Bugatti has built the first batch of Divo hypercars, but before handing them over to the customers, each car has to go through extensive “dynamic approval” tests.
It’ll begin with two employees covering the body with 8 square metres of a special protective film. The original underbody will be replaced with the one made especially for test purposes and so are the original wheels. The technicians check all the electronic functions and adjust the chassis including the wheel toe.
Then comes Steve Jenny, who has been responsible for issuing the dynamic approval for Bugattis since 2005. He first checks whether the vehicle complies with the homologation requirements for the region to which it will be delivered. He also needs to ensure that all of the customer’s options are in place.
Post which, a quality inspector tests all electrically operated functions such as the instrument display, power windows, navigation, sound system and air conditioning system.
Only after this, Steve heads for a 300 km (187 mi) test drive that involves mountain roads, urban roads and motorways. During the dynamic approval test, he checks the steering response, cornering behaviour, shift points and many other variables.
For acceleration and high-speed tests, every Divo heads to the runway at the Colmar airport where it’ll be subjected to tests at speeds of over 250 km/h (155 mph). The tests include Launch Control, driving modes, airbrake function, fast lane changes, braking behaviour including full braking from 160 km/h (99 mph) to 0, ESP check, and whether the full power of 1,500 hp is also available at 340 km/h (211 mph).
After leaving Colmar airport, the car is then driven at a more sedate speed on the motorway in order to cool down the 8.0-litre W16 engine. The quality checklist for the Divo contains over 100 points that Steve must tick off.
After the road and runway tests, the Divo will go through 6 hours of final visual approval.
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