When a car has a massive top speed the oft-asked question is: Where can someone ever do that? Well, if you are a lucky owner you could do 400 km/h in a Bugatti Chiron at a recent event hosted by the company.

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Bugatti was performing straight line aerodynamic testing at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility, located in Florida. They took the opportunity to invite 18 owners to pilot their cars to over 400 km/h on the 4,8 km runway. This was far safer than the run undertaken by a Czech businessman on the autobahn.

President of Bugatti Automobiles, Christophe Piochon, who attended the 400 Drive, said: “Just a few years ago achieving 400 km/h required months of careful preparation, the very best motorsport drivers and the most favourable conditions. For a very long time no production car could get anywhere near that speed, even for a moment. 

Click here to read about Dakar legend Giniel de Villiers’ experience with a Bugatti Veyron.

“But today, in the world of our meticulously engineered and designed Bugatti hyper sportscars, we opened up this performance to our customers in absolute safety and allow them something that very few people will ever have, and most of them even had a chance to experience this with their own car. This kind of moment is part of the incomparable magic of Bugatti.”

Click here to watch the incredible story of the McLaren F1’s record-setting top speed run.

Tailor Made

Each driver also had to pitch up with the “top speed key” to unlock their car’s full straight-line potential. The special key can only be used if the car’s automatic systems detect conditions are safe. Turning this key moves the car into a low-drag position, which allows it to achieve Vmax.

A Bugatti test driver gave each driver a detailed briefing before those could set off. After blasting down the runway each driver was presented with a special package, a keepsake of the event. All drivers received a tailored Bugatti race suit, embroidered with their name, and a Bugatti race helmet inscribed with the top speed they achieved. 

Watch the owners blast to 400 km/h in a Bugatti Chiron in the video below.