Volkswagen Group Test Track
Volkswagen Group owns a test track facility in Ehra-Lessien. Built during the Cold War, the location was chosen as, at the time, it was in a no-fly zone near the East German border, safe from prying eyes seeing secret prototypes.
The track is used by all Volkswagen Group subsidiaries and marques, such as Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, SEAT, Skoda, and Porsche.
The facility features 96 km (60 miles) of private tarmac, which includes a large variety of road surfaces and curves, used as test tracks to evaluate new and prototype vehicles. More significantly, there is a high speed circuit with a straight approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) long. Although this portion of the track is flat and level, when standing at one end of the straight, the other end cannot be seen due to the curvature of the Earth. Including banked corners at both ends of the circuit, allowing for a high entry and exit speed to and from the straight, and to increase average speed during the 20 km (12 mi) lap, the straight is especially useful for determining vehicle top speed.
Notably, the top speed of the Bugatti Veyron and the McLaren F1 were recorded along this straight. In an episode aired on 4 February 2007 on BBC Two's Top Gear, presenter James May reached 407.9 km/h (253.5 mph) in a Bugatti Veyron. In July 2010 a Bugatti Super Sport with 1,200 bhp (890 kW) recorded the production car world speed record at an average of 431.072 km/h (267.856 mph). The facility also appeared on National Geographic Channel's Man-Made, in an episode about the Bugatti Veyron.
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