When cars are in development, one item high on the checklist is safety. With current recalls making regular news, car safety is more important than ever.
In Stanfield, Nissan has been safety-testing cars at their Arizona Test Center (ATC), or proving ground, since 1987. The only Nissan proving ground in the USA, the facility is tucked away on over 3,000 acres in a very high security compound. About 150 employees test cars at the facility, where Nissan tests vehicle performance prior to public launch.
Why choose Arizona for a test track?
Many car manufacturers have chosen to test their new vehicles in Arizona weather conditions, especially in extreme heat. Within a few hours of driving time, Arizona also provides extreme cold, especially in the early month of the year, plus mountainous driving and higher altitudes.
With many wide-open roads, highways, and near-empty rural roads, Nissan can rack up 2 million miles on public roads, plus 2 million miles on their closed test track every year. Arizona’s weather facilitates testing almost every day of the year. Just a few very windy days might interfere with a particular planned test.
What gets tested?
Nissan has a major commitment in its test track, with an elaborate system which tests for reliability, performance, braking, noises, air conditioning function, and other criteria.
Sophisticated equipment allows Nissan to record conditions found on roads and mimic those conditions with equipment that shakes, rattles, and-almost-rolls the cars as they are checked for every conceivable road hazard and variable. Some of the testing happens in an indoor environment without drivers; some outdoors with test drivers.
What Nissan is attempting to do is “accelerate” the aging of the cars to condense what a car might endure in years of driving into a much shorter time span.
To accomplish the testing, a seven-day-a-week operation runs nearly around the clock. Contrary to the popular image of a glamorous speedway experience, car test drivers can have a very rigorous and boring schedule, as they drive for hours testing the cars for endurance.
The 5.7-mile oval test track might have one test driver driving around and around for many hours. Another driver might be navigating on a road that has a constant series of bumps, or wet conditions with and without salt, or potholes, or jaw-jarring humps. On occasion, drivers have even had close encounters with coyotes that have wandered in from the wild. One segment of testing involves some 40,000 Belgian blocks that simulate a road segment in Japan, which gives new respect to what drivers in other countries endure on their roads.
A “four-post shaker” lets Nissan check what vibrations for 2-5 days on a road can do to a vehicle and its tires. Results are recorded and changes are made, if needed.
What the testing is determining is how a car holds up to the many tests it must endure before Nissan is able to introduce a new model for the general public to drive. If something breaks during testing, they want to know why and fix it.
The test-driving experience
Anita MacFadden, manager of the Arizona Test Center, arranged for this reporter to have a small taste of what it feels like to test a car. John Van Tine, who trains test drivers and supervises the crew who clear the track after emergencies, demonstrated some moves on their “skid pad.” It was evident that test driving is a tough job.
One car provided for the sample test drive looked like it had training wheels. Built in Smyrna, Tennessee, (one of three US manufacturing locations), the Maxima was our demo car. Far from making the ride easier, the “training wheels” are meant to simulate icy and slippery road conditions. John took the turns like the pro he is, with helmet on and seat belts mandatory.
Skidding around, the glamour factor definitely evaporated. After several turns, skidding and turning at a dizzying pace, it was apparent that not everyone could handle the demands of that particular test. However, the test is necessary, as icy conditions occurring in cold climates would certainly demand control of the situation and excellent road handling.
Unlike years ago when drivers were encouraged to “pump their brakes” if sliding on ice, anti-lock brakes do not require that action. A slow, steady, firm application of the brake is now needed.
Next up for testing was a shiny, red Infiniti G37. This time John navigated the same skids at an even greater speed, spinning the car around in an even faster, tighter turn ratio. Glad I’d had a light lunch, I realized that excellence as a test driver is definitely not in my skill set.
Skidding, slaloms, coasting down and then up to speed, and checking how long it takes to slow down are all part of the testing experience.
While we did our testing, other drivers were driving around repetitively on the 5.7-mile oval. The oval has banking curves and requires concentration. Sometimes, the drivers must brake quickly. Checkpoints alert any new drivers that someone is on the course so no collisions happen.
At Nissan’s facility
Employees of ATC are allowed to lease a Nissan vehicle. As part of the arrangement, they complete questionnaires at intervals so their consumer experience can be considered.
Nissan provides space for third party vendors to test their vehicles on the tracks and equipment as well.
The land adjacent and between the tracks is also used by a farmer to grow hay, which has the dual purpose of dust control.
-Courtesy of CopaNews.com
