Here’s How Bugatti Tests Its Hypercars Before Their Final Delivery

Bugatti is one of the two greatest hypercar companies in the world, along with Koenigsegg, and, as such, has a hard time letting go of cars before it deems them perfect. In new details released this week, Bugatti’s testing includes a minimum of 400 kilometres of driving, and some of that is at speeds of up to 186 mph.

Some 350 kilometres is on roads in Alsace, France, where the French automaker is based. The route was charted to include a variety of driving conditions that might be faced by the new Bugatti owner, including mountain passes in different atmospheric conditions that test the powertrain and brakes, small villages, and long drives on traditional highways. A new W16 Mistral faces both cobblestone and pavement.

Bugatti also tests noise, like what the exhaust sounds like and what the sound is like inside with the roof on or off. The process is so specialised that just three people are qualified to do it. These three experts might even be supersensory, according to the marque.

“These automotive virtuosos possess the ability to detect the slightest irregular sound, identifying unknown vibrations imperceptible to untrained senses that could indicate developing issues,” Bugatti said in a statement. “Their profound mechanical understanding, borne from extensive skill with every component, enables accurate detection and diagnosis of any anomaly.”

Bugatti president Christophe Piochon said the testing process has been in development for over two decades.

“I had the opportunity to help design the 350 km test for the Veyron during its development, and saw it evolve into the assessment optimised for the Chiron and its derivatives. Now with the Mistral, we’re proud to see the continued success of this process,” Piochon said.

If any flaw is discovered, Bugatti might even disassemble the car to diagnose the issue and correct it. It’s on an airfield in Colmar where the marque does its high-speed testing, while also challenging the brakes further and stretching the 1,600 metric horsepower W16 engine to its limits, with the roof off, of course.

For a car that is said to start at around USD 5 million (roughly INR 42 crore), this is all probably the minimum one should expect and, short of what happens in a Formula 1 race team, is near the peak of hypercar testing anywhere on earth.