I followed a 'developmental' Range Rover this morning. Wrapped in crazy black and white swirls.
It had a camera / spotlight / something attached to the outer bumper edge, pointing up and inwards across the rear of the car. Rounded tube with white body, a lens/face on it and cable going from it under wheelarch. What might that be?
IT looked like this (not my pic, I was driving at time)
Something measuring emissions? On our products we've moved away from capturing solid particulates in filters and measuring them with lasers - far more accurate and can determine individual particle size. Made achieving emissions far more difficult.
Or might be a camera looking at aero stuff if there were some of those small bits of string attached to the rear and the camera looking at turbulence at the rear of the car?
Front facing cameras on rangeys never show anything as they are always so close to the bumper of the car infront. Rear is therefore the only useful one 😉
What Range Rover? All I can see is a Bosch service centre.
All I can see is a Bosch service centre
🙂
All I can see is a dolphin. But I had to stare at the screen for a while to see that.
camera watching wheel/suspension/shock performance
Saw three of those things parked on the Moulin Rd near Pitlochry the other weekend. I thought they were going to a vinyl wrap convention 🤣
Factory ‘mules’ , testing something new or fiddling emissions to get them under minimum requirements.
Alternatively simply lost trying to find Longleat or West Midland Safari park.
They're development vehicles. While it may look like a regular model with a crap wrap underneath will be a new platform, engine, suspension or tech they're putting some miles on. Been seeing various manufacturers using similar for ages in the Brecon Beacons and pounding the M4. There's one that goes out from the Aston Martin factory in St Athan at night regularly, used to see it in my old job a lot.
No idea about the camera, but it's not a looker is it? I don't think that photo is of the current one that's been going up and down the M42, but it's got some wierd overhanging roof bits on the side. I'm guessing they're carrying over the "hardtop" styling from the rear quater of the defender?
All I can see is a dolphin. But I had to stare at the screen for a while to see that
Oooh, 3D
From the reg. no. It’s a hybrid electric vehicle
camouflage lol - more like WTF is *that*? 🙂
Although I guess proper dazzle camouflage wouldn't be a good thing on a motor vehicle!
I regularly travel up and down the M40 and 42 and these are a common site, rangeys, astons and jags with the test kit fitted. A pal of mine works down at Gaydon for Aston and says they are all research and development vehicles.
In the test trade and hard to tell from your description.
Kistler do various smaller optical sensors. It won't be the full wheel measurement stuff or WFTs out on the road.
https://www.kistler.com/en/solutions/research-and-development-testing/automotive-testing/vehicle-dynamics-testing/
Racelogic have various video cameras that plug in vbox.
There is the full PEMS stuff for emissions but doesn't sound like that.
I would guess the sensor was measuring aero off the back. The 'camo is supposed to make new models unrecognizable, keeping the details under wraps. Yeah, I know, there are certain shaped vehicles that are unmistakable, but it does a really good job of hiding the details.
See lots of BMW test vehicles bombing up and down the Autobahn around Munich.
They call them Erlkönig cars. Goethe wrote a poem called Erlkönig.... "Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind“
A guy I work for, his workshop is opposite the BMW development place. Often see various motors leaving with odd things taped or attached to them.
It's become a thing to have your car wrapped in that dazzle camo. Looks shit.
it's an air temp/pressure/flow sensor - helps the air con development teams get data independent of the vehicle sensors.
No idea about the tube, but there was 3 of them going up and down the Lecht a couple of weeks ago minus the grill camouflage travelling at a fair lick
It’s become a thing to have your car wrapped in that dazzle camo. Looks shit.
I thought it was just manufacturers doing road tests, and the wierd black and white camo was just to stop joe public easily identifying a new/updated body style etc. and taking pic of it before the manufacturer has announced the new model.
I suppose it wouldn't make much sense for the manufacturer to bother taking the camo wrap off again as its just a test car, so you might also see 'current' models with the wrap if they need to do any further live road testing.
Might be totally wrong though!
manufacturers doing road tests, and the wierd black and white camo was just to stop joe public easily identifying a new body style etc
Nah.... Think of the German equivalent of boy racers/Southend see front posse. Definitely not BMW test cars. Private motors (probably on tick) desperately trying to set themselves apart from the other 16 BMWs (this is Munich, after all) waiting at the lights.
Cheers all - I still think it is a frikkin' laser so that if anyone picks up camera they get zapped....
It was a new model - the exhaust didn't fit properly/looked bodged, it had odd black wheels with marks on too.
it's a schooner!
I thought the DPM camo wraps were to disguise new body panels and shapes. No point drawing attention to the vehicle like that if the development stuff is hidden underneath the bodywork?
Never saw the dolphin, but the owl stared back at me and I felt wiser as a result.
Footballer trying to stand out from all the other Footballers?
All I can see is a dolphin. But I had to stare at the screen for a while to see that.
👏🏻🎩
I think I saw that vehicle on Deeside yesterday near Glen Tanar.
it’s an air temp/pressure/flow sensor – helps the air con development teams get data independent of the vehicle sensors.
Temp sensor was my first thought - we usually mount external temp sensors on the roof in a white plastic tube, but they wouldn't have a lens on.... (it's literally just a bit of PVC pipe with a thermocouple inside).
I'm not a chassis engineer, but mounting cameras to help with development of chassis/suspension is pretty common so could have been that as well.
Could be a camera watching for wobble/movement of rear panels or the boot spoiler on the test mule. Checking to see if any movement could be causing a squeak or rattle.
We've supplied bumpers and outer trim panels to jlr SVR for early prototype that had to be camo'd, they came back with brackets screwed to the front that held sensors and cameras for viewing the outer surface of the vehicle when on the road.
