General Motors Proving Grounds

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General Motors operates several proving grounds.

Contents

[edit] North America

[edit] Desert Proving Ground

GM Desert Proving Ground in Mesa, Arizona is a General Motors facility for the testing of HVAC, propulsion, and various automotive systems in a harsh climate. This facility is in the process of being sold and it will be replaced by a new facility in Yuma, Arizona.

[edit] Milford Proving Ground

General Motors' Milford Proving Ground was the industry's first dedicated automobile testing facility when it opened in 1924. It is located in Milford, Michigan and covers 4,000 acres (16 km²). 4,800 staff work in its 107 buildings today. The proving ground includes the equivalent of 132 mi (212 km) of highway-quality roads for vehicle testing. Some roads are open only to drivers who have passed special performance driving training.

Facilities:

  • The VDTA ("Vehicle Dynamics Test Area"), also known as "Black Lake", is a 67 acre pad of blacktop for vehicle dynamics testing. Waterfowl have been known to try to land on this "lake" of asphalt. At the ends of the VDTA are two semicircle tracks used for accelerating vehicles up to high speed before entering the pad. A controlled low-friction area made of ceramic tiles is on one side of the pad. Another area is coated with the asphalt sealant Jennite and can be watered down to produce a low friction surface.
  • The Oval Track is a 3.8 mi (6.1 km) circuit
  • The Circle Track encloses the VDTA and is a 4.5 mi(7.2 km) banked circle. It has five lanes posted with speed limits increasing towards the outermost lane. The speed limit for the outermost lane is 120 MPH (192  km/h). Due to the banking, each lane can be driven at its posted speed all the way around the circle without needing to touch the steering wheel, given proper wheel alignment and tire pressures. The track surface is extremely hard "dolomite" concrete for wear resistance.
  • The North/South Straightaway is 6.225 mi (10 km) miles in total length and includes two 2.5 mi (4 km) straightaways
  • The East/West Straightaway is 3.1 mi (5 km) miles around and includes two 1.2 mi (1.9 km) straightaways
  • "Seven Sisters" is a short course featuring seven tight curves, some level, some banked. It is one lane that can be driven in both directions, so only one car is allowed on the course at a time. This is used for testing vehicles under transient lateral acceleration loads.
  • 12 Mile Road is a straight section of pavement which duplicates the historical surface texture of a section of 12 Mile Road near Detroit.
  • The Ride and Handling loop encloses the Circle Track and has varied surfaces and turns.
  • The Vehicle Safety & Crashworthiness Lab includes a recently added rollover test facility.


[edit] Cupuán Proving Ground

Opened in 2006, the Cupuán Proving Ground is situated between Lázaro Cárdenas and Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico.

Consisting of a circle track and several off-road courses, CPG is primarily used for HVAC testing.

[edit] South America

[edit] Cruz Alta Proving Ground, Brazil

General Motors Cruz Alta Proving Ground Location: Indaiatuba, Brazil 23 7 34.9 S, 47 18 33.1 W

http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/global_operations/south_america/braz.jsp • Founded in 1974 • Proving Ground facilities • It is the largest and most comprehensive proving ground in Latin America, and the second largest in the General Motors Corporation. It comprises the most advanced test tracks, which precisely replicate the most varied and demanding road conditions.

http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/global_operations/south_america/braz.jsp • GM do Brasil is committed to the preservation of forests and the animal species that live there. Cruz Alta Proving Ground for example, has test roads and tracks that sit amid a forest reserve of 4.6 million square meters, including 2.27 million square meters of reforested trees. The Proving Ground also features 100,000 square meters of Atlantic Forest original vegetation; 10,000 planted fruit trees and more than 1 million square meters of lawns. In addition, GM do Brasil recently partnered with IBAMA, the Brazilian Environment Protection Agency, to monitor the abundant proliferation of capybaras at that location. }}

[edit] Europe

[edit] Millbrook Proving Ground

Millbrook Proving Ground
Millbrook Proving Ground

Millbrook Proving Ground is a vehicle testing centre located at Milbrook in Bedfordshire, England. One of the largest vehicle testing centres in Europe, it is near to the M1 and Milton Keynes.

[edit] History

Modelled on the Milford Proving Ground operated by General Motors in Michigan, USA, Millbrook was opened in the 1960s by the GM subsidiary Vauxhall. Due to the geographical needs of a full testing centre, including both hills and flat land, the traditional choice of a former RAF airfield was ruled out and many sites around the UK were surveyed before the location at Millbrook was decided upon, especially due to having the benefit of being close to Vauxhall's production site at Luton.

Construction began in 1968 and once opened acted as the testing site for many European GM models from, amongst others, the Vauxhall and Bedford companies. In 1988 the site was transferred to a new company, Millbrook Proving Ground Ltd as part of Group Lotus and began to offer its facilities as well to non-GM companies. With the sale of Lotus in 1993 Millbrook was transferred to GM Holdings UK Ltd as an independently managed company and began to diversify into all aspects of vehicle testing including emission control.

Facilities:

The centre provides vehicle test and development facilities including:

  • Vehicle and system assessment
  • Powertrain development
  • Safety testing.

These are staffed by engineering teams who work with manufacturers on their test and development programmes.

Millbrook has a wide range of types of test tracks. The most prominent are the:

  • Hill Route - divided into three sections or loops which contain progressively steeper gradients and tighter corners. Sometimes seen in motoring television programmes, for example Top Gear, particularly the "ski-jump" where it is very easy for vehicles to become airborne. Also used for the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006 film).
  • Outer and Inner Handling (or City Course) circuits - extremely technical twisty circuits used for extreme testing of vehicle handling characteristics.
  • High Speed Bowl - a two mile banked circuit used for higher speed testing.

The proving ground maintains a high standard of security and secrecy to protect the commercial interests of its customers. Public access is not generally permitted and the facility is hidden from view. Limited supervised access to the facilities is available through some driver training organizations.

[edit] Australasia

[edit] Lang Lang Proving Ground

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[edit] Proposed / Closed Proving Grounds Facilities

[edit] Mezcala Proving Ground

GM's proposed facility at Mezcala, Mexico was terminated in the planning phase due to breakdown in land negotiations. The facility was to take over Desert Proving Ground tasks when GM announced DPG's closing in 2000. DPG is still operating as of late 2006.

[edit] External links

[edit] Sources

Milford Proving Grounds