Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) today held a media and stakeholder event at the Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama (TTC-S), its research and development center located across Toyota City and Okazaki City in Aichi Prefecture. The event showcased the frontline of its ever-better car-making initiatives―where a cycle of highly intense driving, intentional breaking, rapid onsite fixing and then retesting is carried out. To underline, the event featured the global premiere of a product of this end-to-end development approach, the all-new Lexus TZ.
As part of its future mobility initiatives, the event also featured demonstrations that included helicopter-based transportation tests and disaster preparedness drills held with local governments and communities.
Inspiration for TTC-S Comes from a Nagging Question Sparked by the Nürburgring
Construction of TTC-S began in April 2018, with full operations commencing in March 2024. Interestingly, the center's origins go back much further, tracing back to a question now Chairman Akio Toyoda started asking himself 30 years ago: "Why can't we do what is done at the Nürburgring, but in Japan?" This question from Toyoda, also known as Master Driver "Morizo", reflected a long-held conviction formed through years of experience behind the wheel. Underlying this philosophy was the late test driver Hiroshi Naruse's belief that roads build cars, which is clearly demonstrated at the Nürburgring. This consists of driving on demanding roads, identifying failures, making prompt repairs on the spot, and then returning to demanding driving―with this cycle repeated many times a day. Through this, cars are refined and strengthened. TTC-S was therefore created to enable this approach to development in Japan.
Integrated Development that Continuously Strengthens Cars: Drive, Break, Fix
The defining feature of TTC-S is its open-plan layout, which allows the entire development cycle―design, engineering, evaluation, and maintenance―to be carried out at one site. With organizational barriers removed, approximately 3,000 members from diverse disciplines work cross-functionally as a team.
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- Test Course Loop 3
- Leveraging Shimoyama's natural terrain, this "country road" test loop is one-quarter the scale of the Nürburgring. It is approximately 5.3-kilometers in length and features 75 meters of elevation change with many intricate curves and demanding road surfaces. Test drivers participated in its design, and construction took 10 years. The course is used to evaluate whether a vehicle can truly communicate with the driver.
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- Dirt Course
- In response to Morizo's strong desire to further push vehicles to their limits, this course was added to the original plan to enable training on unpaved courses such as rally and dirt. This harsh unpaved course, where Morizo himself pushed a vehicle to the point of rollover, is used for base vehicle durability evaluation as well as GR parts development.
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- Maintenance Floor (1st Floor)
- Accommodates up to 40 vehicles. With direct access to the test courses, mechanics repair and adjust on-site. Members from various disciplines work together hands-on to develop cars.
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- Planning and Engineering Floor (2nd Floor)
- Located directly above the garage for immediate collaboration, here engineers analyze data and improvement measures.
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- Design Floor (3rd Floor)
- A space integrating clay modeling and digital reviews, enabling in-depth vehicle design refinement. Discussions take place on the spot and cover tasks such as reviewing models indoors and outdoors and finishing life-size clay models.
By repeatedly driving on the course, repairing in the garage, analyzing on the floors above, and returning to the course, both the vehicles and the people who develop them are continuously refined. Furthermore, having Lexus Company―pursuing ultimate refinement―and GR Company―focused on the joy of driving―on the same site allows teams with different values to learn from and inspire one another and evolve their respective approaches to car making.
World Premiere of All-New Lexus TZ
The newly unveiled Lexus TZ is one of the models developed at TTC-S under the philosophy that roads build cars. The vehicle is based on the "Driving Lounge" concept, providing a premium mobility space where everyone in the vehicle can smile. The TZ is Lexus' first three-row BEV SUV, combining a comfortable cabin with high-level driving performance.
By balancing the fun of driving with relaxing comfort in all seats, the TZ offers new value to customers who value time above all else. Development involved extensive testing on TTC-S courses, with engineers, designers, mechanics, and test drivers working together to refine both driving performance and quality.
