Test Tracks Obsolete?

October 24th, 2005

Mike Davis of The Car Connection recently wrote a column. After giving us a nice history of automotive test tracks, he ruminates:

But the bottom line is that large land areas that once were out in the middle of nowhere are increasingly being threatened by totally unforeseen residential real estate developments. GM’s Milford Proving Ground is surrounded on all four sides by subdivisions. Ford’s Romeo track is only about a mile from new McMansions on five-acre plots steadily marching northward.

As the latest track-to-laboratory-to-laptop technology evolves and corporate bean counters - egged on by Wall Street - look longingly at ready sources of free capital, one has to wonder if auto proving grounds are approaching buggy whip status.

Despite these pressures, there’s still no substitute for a proving grounds. Cars have to be run, and to gain meaningful data, conditons have to be controlled. Simulation may lessen the need for test tracks, but the need is still there. And will be there for as long as we build cars.

Entry Filed under: Test Labs