Bugatti really doesn’t have anything left to prove at this point. However, just as a reminder, they tend to prove themselves anyway. In the case of one of the world’s most powerful sports cars, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, the advertised horsepower out of the box is 1,578. However, Bugatti recently put one on a dyno just to remind everyone that those numbers, while massive, are far from imaginary.

The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport made more power than advertised

A recent Bugatti press release outlines the experience Bugatti had with putting the Chiron Super Sport on the dyno. It wasn’t just to flex the car’s power, either. Bugatti engineers actually used the dyno to simulate a full-throttle run to a speed of over 270 miles per hour. Of course, while it is standing still, it’s important to remember that the dyno does simulate road friction and resistance to adequately produce real-world load conditions. Additionally, the wheels are actually spinning as fast as they would if the car were traveling over 250 mph on a real road.

“On the all-wheel single-roller dynamometer, all the components can be tested under real driving conditions neutrally and comprehensibly. Driving resistance levels which are identical to those on the road are simulated,” says Michael Gericke, engine developer at Bugatti. “We can also reproduce the tests at any time of the year and no matter what the weather. This helps us in our permanent search for technical perfection,” he says.

Putting a Chiron on a dyno to go over 270 mph is no trivial task, either. Bugatti co-developed a restraint system with the dyno owner specifically for this test. Holding a car like this in place is a serious endeavor. Doing it wrong could cause major issues. Additionally, a massive custom cooling fan that’s over 12 feet tall provides the much-needed airflow to the Bugatti’s intakes. All said and done, the fan produces over one million cubic feet of air an hour.

In the end, the dyno results read 1,618 PS, which works out to 1595.86 horsepower. That’s nearly 20 more horsepower than Bugatti advertises. That’s no small feat. Though, it seems pretty minuscule compared to the massive power figure in the first place.

This test wasn’t just for show

Although you’ll rarely ever see a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport owner actually use its power to its maximum potential, Bugatti still wants to ensure that it is safe to do so. That is the primary purpose Bugatti performed this test. After all, the company can’t just advertise that a car can effortlessly achieve and travel at 270 mph with no hard evidence backing that claim.

“This means we can guarantee free and, above all, safe running, even at full load and top speed,” explains Gericke.

With a starting price of about 3.4 million U.S. dollars, one should hope that this kind of testing is being performed.

So, even if not for flexing, it’s still a pretty unique and awesome spectacle to see a multi-million dollar car making four-digit horsepower numbers on a dyno.

Here’s a fun fact from Bugatti to wrap things up. At 260 mph, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport’s tires turn over 50 revolutions per second or about 477 rpm. The forces exerted on the tire tread are over 4,000 times that of gravitational acceleration. That’s about 444 times the lethal amount of G-forces for a human!