AKRON — Bridgestone Americas is planning to build vehicle dynamics test track in Akron, on a 100-acre tract of land adjacent to the race tire factory it's building near its North American technical center in south Akron.
The facility, expected to be open by summer 2022, will support ongoing research and play an "indispensable role" in the tire development work taking place in Akron across the firm's various research, development and testing departments.
Bridgestone did not disclose the size of the site or the projected investment. The site selected is vacant land situated between the Advanced Tire Production Center (ATPC) being built for race and prototype tires and a Firestone Polymers site located a few blocks west of that facility on West Wilbeth Road.
Having a test track on site will allow Bridgestone researchers the opportunity to drive prototypes firsthand and gain better understanding of the performance enhancements necessary for the tires they are designing, the company said.
"As we continue to evolve our products and provide sustainable mobility solutions to our customers, we're confident that this new tire test track will support enhanced product education and improve agility in engineering decision making for our product development process," Nizar Trigui, chief technology officer and group president, solutions businesses, Bridgestone Americas, said.
