The rear end breaks out slightly into a controlled drift, the tyres start to squeal. Sven Bohnhorst reacts with lightning speed and countersteers briefly. He keeps his foot on the accelerator, drifting with a smile on his face.
Bohnhorst, a chassis setup engineer at Bugatti, is testing the new Chiron Pur Sport at the limits of its handling dynamics. The aim is to improve the vehicle even further and to tune the chassis, steering and dampers even more precisely.
Aiming for ‘the perfect driving experience’
His starting point is in the area of fine nuances and minute details. These are almost imperceptible individually but will later convey the complete picture of a perfect driving experience to customers. After weeks of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he and his colleagues were finally able to return to testing the new Chiron Pur Sport on a racetrack.
“The track at Bilster Berg with its very own topographic relief is challenging and demands a high level of concentration. It’s a technical circuit with varying radii, fast and slow sectors and severe elevation changes. A genuine challenge for us chassis developers,” explained Bohnhorst.
The track goes up and down, making the car lighter in some places, and pressing it down into the dips with significant spring compression. These are ideal conditions for fine-tuning the running gear and safety systems. This is where engineers can test and take the Chiron Pur Sport to its limits.
ESC Sport+ driving mode
Particularly suitable for this purpose: the new ESC Sport+ driving mode. Experienced drivers can activate this mode when driving on racetracks. For this first time, this mode allows larger drift angle with much easier controlled drifting – the driver is able to stay on the throttle much longer to control the rear end before the ESC kicks in. This turns the Chiron Pur Sport into an extreme Chiron derivative at the other end of the performance spectrum, a model with very active driving characteristics that is made for cornering.
“The combination of an uncompromisingly sporty and harder chassis set-up, new tyres with a softer rubber compound geared towards lateral dynamics, and the shorter transmission ratio make it possible to manoeuvre the Chiron Pur Sport out of any corner safely and at lightning speed. An incredible feeling at the wheel that makes the adrenalin flow,” said Bohnhorst enthusiastically.
‘A car for those who have petrol in their blood’
The new hyper sportscar is much firmer, dynamic and direct to drive than the Chiron. It generates more grip, understeers less and provides neutral handling even in fast corner combinations. “It’s a car for drivers, for all those who have petrol in their blood. I never want to get out again!” he exclaimed happily.
Even though Bugatti usually tests on longer race circuits like the handling track in Nardo or on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, Bohnhorst feels at home at Bilster Berg which he knows well. “I now know exactly how to drive around the track. Because the Pur Sport offers such confident handling, it is easy to familiarize yourself with the special characteristics of the track,” he explained.
The 8-litre W16-cylinder engine with 1,500 ps/1,600 Nm does not get as much attention during such tests as the engineers are not primarily focused on lap times. Instead, they want the Chiron Pur Sport to handle perfectly even in extreme situations.
“In terms of development, we are close to reaching our goals – the Chiron Pur Sport is very precise and extremely agile to drive, even on such a tight handling course,” added Bohnhorst.
