Toyota is busy developing a driving test center – Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama -in the mountains fringing Nagoya, about 30 minutes from its head office. The driving test center is being built as part of a commitment to making Toyota cars more fun to drive. The driving test center is being modeled on parts of the Nurburgring. One section of the new track is up and running as we write this!
Toyota has allocated a budget of $2.7 billion to the Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama with its completion scheduled for 2023. However, the company announced this week that the first section of its Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama, country road test course, has been completed. This particular part has been cut into the mountainous forest, and about 50 Toyota employees began work there last week.
The track would become a hit if it was open to the public with a total stretch of 5.3 kilometers featuring twisting turns and an elevation change of 75 meters between the lowest and the highest point on the track. Over 70% of the 650 hectares site in Aichi prefecture has remained as natural or re-planted forest, and it looks mesmerizingly spectacular. More specialized test tracks that are meant to ‘replicate severe driving conditions’ and a large eastern section fully dedicated to the high-speed testing are on their way! Each track has been designed while keeping in mind Japan’s global customer base in mind. Some sections of the road have been developed to ‘replicate unique roads of the world.’ Once the site is complete, there will be a total of around 3,300 workers on site.
The project is actually on a bigger scale when compared with the ‘greatest hits’ racetrack completed by Porsche just outside Leipzig. We are hoping that Toyota will release a new generation of cars inspired by the tracks in Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama. Check out the video below and let us know what you think of Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama!
