Nurburgring Circuit Named Preferred Testing Grounds for Lexus Production Vehicles

At Lexus of Highland Park, we know that Akio Toyoda is definitely the real deal when it comes to the proverbial car company CEO who’s passionate about race cars.

Toyoda spends a lot of time at one of the most treacherous proving ground in the world of race car driving – the 87 year-old German Nurburgring track.

Originally built to offer financial relief in hopes to alleviate some of the unfavorable effects of unemployment in the region, the “Nurburg Ring” served a dual-purpose: a test circuit for German car makers and a “safer” alternative to racing cars on public roads in the Eifel Mountains.

The Nurburgring Track was built at 17 1/2 miles long and 30 feet wide with about 172 unpredictable turns. With the added formidable conditions of rain and fog, the German racing circuit was considered extremely hazardous for even the world’s top race car drivers.

In 1984, the original track was downsized to adhere to the safety standards of the day and reconfigured into a 15.2 mile long circuit that still contains more than its fair share of exhilarating corners, drops, and jumps.

Still, with all of the changes made to The Ring over the years, it remains, by far, the most challenging racetrack in the world.

The northern part of the track, called the Nordschleife, is used to determine what many of today’s production cars are truly made of. It’s also a major reason why Akio Toyoda holds this particular circuit in high regards.

He knows the Nurburgring, because he’s driven it.

Before Toyoda took on the job at Toyota Motor Corp, he was challenged by Master Test Driver Hiromu Naruse, to become a proven, certified test driver and critic. In order to do so, he had to endure the undisputed west German circuit.

Ultimately, Toyoda wants people to be able to experience Lexus vehicles – and not just drive them.

This makes sense, because for the Toyota CEO, one chief principle shines among the rest: “Go and see for your self.”

“I wanted a car that shows what we are aiming for, something affordable, fun to drive and good for the environment,” says Toyoda.

It was when he began his tenure at TMC, under the tutelage of Hiromu Naruse, that Toyoda truly learned to appreciate cars. Even as a young boy, he always held a love for driving.

Toyoda’s desire today, is to learn a good car from a bad car – testing his company’s vehicles first-hand.

And test them, he does – at the world’s most diehard test bed for production vehicles. “Roads make cars. The Nurburgring taught me so,” says Toyoda.

At the popular German circuit, Toyota’s CEO seems to be in his own element. You’d never guess that the head of the largest automaker in the world, once had the dream of becoming a top race car driver.

While he strives to find a common languge between him and the engineers at Toyota, Akio Toyoda’s performance on the race track is nothing more than fodder for the media.

He remains a behind-the-scenes player who shares the same beliefs that we do at Lexus of Highland Park, that “The main actor is the vehicle.”