The General Motors Proving Grands at Milford, 1926 -- Stated Purpose

 

Source is O.T. Kreusser, General Motors Automotive Proving Grounds,” SAE Transactions, 1926, pp.8-10.

The author states that some 200,000 miles of testing is conducted there every month.

He continued:

“Unfortunately, but of necessity, the automobile must be a compromise that involves man factors, and any one of these factors may be of major importance to a particular customer or to a prospect....By dissecting the car into those features that made up a desirable product from the customer’s standpoint, many interesting comparisons can be made that. help provide better cars from the average customer’s point of view.”

He followed with a list of Engineering Tests:

Minimum Speed

Maximum Speed

Hill Climbing

Acceleration

Deceleration

Economy Runs at different constant speeds

Vibration

Noise

RidingComfort

Brake

Clutch Pedal

Steering Effort and the like

The main purpose then fo the proving grounds is connected with marketing and consumers, rather than radical innovation.