It was precisely five decades ago that Mercedes-Benz first introduced journalists to its new test center in Untertürkheim, Stuttgart.
We were in the mid-50s. The range of Mercedes-Benz models extended from three-volume executive cars to buses, passing through vans and ending up with Unimog multipurpose vehicles.
A range of models that continued to grow in response to growing demand. However, it lacked a test track close to the production lines that would allow evaluating the behavior of different types of vehicles in the Mercedes-Benz portfolio.
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In this regard, Fritz Nallinger, head of development at Daimler-Benz AG, suggested creating a test track adjacent to the Untertürkheim plant in Stuttgart.The idea was given the green light to advance and gave rise, in 1957, to a first segment with a circular test track with different surfaces – asphalt, concrete, basalt, among others. But it quickly became evident that this track was insufficient for "the requirements of commercial and passenger vehicle testing".
All roads led to Stuttgart
Over the next 10 years, Mercedes-Benz continued to work hard on the extension and improvement of these facilities, where until then engineers secretly tested prototype production models.
Then, in 1967, the renovated Mercedes-Benz test center was finally introduced, a complex more than 15 km long.
The big highlight was without a doubt the high-speed test track (in the highlighted image), with 3018 meters and curves with 90 degrees of inclination. Here, it was possible to reach speeds up to 200 km/h – which, according to the brand, were almost “physically unbearable for humans” – and bend without putting your hands on the steering wheel, with all types of models.
An indispensable part of the endurance tests was the “Heide” section, which replicated the poor condition sections of the Lüneburg Heath road from the 1950s in northern Germany. Strong side winds, changes in direction, potholes in the road… anything you can imagine.
Since then, the test center in Untertürkheim has been modernized with the times with new test areas. One is the section with a low-noise floor dubbed the “whisper asphalt”, ideal for measuring noise levels in progress.
