Millbrook Group has today announced an ambitious expansion of its Test World site in Finland, which will see it become Europe’s leading location for tire testing. The project will increase the capacity for testing on natural snow and ice, and introduce wet and dry braking, aquaplaning and split friction surfaces.
Customers can already test tires and vehicles on natural snow at Test World twelve months of the year. The site currently has two indoor winter test facilities which can be used in the milder months when the outdoor snow and ice tracks are not available. The proposed expansion will create three additional indoor areas, doubling the amount of indoor testing space.
The wet and dry braking facility will open Test World to a new market, attracting customers who wish to test winter tires on wet and dry surfaces as well as on snow and ice. The length of the extended facility will allow Test World to test brakes on passenger cars at higher speeds than possible in the existing space. The adjustable temperature and humidity will give an advantage to development, certification and labelling testing for tires by allowing greater environmental control.
Once complete, this remarkable laboratory will provide the majority of objective tests required by tire manufacturers at one facility, year-round. The results of tests conducted indoors on natural snow at Test World are comparable to outdoor results, and so tire manufacturers now have more of an appetite for such tests. New garages will be added as part of the expansion to support the increased number of tests.
“This expansion is something our customers have been asking us for and we are pleased to confirm such ambitious plans for extending our current facilities,” said Janne Seurujärvi, Managing Director, Test World. “The investment will strengthen our position as the world’s leading tire testing site for cold temperature testing. The new capabilities will allow us to provide a fuller service to our current and prospective customers, ultimately saving them time and money by providing more services on a single site.”
“Test World is already an immensely popular site, providing cutting edge testing facilities and services to tire manufacturers, and a key part of Millbrook Group’s offering to the market. We expect this news to be warmly received by our customers, who look to our engineering expertise to complement their testing and development requirements,” said Alex Burns, President of Millbrook Group.
