• Missing many safety items we take for granted now
• But exceptionally composed at very high speed
• Enormous braking performance

Let’s be clear about one thing: if you crash at the Chiron’s 261mph top speed, you’re going to get very hurt, and if you’re doing it on a public road, there’s every other chance other people will too.

Given the performance capabilities, it’s disappointing to see that the Chiron lacks now commonplace safety equipment like lane-departure assist and autonomous braking.

But Bugatti has gone to great lengths to make sure that the Chiron is fundamentally strong, stable and able to stop quickly.

Active aerodynamics improve high-speed stability

Even beyond 200mph, the Chiron feels completely composed thanks to its active front and rear spoilers, and the braking power is immense. Carbon-ceramic discs are standard, gripped by eight-piston calipers at the front and six-piston calipers at the back.

During testing to legalise the car for sale, Bugatti was actually required to perform an emergency stop from over 250mph, so you can be pretty confident they’re going to be up to the rigours of some traffic bunching on the M25.

Carbonfibre strength, six airbags

Bugatti hasn’t submitted the Chiron to Euro NCAP crash testing, but should the worst happen and you do crash, it’s comforting to know that the chassis and bodywork is built from carbon fibre, the same material that protects F1 drivers from injury.

There are also six airbags, including a passenger airbag which is claimed to be the first ever to fire through a carbonfibre housing.

Bugatti reckons the two-seater Chiron is the ultimate grand tourer. This may be true in terms of its supernatural blend of comfort and speed, but not in terms of its boot.

This is only big enough for a modest aircraft cabin-baggage suitcase, and while there is some additional space behind the seats, the overall luggage capacity doesn’t quite live to Bugatti’s claim that this is a true GT car.