Bugatti says it has completed wind tunnel testing of its latest limited production offering, the Centodieci. The company notes that regardless of whether a vehicle is being produced in the tens or hundreds, each is subject to the same testing process.
André Kullig, Bugatti’s technical project manager, explained, “It makes no difference to us engineers whether we are developing a hyper sportscar for one, 10 or 500 units – the effort is the same, as we have and want to meet, even exceed, the quality and safety standards applicable to mass production.”
In the wind tunnel tests, Bugatti’s engineers assessed the airflow on and around the Centodieci at a variety of speeds. Starting at 140km/h, they used a standard setup to determine a benchmark figure for comparison with other Bugatti hyper sportscars, before running various tests up to the test bench’s maximum speed. “What’s important is the data for downthrust at the front and rear axles. These have to be perfect because they are crucial to the vehicle’s handling at high speeds,” said Kullig.
Further tests were then conducted at different ride heights and yaw angles. “No matter what speed and what driving situation, the Centodieci is sportily neutral and can be managed at all times in spite of its immense power,” noted Kullig. The Centodieci production run is limited to 10 vehicles, all of which were sold within a matter of hours at a net unit price of €8m (US$9.45m), with delivery due to begin in 2022.
