MOTORING NEWS - The Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit in the forests of Germany is regarded as the most demanding circuit in the world, with any car's lap time of the 20,8km circuit defining its prowess.
Car companies recognise the high regard with which performance on the track is held and Toyota has traditionally tested all its sports cars there. It also built one of its major European performance centres near the track more than a decade ago.
Despite still testing all its cars there, however, Toyota is now recreating 5,3km with identical sections of the Nurburgring track into a circuit in the mountains in Japan. Though it is much less than the total Nurburgring circuit, the choice of corners incorporated into the new circuit is based on those which best challenge the stability, balance, braking and cornering of a vehicle at speed.
The mini Nurburgring is one of 11 race tracks Toyota is building on a new 650 hectare site near Nagoya that will encompass many other research and development ( R&D) centres with new facilities. The total expenditure planned for the R&D complex is expected to be around R38- billion.
Eleven tracks in total will reproduce a variety of driving conditions so that Toyota can test its future vehicles comprehensively. The new test area is expected to be fully operational in 2023, at which point it will have 3 300 employees.
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