NC Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR)

From Trackpedia

Track Summary

Address: 310 Technology Drive, Garysburg, NC 27831

History:

Originally developed by Lotus as a U.S. based R&D facility, it was re-purposed as economic stimulus for Northampton County. It's design is focused on being a testing facility for the automotive industry. Funding is a mixture of private, corporate, and state tax funds.

Facilities:

Currently (Phase I) there is one main building that houses the facility offices and operations. It also incorporates six large garages (room for three cars in most). Each is heated & air conditioned with hand sink, countertop, storage cabinets and a small room on the garage floor. Each garage also incorporates a larger room upstairs from inside the garage that has a bathroom and shower.

This main building has two conference rooms that are large enough for classrooms and drivers meetings (the upstairs room is larger.) There is also a small reception room off the main lobby. There are two sets of public bathrooms (with showers). There currently is no permanent food vendor. The paddock area is gravel and separated from the track. As of 9/19/2010 there was an access road leading from the paddock to the Vehicle Dynamics Area (VDA) under construction.

Phase I Track Map:

Since this track is designed as a test/R&D facility, it consists mostly of constant radius turns of varying radii. They are put together in such a way as to make for a very fun and challenging circuit. It does not have (nor will it probably ever have) competition-oriented features like curbing or even a dedicated and barriered pit-lane. There is Armco protecting areas of the track from converging traffic and protecting corner workers.

This is an excellent "learning" circuit. The constant radius turns provide ample time "in-turn" to explore vehicle dynamics. The two "loops" or the "Peanut" as it's been dubbed is perfect for exploring how steering and throttle inputs; and suspension changes affect handling. The entire track is 40 feet wide NC-DOT spec asphalt so there is plenty of real estate to play with.

This track can be run either Clockwise or Counter Clockwise, and each direction afford its own unique properties and challenges.

Video

Onboard video (CCW) of the 2.02 mile NCCAR test track from a vintage Caldwell D9 FF1600: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0edbELrM1Cw

Onboard video & data (CW) in a 325i w/new full tread RA-1s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geNEfoI5z7M