements with subjective driver feedback to build a complete picture of the performance of each tyre. Quantifiable data highlighted the differences in grip and handling characteristics, while the drivers assessed how those characteristics translated into the overall driving feel and personality of the Tourbillon.
“If it was a kitchen, I would be the taster. I’m working with different engineering teams to develop the character of the car – controls, vehicle dynamics, everything else.” Miroslav Zrnčević, Bugatti Rimac’s chief test and development driver
A high-performing partnership
The tyre development partnership between Bugatti and Michelin stretches back to the original Veyron, which launched in 2005. The figures for the Veyron were extraordinary at the time, with an 8.0-litre, quad-turbocharged W16 developing 1,001 PS.
Michelin developed special PAX run-flat tyres to enable the top speed of 408.47 km/h (253.81 mph) to be reached safely. The collaboration has continued ever since, to evolve Michelin’s tyre technology to meet the increasing demands of each successive generation of Bugatti hypercar.
The Tourbillon presented a particular challenge as every key performance metric has increased compared to any version of the Veyron, from power and acceleration to maximum speed. 0-100 km/h (62 mph) is achieved in under 2.0 seconds, and top speed is 445 km/h (277 mph). This meant that no existing Michelin product could be adapted for the Tourbillon – its exceptionally broad operating envelope demanded an entirely new tyre design.
Bugatti’s Miroslav Zrnčević fully appreciates the importance of the tyre within the wider vehicle development process. While the Tourbillon’s powertrain, chassis and electronic systems are incredibly sophisticated, everything ultimately depends on those four rubber contact patches that connect the car to the road.
“The tyre is the most important part,” says Zrnčević. “You only have four small contact patches connecting the car to the ground. What happens there defines everything else.”
A tough testing programme
One of the greatest challenges the Bugatti and Michelin teams faced was timing. The development of the tyres had to progress in parallel with the evolution of the vehicle itself. Decisions had to be made before every system had reached full maturity in order to allow sufficient time for production, validation and integration as the wider programme continued to advance.
“You always develop things in parallel, and this is the most challenging part. The car and its systems are at a certain maturity level – not necessarily at the optimal one to choose the tyre, but you need to do it because it takes time to produce and validate the tyre.” Miroslav Zrnčević, Bugatti’s chief test and development driver
Testing at this level also requires a delicate balance between ambition and caution. Every prototype represents years of engineering effort, making risk management just as important as outright performance. While the team had to continue pushing the Tourbillon toward its engineering limits, protecting the programme itself remained critical throughout every phase of development.
Alongside the physical testing programme, the development process of the Tourbillon relied heavily on simulation, with engineers working in virtual environments for more than three years before arriving at the final validation stage.
The objective measurements gathered at the Ladoux circuit were compared against driver feedback accumulated over weeks of testing, helping the team verify that the real-world behaviour of the car aligned with the targets established at the beginning of the project.
Yet for all the advances in simulation technology, Tomislav Šimunić, Bugatti Rimac’s head of vehicle dynamics, believes there is no substitute for human input. “In the end, we are developing cars for people,” he comments. “We cannot develop everything just with computer technology. We need the drivers and this emotional, subjective factor in the whole story.”
By the end of the test programme, the team had achieved its primary objective. With the preferred tyre specification identified, development could then move into its next phase, focusing on the calibration of steering, dampers and control systems around the selected tyre package.
As testing continued and the programme progressed toward its most demanding evaluations, the lessons learned from these purpose-built tyres helped define how Bugatti’s new era performs not only at the limit, but in every moment behind the wheel.
You can watch a short video of the tyre selection process at Ladoux HERE.
