50th Anniversary of GMH's Lang Lang Proving Ground

GM Holden is no different and its facility at Lang Lang, 95 kms south east of Melbourne, has been home for many exciting developments. It recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

GM Holden's Executive Director of Engineering Tony Hyde said, "Lang Lang has played a key role in the development and success of GM Holden since its earliest days.

"Having a world class testing facility has been integral in enabling Holden to develop generations of vehicles able to withstand the uniquely challenging Australian driving conditions."

The 877 hectare site was Australia's first automotive testing and development complex and has been the testing ground for every Holden from the FC to the recently released VE Ute.

Behind the security fencing, more than 4.5 million kilometres are driven under test each year where prototype, pre-production and current production vehicles are tested on a variety of sealed and unsealed surfaces designed to replicate real world conditions.

The 44kms of road systems are designed for specific and general durability testing as well as performance and high speed testing. This includes a banked 4.7km high speed track, a twist course, a noise road for noise and vibration development, a rattle and squeak track, test hills and a skid pan.

The proving ground also houses a safety test laboratory which is home to an extended family of state of the art fully instrumented test dummies and has an airbag test and development capability.

A range of collision types can be reproduced at Lang Lang's full compliance SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) barrier facility where cars are winched towards a 76 tonne concrete barrier at speeds of up to 90km per hour. Purchased by GM Holden in 1956, Lang Lang commenced operations in 1957 and is the lead test facility for General Motors in the Asia Pacific region.