The iconic Nardò Technical Centre was reopened late last week after seven months of renovation work. The ring was built in 1975 by Fiat, but sold to Porsche in 2012. Its claim to fame is that cars can be driven around it without needing to turn their steering wheel.
Porsche’s renovation of the 12.6km track cost the company some 35 million euros and that went toward resurfacing the track, installing a new guardrail system and completely redoing the car dynamic platform.
This car dynamic platform is a 106,000 square metre area consisting of two 700 metre straight lanes.
These lanes are 20 metres wide allow for the following tests:
- Acceleration from standing still
- Thermal Mapping Tests
- Handling Tests
- Braking Tests
- Performance Tests
- Air to boil Tests (temperature stabilization with/without dyno-trailer)
- Driver Assistant System Tests
- Vehicle Dynamics Tests
- HVAC
- Driveline Tests
- Homologation Tests
One of the lanes features a water wade and low-friction surface at the end.
The rest of the Nardò Technical Centre is pretty impressive too. More than 20 tracks and facilities are on site and 90 automotive companies do some level of testing there.
Porsche Engineering Group operates the facility and offers these services.
PRESS RELEASE
An important milestone dedicated to the vehicle testing of tomorrow: The renovation of the 12.6 kilometer long iconic car circular track and car dynamic platform of the Nardò Technical Center in Apulia (Italy) was successfully finished. On Thursday, the official opening ceremony of the modernized tracks of the proving ground, that has been operated by the international engineering services provider Porsche Engineering Group GmbH, Weissach (Germany), since 2012, was held in the presence of participants from regional and local authorities as well as company representatives.
The renovation works with a total investment volume of 35 million euros lasted seven months and are part of the strategic development of the testing ground. It pursues the goal that Nardò’s customers are always provided with the perfect conditions to test the vehicles of tomorrow. Besides the complex asphalting of the renowned circular track, an innovative guardrail system that has been developed by Porsche Engineering specifically for the high-speed testing activities in Nardò, was installed. The works also included the complete renovation of the car dynamic platform with an area of 106,000 square meters.
The Nardò Technical Center, with over 20 tracks and facilities on an area of more than 700 hectares, has 90 automotive companies among its customers and employs more than 150 people. It was founded in 1975 with the construction of the car circular track and offers extensive facilities for testing and conducting trials for any conceivable phase of development. The high-speed circular track that is unique world-wide with a length of 12.6 kilometers was built to improve research and development processes by enabling vehicles to be tested under extreme conditions. Throughout its history, the Nardò Technical Center has hosted tests of considerable importance, which in several cases have recorded records. Since 2012, the automotive testing ground has been operated by Porsche Engineering Group GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart. Engineering services for external customers are a cornerstone of the Porsche identity and an important part of Porsche. However, the public knows little about this. Porsche Engineering operates according to a policy of strict confidentiality to ensure that the product strategies and brand identities of its customers are always protected with the greatest care.
