Stellantis is investing around €33 million in upgrades to the Auburn Hills and Orbassano test centers. In Auburn Hills, a wind tunnel is being upgraded to have a moving ground plane. The successful Dodge Truck NASCAR effort involved, among other things, renting a moving ground plane wind tunnel. This project will cost nearly €30 million, but will allow the measurement of ventilation drag (resistance from wheels and tires in motion), which may be up to 10% of total aerodynamic drag. The existing wind tunnel at Auburn Hills can generate wind speeds of up to 140 mph.
The Orbassano Safety Center, near Turin, Italy, is being upgraded with four test tracks to help test battery-electric vehicles and automated driving technologies. Among other tests, Orbassano replicates the IIHS passenger-side small overlap crash tests, with 13 cameras tracking the impacts from outside and five on board the test vehicle. The resulting data is integrated into computer models.

David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.
David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.
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