In the distinguished history of Walt Disney Co., there never has been a ride as sophisticated and thrilling as the General Motors Test Track. With hill climbs, intense heat, freezing cold, twists, near crashes and high speed tests, Test Track encompasses many of the same elements GM engineers deal with every day in testing the vehicles of the world’s largest automotive manufacturer. With speeds reaching 65 mph and a 5,246 feet track, this is Disney’s fastest and longest ride. It takes a little over five minutes to complete the one mile track, which travels both in and around the GM Test Track building. The outside "highway," where the high speed test occurs, has a 50 degree angle around the diameter of the massive 320-foot building. Considering there are accurate simulations of many different tests GM engineers conduct, Disney Imagineers spent a great deal of time at the GM Proving Ground in Milford, MI figuring out how to condense all these elements into a one-mile track. A 18% grade hill climb during the first portion of the ride is consistent with a steep hill in San Francisco. The Belgian and German Blocks, which test suspension durability, are exactly the same as they are at the Proving Ground. All together, there are 34 turns and 85 road signs from start to finish. For tens of thousands of people to have this experience, the track needs to be not only exciting, but resilient, as well. To alleviate any concerns about rain, which can be a frequent occurrence in Florida, the Test Track surface is covered with the same paint used on Navy Aircraft Carriers. 5,246 feet... Total length of track -- Disney's longest! 65 miles per hour... Maximum speed reached by test vehicles -- Disney's fastest! 6... Maximum number of guests each test vehicle can seat 5 min. 34 seconds... Time elapsed during attraction's automotive adventure 50,000... Number of miles each test vehicle will travel per year -- equivalent to nearly four times the miles the average U.S. car is driven annually or more than 21 road trips from Orlando to Detroit and back! 1 million... Number of miles each test vehicle was designed to last -- enough miles to make a trip from the Earth to the moon more than four times, if ever such a highway in the sky existed! 4...Number of wheels per vehicle that are visible 22...Total number of wheels per vehicle 250...Horsepower generated by each test vehicle -- roughly equal to the supercharged Pontiac Grand Prix 8... Number of seconds it takes test vehicle to go from 0-60 m.p.h. -- as speedy as the Cadillac Seville STS with the Northstar engine which reaches 60 m.p.h. in 8.2 seconds 50 degrees... Angle of banking on "highway" which loops around building's massive 320-foot diameter 3... Number of onboard computers in each test vehicle which together have more processing power than the Space Shuttle 34... Number of turns hugged by each test vehicle between start and finish 15 degrees... Steepness of three-story hill climb at attraction's first scheduled test 85... Number of road signs lining the attraction's series of scheduled tests 100 degrees... Temperature change between hot and cold during environmental chamber testing 720... Number of times daily that crash-test dummies will be struck in the chest, banged on the knees and have their necks bent in pre-show demonstrations 2108... Number of blue anechoic cones lining the walls and ceiling at electromagnetic compatibility test in attraction's pre-show 6... Number of braking systems on board each vehicle -- cars sold today have one or two braking systems 0... The amount of steel between the front and rear wheels -- the vehicle chassis is made of composite materials 4446... The number of times daily that a display vehicle will collide hood-first, then reset, in high-speed barrier test TEST TRACK RIDE VEHICLE When designing the ride vehicle for GM Test Track, Walt Disney Imagineers faced some interesting problems. Not only did they need to design a fast and good looking vehicle, but also one that would be durable enough to handle thousands of Walt Disney World guests every day. The end product results in a vehicle that is fast enough to travel on an Interstate and reliable enough to make 21 round-trip excursions between Orlando and Detroit every year! How fast will it go, is an anticipated question of any vehicle. The same can be said for a thrill ride! Disney Imagineers did a masterful job in combining the speed of both into one extraordinary attraction. Each of the 31 ride vehicles in use generate 250 horsepower, roughly equal to the supercharged 3.8 liter engine in a Pontiac Grand Prix. The vehicles go from 0-65 miles per hour in 8.8 seconds, almost as quick as a Cadillac Seville STS with the Northstar engine, which covers that trip in 8.2 seconds. The vehicles, which are the size of a typical sedan, are equipped to handle six passengers and reach speeds of up to 65 mph during the 5 minute ride. With thousands of Disney guests visiting Test Track every day, these vehicles have been made to withstand just about anything. In fact, they are designed to last one million miles, equal to four round trips to the moon. Each vehicle will travel 50,000 miles a year-- just about four times as much as the average U.S. car is driven annually. At the heart of this unique vehicle are three on-board computers which have more processing power than a NASA Space Shuttle. Each Test Track vehicle has 22 tires- but only four that are visible.
There are six braking systems on each vehicle. Compare that to today’s
vehicles, which only have one or two braking systems. There is no steel
between the front and rear wheels as the vehicle chassis is made
entirely of composite materials. |
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