Bugatti Centodieci – In the cold chamber at minus 20 degrees Celsius

The Bugatti Centodieci has been parked in a special climate chamber for two days. After tests at room temperature and heat tests at up to 50 degrees Celsius, the engineers are now cooling the chamber to minus degrees. The Centodieci has been parked at minus 20 degrees for twelve hours - until even the smallest titanium screw and the last carbon part have reached the specified temperature. For a week, engineers inspect certain parts and components of the Centodieci in the climate chamber. “Like every Bugatti, the Centodieci has to function perfectly in all temperature ranges, whether it’s 50 degrees Celsius or minus 20 degrees Celsius. We owe that to our promise of quality and to our customers,” says Carl Heilenkötter, technical project manager for one-off and few-off projects at Bugatti. "With tests in the climate chamber, we can reproduce the most diverse experiments and compare the results exactly, again and again." Therefore, the heat and cold tests in the climate chamber are of fundamental importance for the developers. This is the only way to ensure that the Centodieci works safely at all times - even if the customers may never expose their vehicle to such extreme climatic conditions.

Centodieci in the cold chamber

One of the many cold tests carried out concerns the side windows. When measuring the side window excess force limitation, even the Centodieci, which is limited to just ten units, has to meet all internal standards and legal requirements. "The side window has to detect a defined resistance and, if necessary, move back reversibly," explains Jülf Fiedler, Development Engineer Electrics/Electronics at Bugatti.

The software connected to the side window motor regulates the necessary force from predefined parameters to ensure smooth operation and at the same time protect people with a stop/reverse function. If no resistance were detected, the pane could cut through an apple, for example, or even crush a finger in the worst case.

the force is determined with a measuring device

Depending on the test, the side windows move up and down hundreds of times, and the force is determined using a measuring device. Not only the power of the engine is decisive, but also the friction and thus the resistance of the seals, the deflection gear and the glass. Everything has to be precisely coordinated. If the material of the seal, the disc size or the drive changes, the tests must be carried out again. Depending on the composition, the plastic of the seals behaves differently. “Depending on the temperature, the friction of the seal varies, which has to be taken into account in the software for the side window motor. The side windows have to move up reliably at all temperatures and the excess force limiter has to react reliably to resistance and reverse the window,” says Jülf Fiedler. Wearing cold protection suits, hats and gloves, they have been working on the hyper sports car in the climate chamber for hours.

8,0 liter W16 engine with 1.176 kW/1.600 hp

Because of its many unique characteristics, the Centodieci is subject to a high level of engineering control. The Centodieci spans an arc to Bugatti's second company era under Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli and pays homage to the ultimate super sports car of the 1990s, the Bugatti EB 110. The hyper sports car is powered by a powerful 8,0-liter W16 engine with 1.176 kW /1.600 hp at 7.050-7.100 rpm. Because of the newly developed body, the Centodieci behaves differently than previous models and must therefore be developed, tested and checked in all areas at great expense.

After a few trials and fine-tuning of the software, Carl Heilenkötter and Jülf Fiedler are satisfied. The window regulators work perfectly even in double-digit minus degrees. In the coming weeks, the Bugatti engineers will carry out further tests with the Centodieci. In addition to the last high-speed drives, this includes endurance tests over a distance of more than 30.000 kilometers (18.600 miles) according to a detailed test program lasting several weeks. Only when all tests have been successfully completed and the vehicle has been perfectly coordinated and approved by the development team does manual production begin. All ten vehicles will be delivered to their new owners this year. If we get more information, there is of course an update for this report. You will be informed about this if you simply use our Feed subscribe to. Have fun watching the pictures and stay true to us!

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at minus 20 degrees: Bugatti Centodieci in the cold chamber (8,0-liter W16 engine with 1.176 kW/1.600 hp)
Photo credit: Bugatti

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