Country's first public test drive track opens in Illinois
OK, maybe there is a good reason to move back to the Illinois. On October 4, the wonderfully insightful city of Naperville opened the gates to the country's first public-private automobile test track. The Test Track, built by the City of Naperville at a cost of $1.5 million, is to be used by 12 local automobile dealerships. It's located on a 9-acre piece of property near Aurora and Ogden Avenues, where many of the city's dealerships are located. The enclosed test-driving facility is illuminated for night operations and includes an asphalt track with the following features:
- A 100-foot-long cobblestone surface to simulate driving on a
- brick road.
- A 10 percent hill climb incline intended to replicate driving on a
- dirt road.
- High bank testing area with a 10 percent cross slope.
- Rough road testing on concrete pavement with embedded boulders.
- Suburban driveway and curb comprised of standard concrete driveway.
- Skid pad area consisting of asphalt pavement, irrigated so that it is constantly wet for wet braking tests.
- Three security/Web cameras used to show activity on the track and allowing for live feeds to participating car dealers.
- A simulated railroad crossing.
Thanks for the tip, Chris!
[Source: The City of Naperville]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Storm9 8:14PM (10/07/2006)
I live right near it!
Key word: TEST track
not a RACE track.
You can cannot go there unless you are test driving cars.
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j-dawg 9:23PM (10/07/2006)
I live pretty close by, too, but if you can't just go there to sling any car around, what's the point? If it's sponsored by dealerships, it's probably tailor-made to look a lot more demanding than it is.
This is just an attempt to make ordinary cars look capable.
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epp_b 9:47PM (10/07/2006)
["I live pretty close by, too, but if you can't just go there to sling any car around, what's the point?"]
I agree, this would be a great way for them to make some extra dough. Nonetheless, it is still a good idea. This could allow you to really test a car properly to make sure it does what you want/need and that there are no concerns at the limit.
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Ian 10:27PM (10/07/2006)
The track may be great for part of the test drive but I still would need to get on the expressway and get up to speed for a while. If this is the only place the dealer will let you take the car then I would be shopping else where.
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chewy 10:52PM (10/07/2006)
This looks like a track good for a manufacturer to test cars, but for the consumer it is a bit remowed from the real world, perhaps?
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Just a marketing gimmick 10:52PM (10/07/2006)
I'd much rather take an ordinary test drive because this little Disney kiddy track is too small for serious feedback.
In an average car I'm mostly concerned about freeway merge speeds and 75 mph cruising. With a sports car I'd prefer a real road with poorly banked hairpins, dropoff corners, etc. (I've found such a road, and use it for all my test drives.)
My loop is about 3-4 miles from the local dealerships so none of them ever refuse. It includes an uphill freeway climb (test of torque and cruising), then turns off onto a small hill road. If the car is nimble enough I branch off onto a tight little road with plenty of corners. Then back to the dealerships through city traffic.
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Crazy mofo 10:57PM (10/07/2006)
Screw this! We need our own damn Nürburgring.
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MikeW 11:58PM (10/07/2006)
Nardo doesn't have any straightaways. It is a giant circle, fun to look at with google earth (right in the heel of the boot)
Ehra-Lessien has one perfect straightaway, and a kidney bean back 'straight'
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Andy 1:14AM (10/08/2006)
The Naperville track is a wonderful idea. I am worried when test driving a new car on Californian public streets. I am fortunate not to have been in an accident (and pray that continues), but driving a $35,000 Subaru on streets with a bad reputation is always risky. Having an isolated race track away from the open road is a good idea for the buying public and auto reviewers.
That said, I do wish there were more racing tracks for the public. We don't need a Nürburgring track: we need a Mille Miglia event. Let's see what Ralph Nader does about that.
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charlie 1:43AM (10/08/2006)
this is the most creative way I've seen big government fucking taxpayers out of money to fund useless union projects I've ever seen. Have any of you even heard of the CONCEPT of dealership test-drivers posing an undue threat to the driving public at large?
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Jamie 2:23AM (10/08/2006)
10. this is the most creative way I've seen big government fucking taxpayers out of money to fund useless union projects I've ever seen. Have any of you even heard of the CONCEPT of dealership test-drivers posing an undue threat to the driving public at large?
Posted at 12:59AM on Oct 8th 2006 by charlie 0 stars
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Hhahah! There is hope in this world. Somebody saw right through the bull. Hahah! Way to go Charlie!
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Ben 2:53AM (10/08/2006)
So, you're saying Illinois is a dumb choice for a place to live, what with its quiet suburbs, good education in those suburbs, moderate climate, and lack of natural disasters except for the occasional tornado. Oh and it has Chicago, one of the biggest and most diverse cities in the country. I take it you would rather live in California, with the earthquakes, forest fires, mudslides, horrible roads, terrible congestion (even worse than Chicago's), smog so bad they don't allow most if any diesels, and property owners so stupid they tell a huge group of exotic car owners to quit meeting in front of their Starbucks. Right.
As for the track, I was excited when I read the headline, because I'm about 30 minutes out of Naperville. Then I read the article, and this is lame. Drivers testing cars creating congestion is a lame excuse to build this, and there is a reason why this is the first of its kind in the country. If I wanted to test a car on a bumpy road, I would take it to a bumpy road, and if I wanted to test pulling into a driveway, I would pick a random driveway and pull into it. Complete waste of money.
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Greg A. 7:15AM (10/08/2006)
"Rough road testing on concrete pavement with embedded boulders."
What about potholes?
"Three security/Web cameras used to show activity on the track and allowing for live feeds to participating car dealers."
Is there a link for the general public to view the Web cam feeds? I know it would probably get real boring real fast, but I might luck out and catch someone making a boneheaded mistake on a test drive. :)
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Tina 8:38AM (10/08/2006)
Ben, Bless your heart for being pro Illinois-but I nearly choked on my coffee when I read "moderate climate" HA!
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GhostDoggy 9:12AM (10/08/2006)
How will they simulate bad motorists while test-driving? I'm asking both the bad driver that is test driving a vehicle, and the bad motorists that are around the driven test vehicle.
Also, how does a consumer get lot-vehicle from sales lot to test location? Test-driving a vehicle that has had all of its bugs and quirks worked out says nothing of the average lot vehicle. Then again, maybe the ignorant joe six packer consumer might not care or know enough to ask.
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Michael Karesh 9:16AM (10/08/2006)
Great concept, but looks way too short to be very useful. Look at the parking spaces to just the size.
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Brian 9:18AM (10/08/2006)
Give Ben a break. Being 30 minutes outside Naperville means he's probably living the good life in the worthless town of Montgomery, smack in the middle of exurban wasteland. His house is probably one of dozens in his subdivision that has been for sale for months now; he hopes that the more he extolls Illinois, the better the chance somebody comes and buys his house.
Call it government waste if you will, but test driving a car out on the streets is a waste of time. Traffic is a nightmare, and all your test drive will consist of is sitting at stoplights. A test track in the Naperville area is probably a good thing.
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Pete 3:05PM (10/08/2006)
Naperville has terrible traffic. If you want to go on a highway drive anytime other than early on a Saturday or Sunday morning then you will be sitting in a parking lot known as the highway. I am sure this project is warranted, especially if there are a bunch of dealers around.
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Jason 11:10AM (10/08/2006)
You guys should pipe down about IL. I live in Chicago and you have idea of what you're talking about. My Acura dealer is one of the members of that test track and I think it's an excellent idea.
Remember that the dealers have to pay to use this track. When the city takes in the money, one can assume the revenues offset the cost of the project. Eventually, the city will recoup their money with zero burden on the taxpayer.
As far as the idea that people on a test drive are more dangerous then the average driver, how can that not be true? They are in an unfamiliar vehicle with little knowledge of blind spots. The seat and mirrors might be adjusted properly. And some of the characteristics most people want to know about are acceleration, handling, and braking. That's not a potential hazard? Also, you can still test drive cars on the road or freeway, but this just gives you an additional option.
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Ben 1:53PM (10/08/2006)
Ok so maybe moderate climate was a little bit of an understatement, the winters can get ridiculously cold, when it snows it can snow pretty hard, but the summers are nice enough.
And I was wrong about the distance, I grew up about an hour north of Naperville actually, in a small but growing town right next to Crystal Lake. Property values are skyrocketing, and no houses on my street are for sale thank you, especially not my parents which they built and are planning on staying in for a while. But right now I'm living in Chicago and going to school at Northwestern.
And I still think Illinois is a great place to live, And I still think this test track is a waste of money.
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