Asia’s longest and the world’s fifth-largest high-speed test track, the National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX), was virtually inaugurated on June 29, 2021. The track is located near Pithampur (50 km away from Indore), Madhya Pradesh. It is a state-of-the art automotive testing and certification centre under NATRiP (Nation Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project), which is a flagship project of the Ministry of Heavy Industries under the Automotive Mission plan of the Government of India. It is well connected by rail, road, and air from important places like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Dubai.
High speed track is used to measure the maximum speed capability of high-end cars such as BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari, etc. Speed that can be attained by such cars cannot be measured on any of the Indian test tracks. At present, foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are required to do high-speed test abroad. NATRAX will make the development of prototype cars for Indian conditions possible.
Salient Features of the NATRAX
Some of the salient features of the NATRAX are as follows:
- NATRAX facility measures 11.3 km in length and has been developed in around 3,000 acres of land.
- It will facilitate automotive and component testing for automobile companies.
- The track has four lanes and is used to carry out development and homologation tests for all kinds of vehicles.
- The large size of this track enables the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to perform a wide variety of tests in one track itself such as coast down tests, brake tests, constant speed fuel consumption test, speedometer calibration, noise, vibration measurement, and mileage accumulation among others.
- NATRAX offers 14 kinds of testing tracks, including braking track, handling track, fatigue track, comfort track, gradient track, sustainability track, etc.
- The high-speed test track is 16 m wide and is oval-shaped. It has been designed for neutral speeds up to 250 kmph and a maximum speed of up to 375 kmph on curves.
- A vehicle can achieve a maximum speed of 375 Kmph on curves with steering control and it has less banking on ovals making it also one of the safest test tracks globally.
- There are research and development (R&D) laboratories and workshops for testing evaluation of all types of vehicles ranging from two-wheelers to heavy commercial trucks.
- It can be used as a one-stop solution for all sorts of high-speed performance tests for the widest categories of vehicles from two-wheelers to heavy tractor-trail.
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