Ha salido un artículo sobre las instalaciones que tiene McLaren en IDIADA (España) donde prueban los prototipos. La noticia está en inglés pero me parece interesante, entre otras cosas porque salen hasta fotos, cosa muy poco común.
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Step inside McLaren's top-secret hypercar testing facilityAcross Europe, there are only a handful of privately owned test centres that allow manufacturers to develop cars in secret. This is where McLaren fine-tunes the future
Every part of McLaren's new test facility at the IDIADA proving ground near Barcelona is aligned to a 300mm grid. "We wanted it to look and feel like an extension of the McLaren Technical Centre in Woking," says head of vehicle development Ben Gulliver. The Woking MTC, as it's known, conforms to the same template. In Spain, the floor tiles are 300mm square, the wall panels are all 150cm by 120cm. Even the desks are millimetre-perfect.
It's such attention to detail that reflects the ethos of McLaren's long-time chairman Ron Dennis, who formally left the company this year. But it also speaks to its determination to grow. At the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, McLaren committed itself to "Track22", a business plan to launch 15 new models or derivatives by 2022. By then, says the plan, more than 50 per cent of its cars will feature some form of hybrid technology.
Such a programme required a step-change in McLaren's facilities, including a new testing centre. Across Europe, there are only a handful of privately owned test centres that allow manufacturers to develop cars in secret – Millbrook and Mira in the UK, The Nardò Ring in Italy and IDIADA.
Gulliver says there were three reasons for choosing IDIADA: the weather, the test tracks and the location. "Wet weather doesn't just affect high-performance testing, it also impacts on noise testing." That was the UK ruled out. "Nardò has the weather and a 12km high-speed bowl, but it takes a day to get there from the UK; IDIADA is much closer."
Having chosen the location, McLaren then set to work building a technical centre that is now home to 40 full-time staff and around 20 test cars. High-performance driving, including a 7km-long high-speed oval, can be combined with "fatigue surfaces" that simulate real-world hazards such as potholes and French pavé. Everything from heat management to NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) and aerodynamic efficiency can be tested here. There are also eight vehicle ramps and one full geometry rig within McLaren's workshop.
"We run a 24/7 operation and can simulate a ten-year life cycle in just two to three months," Gulliver says. This applies equally to both hard-ware and software. "This facility has allowed us to develop and test electronic control units on location. It makes sense to do this alongside the physical tests." McLaren's deal with IDIADA stretches for the next ten years, by which time electrification will likely have achieved a paradigm shift in the supercar business.
IDIADA was originally built as a test facility for Seat when it was state-owned, but today it's open to every manufacturer. When WIRED spoke to Gulliver, Jaguar Land Rover, Porsche and Audi were also testing alongside McLaren. "There are unwritten rules that you don't approach other vehicles or personnel. We normally camouflage our cars so you never really know what's underneath, but there's also a mutual trust."
This trust does not extend to outsiders. So-called "spy photographs" of new models are prized by automotive media, but a local by-law has made it illegal to take pictures at IDIADA, even from the outside looking in. "A few years ago we had problems with light aircraft flying overhead taking pictures, but now everyone is vigilant."
Fuente:http://www.wired.co.uk/article/mclaren-testing-idiada-hypercar-spain