But not the Bugatti Centodieci. The prototype of the French luxury manufacturer’s new few-off hyper sports car remains firmly on the ground. Five bands simultaneously simulate high speeds of up to 300 km/h – one under each tire and the fifth under the vehicle floor.

The driveshafts are dismantled ahead of testing in order to prevent the external drive of the wheels from transferring any forces into the vehicle. The vehicle is then fixed with nothing but four small pins in the underbody and its height is varied according to the testing plan.

Independently of the number of units, every new Bugatti model goes through the complete development process, be it a one-off like the La Voiture Noire2 or the limited run of ten Centodieci vehicles – both with tailored bodyworks. The flat front construction with the smaller horseshoe shape means the wind flows around the vehicle differently than it does around a Chiron3 or Divo4. With a hyper sports car that drives at well above 350 km/h, the aerodynamics and downthrust have to be one hundred percent right. The particular challenge lies in achieving the target value pre-calculated by the developers. Following computer simulation and the first prototype rollout, additional wind tunnel tests are performed before a vehicle undergoes high-speed testing on test tracks and proving grounds.

Elaborate testing for optimum handling

In the wind tunnel tests, Bugatti’s engineers check the airflow on and around the Centodieci at a variety of speeds. Starting at 140 km/h, they use a standard setup to determine a benchmark figure for comparison with other Bugatti hyper sports cars. They then run various tests up to the test bench’s maximum speed. The aim is handling that’s as balanced as possible at all speeds from 0 to over 300 km/h.

The temperature of the 8.0-liter W16 engine with 1,600 PS also very much depends on the side airflow, as this is how the engine and gearbox oil coolers are supplied with air. Using special fog images, the engineers also check the high-performance system’s brake cooling in the wind tunnel. In further tests, the wind hits the bodywork at various sideways angles to simulate the vehicle’s handling when taking corners quickly with shifting loads. The engineers will clock up many more kilometers on the test tracks and proving grounds over the next few weeks to select the definitive setup.

Bugatti presented the Centodieci within its successful new coachbuilding program in summer 2019. The Centodieci quotes automotive history: it is an homage to the legendary EB 110, with which Romano Artioli revived the Bugatti brand some 30 years ago. The EB 110 became the super sports car of the 1990s. Everything about it was new, from the breathtaking design to its exclusive technology: a carbon monocoque, V12 mid-mounted engine with 550 PS, four turbochargers, and all-wheel drive push it to top speeds of more than 350 km/h – a feat which was unattainable by other sports cars of that time.

With the EB 110 and factory in Campogalliano, the passionate Bugatti fan, Romano Artioli, was way ahead of his time. He knew how to take Ettore Bugatti’s ideas of technology, design, branding, and production standards to an entirely new level. Only 96 EB 110 GTs and 32 EB 110 Super Sports were produced up to 1995.

The Centodieci is limited to ten vehicles, all of which were sold out within a matter of hours at a net unit price of eight million euros. Delivery of the highly exclusive and handcrafted few-off model will begin next year.