TUNNEL VISION
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forged a reputation as a world class state of the art subterranean test centre used by carmakers and racing teams from around the world to develop everything from aero to acoustics
However there are significant differences between Chip Ganassi’s Laurel Hill tunnel and Catesby First at m Catesby is twice as long To give you a sense of scale a car can travel at mph for seconds through it And while Lauren Hill is a private test facility anyone can book Catesby This got us thinking how fast can you go down it? How much noise can you make? And has anyone seen the corporate credit card?
“Anything is possible as long as there’s a suitable risk assessment in place ” the email from the people at Catesby read That’s when our minds really started frothing as there’s no better feeling than cracking a window dropping a few gears and blasting through a tunnel But being buried some nine metres below the surface and with no speed cameras Catesby is the ultimate extension of that idea because you can make as much noise and go as fast as you like
With this info we hit the phones to gather a band of rockstar cars that go all the way up to Because as sensible silent EVs take over the future of cars might be AC/DC but it’s hardly rock and roll Whereas an Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR PRO Lambo Huracán STO Audi Group B S E NASCAR Dodge Merc S that sounds like a V F car Caterham R and BRM V are noisy Really noisy
They’re also rather fast and quite a handful Especially in the dark But getting a driver for the new YouTube series was the simplest part of many complicated logistics That’s because The Stig isn’t affected by low light isn’t fazed by speed and has no eardrums to perforate
Best of all we wanted to put you in the passenger seat so we got some fancy tech to create the most engaging video experience possible And that’s thanks to Mike the anthropomorphous binaural mic
Inside Mike’s ears are two receivers which record sound just like our human ears in D And he’s shaped like a head to mimic how sound travels into and around our heads So when you play it back you hear what Mike hears As if you’re actually there listening with your very own lugholes It isn’t just surround sound it’s sonic sorcery
Now imagine what it sounds like when we put Mike in the passenger seat to bring that tunnel run magic straight into your ears Well that’s what we’ve done It’s the sound of the underground And it’s going to get loud So clean your ears out subscribe to the TG YouTube channel and keep an eye out for
TopGear Tunnel Run coming soon