Although Bugatti just released its new hypercar, the Chiron, in 2017, its R&D department has still been hard at work.
Bugatti announced Monday that it’s conceived a new brake caliper for the Chiron that can be manufactured using 3-D printing. The eight-piston design not only is the first caliper in the world that can be produced through this method, it’s also the industry’s largest caliper.
Furthermore, unlike most products made with 3-D printing — aka additive manufacturing — it’s comprised of titanium, rather than aluminum. As a result, Bugatti claims it also is the largest functional titanium component made through this process.
The development project highlights the role Bugatti will play within the Volkswagen Group: innovator.
“As our performance data are often at the physical limits, we are especially demanding,” Frank Gotzke, Bugatti’s head of new technologies, said in a statement. “This is why Bugatti always goes at least one step further than other manufacturers in the development of technical solutions.”
Bugatti will begin subjecting the 3-D-printed brake caliper to tests in the first half of 2018 to see if it’s strong enough to be put into series production. Should that be the case, Bugatti claims it will significantly shorten vehicle production times.
