Bugatti has suspended production of its vehicles such as the Chiron1 and Divo2 in Molsheim. Nevertheless, many employees are continuing to work from home, taking into account the recommendations of the relevant authorities, international experts and government measures. Lars Fischer, head of chassis testing and application at Bugatti, and Sven Bohnhorst, chassis setup engineer, are continuing to test the extraordinary hyper sports cars from Molsheim.
48-year-old engineer Fischer has been working for Bugatti since 2011 and is responsible for the testing department. “Although we are not working in the office at present, we are constantly developing the vehicles further and driving numerous kilometres at the test sites and on public roads. This means we are still on schedule,” he says. There are nevertheless some differences compared to the usual daily routine. “At the moment, we agree every morning on which applications we want to test over the next two days so that we can react quickly to new situations. Normally we would plan our tasks in advance on a weekly basis,” he says. The engineers work directly with and on Bugatti vehicles such as the Chiron and Divo, so they are dependent on other teams and test sites. “We always have to check how the other employees are working and whether any legal regulations have changed,” explains Fischer. If there is no possibility of test drives and trial runs on roads, the engineers work on their calculation and simulation models at home thanks to modern and highly developed digital work processes. Communicating via Skype is a change, but so far it has worked out well.
Currently only solo hyper sports car test drives
“Normally, we always have two engineers working on test drives in the Chiron or Divo so that the tests can be driven according to a set checklist and the data can be saved to a computer in real time,” explains Sven Bohnhorst. The 31-year-old has specialised in steering and damper calibration since 2014 at Bugatti and has helped to develop cars such as the record-breaking Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+. “Since we always maintain the recommended safe distance from our colleagues and this is not possible in a car, we are currently driving solo,” he says. For example, he now has to stop to use the computer so that he can change certain test parameters. This means that calibration takes more time – up to 30 percent longer – as some test facilities have only a few stopping points. “But the data obtained is as accurate as ever,” he says. The engineers are currently working in shifts, alternating between three vehicles, sitting in the car for up to seven hours so as to additionally comply with the currently applicable occupational safety regulations. But even though the tasks require concentration, they are still enjoyable. “Working with a hyper sports car like the Chiron with 1,500 PS is a great job that I enjoy doing every single day and one that fills me with pride,” says Bohnhorst.
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SOURCE: Volkswagen
