Need for Speed: Bugatti takes its most exclusive development lineup to the Nurburgring

Every hyper sports car made by Bugatti is required to meet exceptional quality standards, whatever the conditions, be it in day-to-day use or on the circuit. The hyper car manufacturer therefore regularly tests its vehicles, from current models to future series production models,  on various test tracks and circuits.

Once a year, the Bugatti development team sets out for the demanding circuit at the Nurburgring. The latest instance was carried out with no less than four models and six engineers. 

Combined, the four hyper cars - the Bugatti Centodieci, the Bugatti Divo, the Chiron Pur Sport, and the Chiron Super Sport 300+ form the most exclusive vehicle fleet in the world, with a combined value of just under 20 million euros ($32.3 million SGD).

"We want to achieve the best possible chassis setup for our customers, so we perform test drives under extreme conditions, as well as in day-to-day situations," says Lars Fischer, Head of Chassis Testing and Setup at Bugatti.

Bugatti does not make any distinction between the Chiron and their limited production editions like the Centodieci. What matters to the engineers during the test drives is that the latter drives equally, if not more precisely, quickly, and perfectly in all situations.

The Nordschleife is considered the world's most demanding circuit with an unusual topography, making it the ideal testing environment.

When the vehicle is being driven on the track, the engineers note the overall impression made by the vehicle and ensure that it delivers differentiation within the Chiron family's performance range.

Following the test drives, the results are analysed and transmitted to the development team in order for the execution procedure to be further optimised.

In the case of the Chiron Super Sport 300+, the developers inspect and verify the chassis' series setup a few weeks before. Designed for longitudinal dynamics, the hyper sports car with a long tail is developed for top speeds of up to 440km/h.

The development engineers take the various characteristics and the handling of the current Divo and Chiron Pur Sport models as benchmarks for the new Centodieci and Chiron Super Sport 300+, allowing them to assess the Bugatti lineup's ability to deliver a wide spectrum of performance.