Getting to Toyota’s winter site is a test in itself
Extreme weather research centre snowed under
Mark Schrage doesn’t quibble about his company’s choice of venue for its winter testing centre. “If you’re going to do cold-weather testing, what better place could you find than one with 40 centimetres of snow?” says Toyota’s general manager of vehicle performance development.
That is, of course, assuming one can get through that snow to the testing centre.
Schrage, who’s based at Toyota’s main vehicle evaluation centre in Wittmann, Ariz., was supposed to be in Timmins, Ont., last week as his team of engineers were wrapping up another season of evaluating the company’s products in a frigid environment. He was going to take me along for a tour of the tightly secured facility.
The problem was, the snow that makes Timmins such an ideal cold-weather testing venue happened this day to be dropping from the skies by the truckload. One city resident told me it was the worst storm the city had faced this winter. It was the kind of extremes that would have engineers such as Schrage salivating — except he wasn’t able to get there. One flight had made it to Timmins, only to circle the airport several times, unable to land because of the weather conditions.
It returned to Toronto. After waiting for some time on the tarmac at Pearson airport for clearance to set off for Timmins, our pilot decided any further attempts to land there would be futile and cancelled our flight.
So instead of giving me a visual tour of the Toyota Cold Weather Testing Centre, Schrage gave me a verbal walkaround. Not as good as the real thing, but still enough to provide an insight into the lengths the company goes to ensure its products are capable of fulfilling the expectations of Canadian consumers.
Toyota has a policy of building its products in the markets where they’re sold. That means the vehicles must also be designed to cope with the specific needs of those markets. In this country, that means vehicles that will perform well in our extreme winter conditions — an environment that is different from a Japanese winter — hence the need to evaluate products here. In the homeland, they say it’s Genchi-Genbutsu, scientific testing under actual local operating conditions.
Toyota started subjecting its vehicles to a dose of Genchi-Genbutsu in the sub-zero conditions of northern Canadian climes in 1974, leading to the development of heavyduty batteries, starters, alternators and heaters suitable for this market. It also helped it create anti-corrosion measures that would help Toyotas stand up against the effects of our road salt.
In 1998, Toyota Canada decided to invest in a permanent cold weather research centre and worked with the local governments in Timmins to establish the company’s first (and only) such testing facility outside Japan. While its specific location isn’t publicized, Schrage says the complex is about five kilometres from the city’s core, near Hersey Lake.
Rotating teams of engineers transfer from Toyota’s main testing facility in Arizona to the Timmins centre, where cold-weather evaluations are conducted typically until the end of February. It’s reported Toyota spends about $1 million annually in Timmins through the facility.
Schrage explained that although many of the issues that can arise in cold-weather testing are now dealt with during the preliminary design stages, nothing replaces the physical testing and evaluation of real, live, prototype models by engineers.
Typically, such testing occurs a year or so before the vehicle arrives in showrooms, so secrecy is essential. For example, the new Tundra pickup being unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show went through rigorous winter test- ing in Timmins a year ago.
The process subjects the vehicles to repeated cycles day after day through a range of tests that not only evaluate such dynamics as braking, handling, steering, stability and traction controls, but are also designed to replicate typical customer usage — “functional checks” as Schrage puts it. For example, the engineers clear the snow off the windshield like you or I would do, but they’re looking to see if any parts around the windshield are prone to scratches or other damage during the process. Schrage says the evaluations check “virtually anything that moves” — and this is before the engine is even turned on.
Of course, starting the vehicle in deep cold is one obvious point to be checked, but the test team is also listening for other sounds, such as power steering noises at 40 below. Does the frigid environment cause unexpected issues? And how long does it take for the cabin to warm up?
The testing process involves both runs over the onsite track and paved pad, as well as longer drives up to 500 kilometres. “We’re checking to see if there are any performance changes that are a result of the (extreme) conditions,” Schrage says.
When issues arise — and Schrage admits that they do — the engineers are able to work on countermeasures to correct the problem immediately. It’s a process Schrage says is essential to the ongoing improvement of his company’s products.
Now if he could only get to Timmins …