Toyota has opened the central part of a new research and development facility at the Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama. The completed section consists of a Nurburgring-inspired test track and is one of the 3 sections planned.
Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama is located in a mountainous area near the cities of Toyota and Okazaki. The facility is spread over 650.8 hectares.
The test track consists of a 5.3 km long country road test course based on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It consist of a 75 meter elevation change across its lowest and highest sections. This facility will start with 50 employees, mostly test drivers. Apart from this, the eastern part will consists of a high-speed course while a western section will have vehicle development facilities. Both the eastern and western sections will be ready by 2023.
The Japanese carmaker plans to invest 300 billion Yen in the new facility and employ over 3,300 people when it is fully ready by 2023.
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