Never Lose Your Cool

Living in an environment so cold that even a polar bear thinks twice about popping out for a pint a milk can have its advantages. The lawn doesn’t need mowing very often and there’s no real cause for concern if the tub of ice cream is left out overnight. Plus, if you just happen to be in the business of testing winter tyres, nature will bless you with ideal working conditions day after day.

Test World is located in such a place. Based in Ivalo, Finnish Lapland, some 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, Test Word is the world’s northernmost winter testing facility. Every year when it gets cold in Ivalo – which, given its balmy May average temperature of 5ºC, is most months – tyre, vehicle and other manufacturers and importers, regulatory authorities, technical institutes and intrepid media representatives rug up and head north in order to put tyres, not to mention a huge range of different products, through their paces.

Founded in 1991, the company employs around 40 staff during the peak winter season and operates four separate proving grounds. Approximately 40 test tracks are distributed amongst these four sites. The tyre test season begins in late October and runs until the end of April. The testing specialist has developed track maintenance techniques that permit invariable conditions for the duration of tyre tests, and can conduct tests in all conditions likely to be encountered, including snow, slush, wet and dry surfaces. During 2007 Test World is also launching a brand new indoors test facility that will be used for performing approval tests conforming to ECE norms.

Jukka Antila, technical manager at Test World, comments that the specialist offers numerous advantages for the tyre industry, such as a sparsely populated location where confidentiality is guaranteed. Mr. Antila adds that Test World has reached a no photography agreement with the Finnish motoring media. Due to Test World’s strict confidentiality policy he was unable to provide Tyres & Accessories with the names of any specific companies, however according to Mr. Antila almost all the major tyre companies, plus a number of vehicle and parts manufacturers, conduct their winter product testing at the Ivalo facilities.

With a new managing director, Harri Eskelinen, at the helm of Test World following the retirement of incumbent Timo Mäkelä on August 1, the test specialist appears to be in a good position to retain its status as the coolest venue on earth for testing winter tyres.