An Outline of Vehicle Development at the Arizona Test Center

The Arizona Test Center (ATC) is a general test facility that is an important part of Nissan's worldwide test and development activities. Since its start in April 1987, a wide variety of tests and evaluations have been conducted. With its location in the U.S. Desert Southwest, high temperature testing has become a key area of responsibility for ATC. Specific test procedures have been established to study the performance and reliability of various components under high thermal load.

This report describes the test facilities located at ATC and the various types of high temperature testing conducted. As an example, the approach used to develop the Heat Load Reliability test method is described.