Christian von Koenigsegg drove a Bugatti W16 Mistral with Mate Rimac in the passenger seat and the Bugatti CEO told him he had to try one thing

Christian von Koenigsegg was testing the Bugatti W16 Mistral with Mate Rimac in the passenger seat and Mate told Christian he ‘had to try one thing.’

The one thing in question being a pretty cool feature of the powertrain that powers the W16 Mistral.

Even though Christian von Koenigsegg is definitely used to hypercars like this, he was still pleasantly surprised.

There’s one minor disappointment.

This is why Christian von Koenigsegg and Mate Rimac see eye to eye

Christian von Koenigsegg, 54, is give or take one generation older than 38-year-old Mate Rimac but they still have a few things in common.

They’re both engineers first and founders second, and they both challenged legacy supercar manufacturers with hypercars that were great to look at, but they also came with some pretty spectacular technical advancements.

Koenisegg came up with so many engineering ideas that were either unheard of or impossible to pull off, but they did it.

The Swedish automaker pioneered the engine with no camshaft, a gearbox that can transition from any gear to any gear in milliseconds, full-carbon wheels, 800V batteries, synchro-helix doors – and the list goes on and on.

As for Rimac, well, the list is equally long.

The fact that so many high-end luxury EV makers use Rimac technology (BMW, Porsche, Aston Martin, Automobili Pininfarina, and indeed Koenigsegg) is everything you need to know.

However, in this case, we’re not talking about innovation in battery technology or electric powertrains.

The feature that Mate Rimac wanted to show Christian von Koenigsegg is a lot more ‘vintage’ – it’s an old-school turbo system.

This is what Christian von Koenigsegg wasn’t expecting when he drove the W16 Mistral

A while back, Top Gear organized an unusual challenge.

They invited Christian von Koenigsegg, Mate Rimac, and Rob Dickinson – founder of Singer Design – to the track to test each other’s cars.

Mate Rimac brought two cars, the Rimac Nevera R and the Bugatti Mistral.

Christian von Koenigsegg was testing the Bugatti W16 Mistral, the last-ever W16-powered Bugatti hypercar, around the track when Rimac told him ‘hold on, hold on’.

“You have to try one thing,” he said.

“So you know, it has sequential turbos. So, one set of turbos…” Rimac was trying to explain, but game recognizes game – as they say – and von Koenigsegg basically finished Rimac’s sentence.

“… and it kicks in the second stage,” von Koenigsegg said.

The result is a satisfying ‘Oomph’ coming from the engine.

Because the engine is roaring and then ‘Oomph’ – the first turbo kicks in.

Seconds later, there’s another ‘Oomph’ – or maybe a ‘Pssssst’ or a ‘Whoooooosh’, depending on your favorite onomatopoeic sound – and that’s the second turbo.

“That’s pretty cool,” Christian von Koenisegg said.

The only bit of bad news is that this system was specific to the W16 Mistral, and more specifically to the W16 engine that Bugatti used for every vehicle apart from the Tourbillon.

Speaking of, the Tourbillon also has turbos, but the system is different.

So the new Oomph/Pssssst/Whoooooosh isn’t necessarily as cool.

But, on the bright side, the new V16 in the Tourbillon makes it faster and more powerful.