Testing cars from the freezing minus 20oCelsius landscape of icy windblown Alaska wastes to the sun-baked 35-55oC temperate of Abu Dhabi deserts. Listening to the music of a full orchestra playing Beethoven's Number Nine symphony in the back of a saloon car or to the sound of a MINI Clubman revving with the gurgling engine roars of a Sixties V8 American muscle car!

Number One was not on the set of a Steven Spielberg futuristic film but in a new €130 million research centre in rainy Munich in mid-May. The new BMW ETC (Energy and Environmental Test Centre) is housed in a highly- secure compound where cameras are strictly taboo as cars of the future are located here while undergoing final tests.

BMW launched the ETC this week with an open day to show how new technology will shorten the car development process by bringing the harshest weather on the planet under one roof.

The results of a wide range of tests is that cars of the future will be much more economical and will withstand our weather much better. The tests will also greatly reduce car production costs. The new thermal wind tunnels and climatic test chambers are designed to solve problems in auto building at the start of production and will replacethe costly on-site testing of forthcoming models in far flung corners of the world where the climate is at its worst. Until now such testing was only possible from more advanced stages of develoment with completed car prototyes on the road.

"We're bringing the whole world, with all its climate zones into one building. The in-lab results are more precise and easier to reproduce," said Jürgen Engelmann, Manager of ETC operations.

BMW has been carrying out environmental testing for over 30 years but now with more accurate and earlier results. For example, tests for thermal management take place in the climatic wind tunnels, with heat as well as cold, up into the highly-dynamic driving range. Here, special attention is paid to cooling power, car airflow, brake cooling and heating / air-conditioning performance. The range also includes tests with rain and snowfall. Exhaust emission analyses and altitude-driving cycles are performed in one of the two climatic test chambers with defrosting playing an important role in the cold test chamber.

The Wind Tunnel tests cars from temperatures of minus 20oC to 55oC and at speeeds of up to 250 km/h measuring airflow under and over the car in all temperatures. The rainfall test sees 9000 litres of water an hour dumped on the test vehicle and here wiper design is tested for high speed driving with brakes under test for heavy rain.

The Cold Test Chamber undertakes tests for engine starting, battery behaviour and the extra energy requirement of the vehicle. The tests will help improve air conditoning systems, keep ice off windscreens and intake units, reduce energy consumption and discover how to pre-heat vehicles for cold starts. Tests to find the best way to clear windscreens and side windows from overnight frost are underway.

The Altitude Test chamber creates four tonnes of pressure per square metre at 4200 m and can simulate all climate zones on the plane. Even tests simulating conditions on 2500 m volcanic Mount Fuji in Japan are created.

All these tests are designed to lead to the production of more fuel- efficient and safer cars with different components used for engines depending on the climate conditions in varying countries.

The Acoustic Concepts' research showed how cars can have new signature tunes. In a test drive a diesel engine rattle sound can be replaced by a more subdued V6 petrol engine sound.

In the MINI, for example, a sound generator in the boot wired to the speakers in the cabin demonstrated how four distinct sounds can be created at the push of a button. By contrast the 17 speakers in a BMW 7 Series can produce sounds to complement music from rock to modern to orchestral. A short test on the Beethoven Number Nine track created a sensational sound effect. All these sound developments can be adapted to suit any model.

The ETC developed is eco friendly in that long range transport costs and repeat driving tests are cut down thanks to the comprehensive environmental simulation possibilitis of the ETC. Also if a BMW Efficient Dynamics measure identifies the potential for reducing even just 0.1 gram of CO 2/km and this is applied to all new cars, 80% of the ETC's annual CO2 emissions would be offset.