Dyno Duel Erupts In Ann Arbor - AVL Powertrain Engineering Inc.; Lotus Engineering - Brief Article

Automotive Manufacturing & Production, April, 2001 by Christopher A. Sawyer

Ann Arbor, MI is becoming the hotbed of engine development these days. Little over one year after Lotus Engineering bought the Michigan Automotive Research Corporation (MARCO) facility there, AVL Powertrain Engineering announced it would open an Ann Arbor facility of its own.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But remember that AVL was a Finalist in the bidding war over MARCO. Also remember that AVL's newest facility will boast motorcycle and 4wd chassis dynamometers. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Lotus facility has similar dynamometers, making it one of a few facilities in North America so equipped.

AVL says its facility will open in early 2002 when its first test cells come online, and the entire 41,000 [ft.sup.2] facility should be fully operational by the end of that year. Meanwhile, Lotus Engineering, Inc.-the U.S. arm of Lotus Engineering-boasts that its Ann Arbor complex is fully operational today.

Rivalry? Whatever gave you that impression?