Honda has announced an investment of $124 million to build an aeroacoustic wind tunnel at the Transportation Research Center, in East Liberty, Ohio. Construction is slated to begin later this summer.

“This new facility will further enhance our ability to efficiently create products of the highest quality for our customers,” said Frank Paluch, president of Honda R&D Americas, Inc. “It will be integral to our aerodynamic and aeroacoustic R&D activity, which spans from advanced research and computer simulation, through scale-model and full vehicle development, to production vehicle performance assurance. And all of this is being done right here in the U.S.”

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The new wind tunnel will help Honda develop fuel-efficient and performance-based vehicles. The wind tunnel will utilize a unique interchangeable belt system capable of testing both production vehicles and race cars. It features a five-belt rolling road system designed for the development of production vehicles and a second, single/wide belt system designed for testing high-performance sports cars and purpose-built race vehicles. Wind speeds up to 192 mph can be produced in the tunnel.

Source: Honda