During testing, vehicles sit on a turntable, or module, that contains either a five-belt rolling road — one belt under each tire and one under the center of the vehicle — or a wider single-belt system under the vehicle. The maximum speed of the belts is 193 mph.
Wind is created by a 6,700-hp, 5-megawatt General Electric motor spinning 12 carbon-fiber blades at 250 rpm. The fan sits in an aperture that is more than 26 feet in diameter. Engineers can change the characteristics of the wind by adjusting variable nozzles. The tunnel also has a heat exchanger that enables hot- and cold-weather testing.
Unger said Honda will make the tunnel available to universities and researchers when there is extra capacity. The facility has four secure bays designed to be used by outside parties.
Says Jim Keller, executive vice president of Honda North America Development and Manufacturing: “With this new facility, Honda is not simply investing in an advanced technology facility, but in the future of Honda engineers and other researchers who will work here.”