Hyundai is undertaking final preparations ahead of moving into its new vehicle test centre located at the iconic Nürburgring track in Germany. The purpose-built facility will be a permanent base at the track for the company, providing a dedicated resource for evaluating its vehicles on what is widely recognised as the toughest circuit in the world.
Due for completion by August 2013, the new test centre has been designed specifically to meet Hyundai’s needs. Covering four floors and 3.622 m2, it will include new workshops, office space and a VIP hospitality area, wrapped in a unique exterior glass and metallic finish.
The new facility provides a natural extension to Hyundai’s European research and development infrastructure. Its current R&D centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany, was established in 2003 and is home to the company’s European powertrain, tuning and evaluation divisions. Each of these will have easy access to the Nürburgring, enabling them to complete a greater number of vehicle assessments per year, including Hyundai’s arduous ‘accelerated durability tests’ which simulate up to 180,000 km of severe driving in a matter of weeks, to provide valuable data on a wide range of parameters.
The additional capacity for testing provided by the new facility will enable Hyundai during 2013 to complete accelerated durability tests on 11 vehicles, as well as assessing steering, suspension, ride and handling characteristics to produce set-ups suited to the preferences of European drivers.
Source: Hyundai
