It is dry and sunny, and the wind conditions are calm. The Chiron rolls up to the start with racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya at the wheel. He has a long straight ahead of him.
Montoya presses the accelerator to the limit with his right foot. The 8-litre W16 engine runs up to 2800rpm. The powerful turbochargers speed up and there is no doubt that this car is straining at the leash. Get set! Montoya releases the brake pedal. Go!
Only 32.6 seconds and just 2621 metres later, the Chiron reaches the 400km/h mark. With extremely fast reactions, Juan Pablo Montoya steps firmly on the brakes. Only 0.8 of a second after operation of the brakes, the rear wing, with a width of 1.5 metres, moves up to an angle of 49 degrees, forming an air brake that decelerates the Chiron extremely effectively.
The brakes of the Chiron, with their special carbon-ceramic brake discs (diameter of 420mm at the front, 400mm at the rear) and brake callipers developed specially for Bugatti, with eight titanium pistons on each wheel at the front and six at the rear, develop absolutely peak performance. After an incredible 9.3 seconds and 491 metres, the Chiron comes to a halt.
The V-Box 3i, the GPS-based measurement system used by the inspectors from independent testing and certification company SGS/TÜV Saar which supervised the tests, indicated 41.96 seconds. During this time, the Chiron covered a distance of 3112 metres. This means that the Chiron is significantly faster than its predecessor, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4.
Montoya is thrilled at the acceleration and braking performance of the Chiron. After the record run, he commented, “The Chiron is so incredibly fast, it takes your breath away. And its braking is at least as impressive. And the car is just so stable and consistent. I feel honoured to be part of this project.”
The 0-400-0km/h manoeuvre is the first step on the way to a new world speed record for production vehicles which Bugatti intends to set in 2018. 
Read about the record-setting “World’s Fastest SUV”, a 2000bhp Toyota Land Cruiser.
Read about the world’s fastest truck, a Volvo lorry called The Iron Knight.
