Not many people give enough praise to test drivers, but they play a very important part in the automotive production process. The sales reps at Toyota near Fullerton pretty much consider them just as vital as engineers. The reason being is that a test driver helps to measure a vehicle’s performance for the manufacturers.
Throughout the production of a car, many parameters are tested with computers, while others, such as crash and safety tests, usually involve test dummies. Nevertheless, car experts at Fullerton car dealerships tell us that test drivers are required for important aspects of the process that cannot be imitated. Mainly, test driver roles consist of driving prototype cars in a test to determine speed, safety, and general performance.
What’s more, test drivers assist automotive companies at Toyota near Fullerton to push their products to the utmost limits of performance, while they also explore them for strange noises, problems relating to braking and accelerating, figure out the maximum speed, as well as report the data results to the manufacturers. Therefore, to celebrate test drivers at Toyota near Fullerton, let’s recognize a man who gave it his all for the job. A man who continuously sought out excellence and perfection in his job, the legendary Toyota Test Driver Hiromu Naruse.
Grew Up In A Community Farm
Hiromu Naruse was the youngest of four children and was born on July 18, 1942. Afterward, he grew up in Ikeda town, a sparsely populated farming community situated in Gifu prefecture, around a mountain range in the central part of Honshu, Japan. Naruse’s father dies in World War II, resulting in his mother moving the family to Ikeda.
Later, Naruse spent a lot of his childhood learning to wrench his family’s charcoal-powered car whenever it broke down. The charcoal-powered car was a well-known means of transportation in Japan after the war.
Accredited Mechanic
Popular for his test-driving accomplishments with Toyota, Hiromu Naruse was still employed in the automotive company as an accredited auto mechanic in 1963. When he arrived at Toyota, Naruse was temporarily commissioned to the company’s Vehicle Evaluation and Engineering Division.
Additionally, since he was a math guru with a level-2 abacus certificate under his belt, Naruse was getting attention from Toyota’s accounting division. In spite of that, destiny intervened, and that is why the mechanic worked his way up the Toyota’s chain of command to become a test driver.
Gave A Hand To Create Japan’s First Supercar
Manufactured from 1967 to 1970, the marvelous Toyota 2000GT is widely known as Japan’s first-ever supercar. Created by Toyota in collaboration with Yamaha, the 2000GT is a limited production front mid-engine grand tourer that altered the world’s bad perception of JDM, which was present in having a simulated method to production.
Besides the other honors, the 2000GT was also defined by Road & Track as “one of the most exciting and enjoyable cars” they have ever driven.
Took Part In Building Toyota’s 1st Custom-Built Racer
Since he was a proficient Toyota mechanic, Naruse was then promoted to chief mechanic. In this role, he helped developed the Toyota 7. Remarkably, the Toyota 7 was a huge project for the company because it was the company’s first custom-built racing car project.
Built together with Yamaha Motor Corporation, the Toyota 7, recognized with the internal code 415S, was designed primarily to compete in the FIA Group 7 competitions, and it highlights a fiberglass body on aluminum monocoque amid others.
Japanese Driver With The Most Nürburgring Miles
Believed to be the ultimate circuit in the world, the Nürburgring is a 150,000 capacity motorsports complex situated in Nürburg town, Germany. Prominently, Naruse also left a huge impression on the track as he logged more miles on the legendary German racetrack than any other Japanese driver, even today.
The Nürburgring track has the extremely long Nordschleife “North loop” track that was built in the 1920s and a Grand Prix racetrack constructed in 1984. Undoubtedly, the Nürburgring was Naruse’s second home.
Very Versatile
Naruse was very versatile with cars. He was an expert in practically all areas of car development. While he was at Toyota, he worked on so many cars he became highly admired for his automotive engineering prowess and mechanical brilliance.
Naruse could competently handle many parts of a car that consist of the suspension, powertrain, wheels, and every other part that is required to be worked on. The extraordinary list of vehicles he helped build includes the AE86, Altezza, MR-S, A80, and Supra, just to mention a few.
Vital To The Development Of The Lexus LFA
Naruse embarked on a legacy project, the Lexus LFA, and channeled all his expertise to make it the best Toyota production car of that era. Also, Toyota allowed Naruse to do whatever he wanted when it came to developing the car, making it the first time such responsibility was given to a Master Test Driver in the company.
Once the project was finished, Naruse still believed more performance could be brought out of the car, and this resulted in the production of the special LFA known as the Nürburgring Package.
He Kept Driving
Naruse kept on driving; although he was sixty-six years old, he went on with his tradition of driving through the mountains in his home area with his wife riding by his side to sharpen his driving skills during his days off. When he was away from his home, Naruse would conduct road tests on the autobahn.
Passed Away At 66
The LFA Nürburgring Package is the circuit-tuned variant of the LFA, and it notes the same setup adopted in the LFA race cars at the 24 Hours Nürburgring. Working widely on producing the car, Naruse drove the prototype individually on-road tests at the Nürburgring.