Audi Chooses Thunderhill Raceway to Hone Its Self-Driving Cars
Audi has chosen Thunderhill Raceway Park as its home base which will be used to test self-driving cars.
Audi along with partner Electronic Research Lab will use the track to push self-driving cars to their limits so that engineers will have a better understanding of how sudden and extreme manoeuvres should be handled.
SEE ALSO: The Next Audi A8 Will Drive Itself
In a few years time, Audi plans to release the next-generation A8 which will be fit with the brand’s piloted driving system, a highly automated driving technology.
The brand has already sent a self-driving RS 7 around racetracks in California and Germany with success. “In Sonoma, we took the Audi RS7 piloted driving concept to its physical limits lap after lap, and it handled the task with uniform precision,” says Thomas Müller, the man responsible for the development of brake, steering and driver assistance systems at Audi. “The car turned in lap times that were better than those of sports car drivers.”
Along with race track testing, the piloted driving suite of technology will also continue testing on public roads.
“Thunderhill provides a perfect setting to safely test the wide range of systems that will make highly automated driving a reality in the new future,” said Ewald Goessmann, Director, Electronics Research Lab.
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
More by Stephen Elmer
Comments
Join the conversation