It is someone’s job to drive Bugatti cars in a beautiful French countryside

Each W16 Mistral is taken on a 350-kilometre test drive through the Alsace region and a high-speed track before it’s delivered to its customer.

Bugatti W16 Mistral in Alsatian village — *Each Bugatti W16 Mistral is driven through the Alsatian countryside, including its villages. – Bugatti Automobiles photo*

Buyers of brand-new Bugatti W16 Mistral cars will see from the odometer reading that someone has taken their multi-million-dollar roadster on a long joyride.

This is by design.

The French automaker says each and every Mistral car undergoes an exhaustive and uncompromising quality assessment before it is delivered to its owner.

Each car is subjected to a minimum of 400 kilometres of driving through the Alsace region in northeastern France and on a high-speed track.

The Alsatian countryside is said to be perfect for evaluating the cars’ capabilities due to the region’s diverse landscapes.

Bugatti says only a select few specialists conduct these tests – what this writer wants to know is how does one get this special job?

Bugatti W16 Mistral in forest road — *The Alsatian countryside drive includes winding roads and long highway stretches. – Bugatti Automobiles photo*

Countryside test

The folks at Bugatti created a 350-kilometre test route that includes villages, winding country roads, long highway stretches and mountain passes through this region.

“The W16 Mistral represents the pinnacle of our roadster heritage and the final expression of our legendary W16 engine. Such significance demands nothing less than a constant pursuit of perfection in every detail, throughout the car,” said Bugatti Automobiles president Christophe Piochon in a news release.

He said this test confirms that each car is imbued with the pure essence of quality, precision and craftsmanship that makes Bugatti extraordinary.

The assessment includes noise testing with the soft-top roof up and down.

It also looks at the exhaust’s acoustic signature, the dynamics of the chassis and tires, the behavior of the transmission and more.

Bugatti W16 Mistral wing — *The Bugatti W16 Mistral test drive includes a high-speed run at an airfield. – Bugatti Automobiles photo*

High-speed run

Each car is also taken onto a closed circuit for a high-speed run at the Colmar airfield, where Bugatti has a 1.6-kilometre facility.

Bugatti said this locale allows the testers to check the emergency braking system, the electronic stability control system, the ABS brakes at speeds approaching 300 km/h.

Bugatti W16 Mistral with village in background — *The test process of every Bugatti W16 Mistral is said to be without compromise. – Bugatti Automobiles photo*

Repeat tests

Should any irregularities be found on the initial test run, regardless of how small, a second verification test of 50 kilometres or more is conducted to ensure all corrections were effective.

Bugatti said this verification is repeated as many times as necessary until every car is flawless under every conceivable condition.

“In every aspect of engineering, design, craftsmanship and performance, a Bugatti must be incomparable, so it was crucial for us to also develop a testing process so comprehensive that it would be without compromise,” said Philippe Grand, Bugatti’s director of quality, in the release.