Navistar, Inc., Lisle, Ill., opened the Navistar Proving Grounds in New Carlisle, Ind., designed to test the company’s entire portfolio of products, including Class 5-8 commercial trucks, school buses and military vehicles. Recently purchased from Robert Bosch LLC, the 668-acre site includes a 3-mile paved and banked oval with several additional testing capabilities, such as:

• Brake testing for infrastructure, complete instrumentation and computerized data acquisition.
• Structural durability testing/accelerated mile accumulation with road profile capability using accelerometer, strain gage data and multiple road surfaces, including chatter, impact, cobblestone, undulating, resonance road surfaces, high-speed oval, gravel, body/chassis twist event and off- road surfaces.
• Specialized testing such as vehicle noise and handling, center of gravity, rollover and roof crush testing, grade-ability up to 60%, traction control and powertrain durability, among others.

"The new Navistar Proving Grounds is a strategic addition to our product development operations, and will play an important role in our mission to deliver industry-leading uptime for our customers," says Bill Kozek, president. "Beyond testing our latest vehicles and innovative technologies, we will also use the site as a customer center to showcase new products and give customers an opportunity to experience our vehicles firsthand."