High speed tests?
It is important for the military to have a high-speed, high-load, high-temp testing mechanism for its military transport and wheeled combat vehicles that routinely operate under high weight, temperatures, and speeds. Although YPG was the Army's premiere hot weather test site, it lacked a sufficiently specialized facility to conduct continuous high speed testing on paved roads.
I can tell you this...the actual speed for some military vehicles is far higher than their published speeds.
Last edited by BlueOx; Oct 14, 2012 at 09:41 PM.
The Ohio track has 140 MPH neutral steering in lane 3, which means they could be running 175....180 in the corners pulling lateral g's and then have two miles down the straights to hit really high speeds with no lateral g's to influence the cars stability. If you would take the time to look, you would see the awesome facilities in Ohio for every type of testing. It is a private facility for rent to every car manufacturer to do their testing, so they know what it takes to maintian security. Every car manufacturer does the same thing as GM does with the Corvette ....keep their cars under wraps until they are ready to release them to the public.
Look at the spy shots over the years. One thing is common, they are on public streets, taken by John Q Public who happened to be in the right place at the right time. John Q public doesn't wander around the Transportation Research Center's test track(s) snapping photos. John Q public isn't allowed into the facility. If he trespasses, he goes to jail. If you think John Q public is going to hire a helicopter and pilot and have them sit around everyday for 6-8 months hoping GM will bring a Corvette to the facility for testing, you're crazy. How would John Q public even know the day that GM is testing a Corvette? Do you think GM will have the local TV station announce it on the news?
Do you believe that GM designs the Corvette in the Summer of year one, builds the test cars in the Fall of year one, does the high speed testing of the test cars in the Winter of year one, builds the production cars in the Spring of year one, and then sells the cars to the public at the start of the summer of year one? One year from the drawing board to the dealer's showroom. Sure they do.......that must be why they can only do their high speed testing in the Winter in AZ. yeah, right!!!!!!!!
The Yuma track is for HOT weather testing, not high speed testing. GM still has their Milford testing facilities(3.8 miles Oval track and a 4.5 miles Circle track with 120 MPH posted speed limit in the outer lane) and can rent the Ohio facility when needed. You want to do high speed testing, the 7.5 miles test track in Ohio is where you do it, not a 3.5 mile circle in AZ. GM does not send a driver out on a track with a stock car(no roll cage etc), and tell them to see how fast they can go in a circle and not spin out and hit the wall at 180+ MPH. You need long straights for that kind of testing.
Last edited by JoesC5; Oct 15, 2012 at 12:11 PM.
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
The Ohio track has 140 MPH neutral steering in lane 3, which means they could be running 175....180 in the corners pulling lateral g's and then have two miles down the straights to hit really high speeds with no lateral g's to influence the cars stability. If you would take the time to look, you would see the awesome facilities in Ohio for every type of testing. It is a private facility for rent to every car manufacturer to do their testing, so they know what it takes to maintian security. Every car manufacturer does the same thing as GM does with the Corvette ....keep their cars under wraps until they are ready to release them to the public.
Look at the spy shots over the years. One thing is common, they are on public streets, taken by John Q Public who happened to be in the right place at the right time. John Q public doesn't wander around the Transportation Research Center's test track(s) snapping photos. John Q public isn't allowed into the facility. If he trespasses, he goes to jail. If you think John Q public is going to hire a helicopter and pilot and have them sit around everyday for 6-8 months hoping GM will bring a Corvette to the facility for testing, you're crazy. How would John Q public even know the day that GM is testing a Corvette? Do you think GM will have the local TV station announce it on the news?
Do you believe that GM designs the Corvette in the Summer of year one, builds the test cars in the Fall of year one, does the high speed testing of the test cars in the Winter of year one, builds the production cars in the Spring of year one, and then sells the cars to the public at the start of the summer of year one? One year from the drawing board to the dealer's showroom. Sure they do.......that must be why they can only do their high speed testing in the Winter in AZ. yeah, right!!!!!!!!
The Yuma track is for HOT weather testing, not high speed testing. GM still has their Milford testing facilities(3.8 miles Oval track and a 4.5 miles Circle track with 120 MPH posted speed limit in the outer lane) and can rent the Ohio facility when needed. You want to do high speed testing, the 7.5 miles test track in Ohio is where you do it, not a 3.5 mile circle in AZ. GM does not send a driver out on a track with a stock car(no roll cage etc), and tell them to see how fast they can go in a circle and not spin out and hit the wall at 180+ MPH. You need long straights for that kind of testing.
When you mention not having a roll cage and driving on a straight the only thing i can think of is this video. It is anything but straight or level for that matter. I find myself holding onto the desk and sweating every time i watch it....LMAO! I also love the little wave the driver gives when the *** end almost comes around. He is running 150+ around blind corners. Of course the driver knows the track very well. As far as I know its a bone stock ZR1 and watch for the wave at 6:34.
http://youtu.be/k6mEirkQN8o
The Ohio track has 140 MPH neutral steering in lane 3, which means they could be running 175....180 in the corners pulling lateral g's and then have two miles down the straights to hit really high speeds with no lateral g's to influence the cars stability. If you would take the time to look, you would see the awesome facilities in Ohio for every type of testing. It is a private facility for rent to every car manufacturer to do their testing, so they know what it takes to maintian security. Every car manufacturer does the same thing as GM does with the Corvette ....keep their cars under wraps until they are ready to release them to the public.
Look at the spy shots over the years. One thing is common, they are on public streets, taken by John Q Public who happened to be in the right place at the right time. John Q public doesn't wander around the Transportation Research Center's test track(s) snapping photos. John Q public isn't allowed into the facility. If he trespasses, he goes to jail. If you think John Q public is going to hire a helicopter and pilot and have them sit around everyday for 6-8 months hoping GM will bring a Corvette to the facility for testing, you're crazy. How would John Q public even know the day that GM is testing a Corvette? Do you think GM will have the local TV station announce it on the news?
Do you believe that GM designs the Corvette in the Summer of year one, builds the test cars in the Fall of year one, does the high speed testing of the test cars in the Winter of year one, builds the production cars in the Spring of year one, and then sells the cars to the public at the start of the summer of year one? One year from the drawing board to the dealer's showroom. Sure they do.......that must be why they can only do their high speed testing in the Winter in AZ. yeah, right!!!!!!!!
The Yuma track is for HOT weather testing, not high speed testing. GM still has their Milford testing facilities(3.8 miles Oval track and a 4.5 miles Circle track with 120 MPH posted speed limit in the outer lane) and can rent the Ohio facility when needed. You want to do high speed testing, the 7.5 miles test track in Ohio is where you do it, not a 3.5 mile circle in AZ. GM does not send a driver out on a track with a stock car(no roll cage etc), and tell them to see how fast they can go in a circle and not spin out and hit the wall at 180+ MPH. You need long straights for that kind of testing.

Ox have you seen the nureburgring video? I love to watch it.
They can't go any speed there. Yuma is a hot testing facility, not a high speed testing facility.
Since the vast majority of the cars that GM builds have S speed rated tires(112 MPH) I guess that 120 MPH would be considered a high speed. 120 MPH is certainly a "high Speed" considering most Interstate Highways have a speed limit of 65-70 MPH. I can't see them building a track where one can drive a car(especially since they only build a few models that will run that fast) at 180-190-200 MPH if the vast majority of the cars they would be testing only run around 120 MPH or less, wide open.
Of course, the Army might still have a few of those old WWII ***** Jeeps around that they need to run at speeds approaching 200 MPH.
Since the vast majority of the cars that GM builds have S speed rated tires(112 MPH) I guess that 120 MPH would be considered a high speed. 120 MPH is certainly a "high Speed" considering most Interstate Highways have a speed limit of 65-70 MPH. I can't see them building a trackwhere one can drive a car(especially since they only build a few models that will run that fast) at 180-190-200 MPH if the vast majority of the cars they would be testing only run around 120 MPH or less, wide open.
Of course, the Army might still have a few of those old WWII ***** Jeeps around that they need to run at speeds approaching 200 MPH.

I could care less what mph GM or the Army refers to as "high speed". You said it isn't and they said it is. I believe them. BTW, this 200 mph jeep you keep bringing up just makes you seem
Last edited by BlueOx; Oct 16, 2012 at 12:09 PM.
...it's a 4.5 mile track and GM calls it a "high-speed track". Whatever speed they publish is irrelevant because they could run whatever speed they need to.
Last edited by BlueOx; Oct 16, 2012 at 01:04 PM.












But there may still be some fine tuning being done on setup, tires, etc. The recent spy shots from higher altitude in New Mexico prove that.


