“We’re engineers and we live in a land of ice and snow. When it comes to winter testing, we know our business.”
Test World in Lapland, Finland is just finishing the completion of its second indoor testing area by packing it with snow and ice. The facility is the world’s first indoor vehicle and tire-testing building designed for year-round use.
Test World Indoor allows testing in a controlled environment, which brings cost savings for auto, supplier and tire companies, even as it adds another coffin nail to the slumping spy photo business.
Making a business of arctic conditions.
Tests can be carried out according to a schedule and under specified conditions, without the temperature, wind or rain changing during the procedures. The test facility is insulated and air-conditioned, and it allows independent regulation of air and floor temperatures.
Natural snow collected and stored in the winter can be spread on the floor and used to create a snow track. The asphalt track can also be frozen to allow the performance of tests on ice, which is another extreme but variable winter road condition. For winter tests, the facility is set to a below-zero temperature – just like Chicago.
The opposite is also possible. Testing on dry or wet asphalt, even in the middle of the coldest winter is available. Winter tests can be performed outdoors on the Mellatracks proving ground and summer tests at Test World Indoor. Having all testing conditions available in one location will reduce freight and travel costs, resulting in significant savings in overall product development costs, according to the firm.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
