02

Barcelona Ljubljana

Thinking for yourself and making decisions.

The role of TME’ s Miwa-san in the

project is first and foremost managing

safe ty. Following that, i t ’ s forging

connections between the European and

Japanese project members, who all

ha v e di f f e r en t back gr ounds . F or

Miwa-san, the key to success fully

per forming these two roles is the

principle of “thinking for yourself and

making decisions.” Roads in Japan

are controlled by traffic lights, while

those in Europe require the driver to

react according to the conditions at

t he momen t . T he c oun t r y r o a ds

connecting Barcelona and France are

t w o - w a y r oads w i thou t a c en t er

dividing line, and yet oncoming cars

pass at 90 kph. Yagi-san of the　CV

Chassis Engineer ing Div ision said

driving on the unfamiliar roads made

him sense f irs t -hand how steering

accuracy could spell the dif ference

between life and death.

　 In Eur ope , c ar s dr i v ing a t high

speed need to slow down to about

30 kph when entering a roundabout,

and then quickly speed up again once

out of it. It’ s of ten one roundabout

a f ter another on European roads.

A c c o r d in g t o Mi w a - s an , c a r s in

Europe need to be able to quickly

accelerate to 100 kph from 30 kph.

“This driving speed range is hardly

a factor in Japan, where cars go

from a complete stop to fifty kph,”

he no t e s . The di f f er en t r ange o f

accelerat ion and decelerat ion will

likely be a key point in the European

l e g . G o t o - s a n f r o m t h e V e h i c l e

Technology Development Div ision

comments, “We haven’ t imagined

this kind of reality in tests we’ ve

planned in Japan. Now when we

decide whether something passes

our test or not, I’ ll be thinking of

the roads we’ ve driven on today.”

Turning sensations into data to give them visible shape.

TME’ s Christopher RAYMAEKERS

k indl y i l lus t r a ted the meaning o f

“thinking for yourself and making

decisions.” He gets the cars’ driving

data on challenging roads like the

winding roads called special stages,

and then shows the team ways to

analyze the data. Just how much does

turning the steering wheel actually turn

the car? Or, how much do you press

down on the accelerator on an incline?

He also gets vibration and other data

from the roads to share in meetings.

He makes driving sensations a topic for

discussion by depicting through data

what the body feels when dr iv ing.

Gr aphing wha t the t eam ac tual l y

exper ienced the day be fore when

driving on ordinary roads has great

v a lue f or pe op le in v o l v e d in c ar

development, even when it comes to

the most basic processes, by creating

shar ed t opic s o f discuss ion. Pu t

ano ther w a y , c r ea t ing da t a f r om

sensations also gives visible shape to

cus tomer feedback. He is able to

communicate European feedback to

the Japanese pro jec t members in

concrete detail.

A visit to the offices of the influential

Italian car magazine Quattroroute also

helped give visible shape to customer

feedback. With a test course clocking a

total distance of 8 km, Quattroroute’ s

c our se goe s be y ond wha t y ou’ d

e x p e c t a p ub l i s h e r t o h a v e f o r

reviewing car performance. For Rafael

　SCINICARIELLO, who’ s driven the

length and breadth of Italy over his

seven years in sales, communicating

the customer feedback he’ s received

is one of his goals for the European

leg. For example, Milan’ s cobblestone

streets become slick and treacherous

in the rain, and Italians place great

importance on instant torque when

choosing a car. He explains Italian

preferences and road conditions while

driving on the local roads in Italy. These

conversations veer away from the

topics of cars and roads to touch on

road bicycle racing, for example, when

driving over a long stretch of mountain

road. Cars and people and culture—

perhaps these topics are meant to be

taken up together. The team traverses

the Passo dello S telv io, the most

punishing stage of the Giro d’ Italia

bicycle race, consisting of a relentless

series of serpentine switchbacks. With

the thin air at the high elevation, even

the Land Cruiser felt like it lacked

power on the road due to the change in

fuel compression ratio. The team went

from sweltering heat in Barcelona to

almos t 0 ° C a t their ho tel in the

mountains. During the morning check,

they found tha t the t ires had los t

pressure, too.

Step to becoming a car aficionado.

Making the most of his proficiency in

English, Kou-san from Labor Relations

Division asked the European project

members a barrage of questions while

riding with them. In this environment, he

can ask people the ne x t da y the

questions he’ s been thinking about, and

then put what he learns into practice.

He says he can feel himself becoming a

car aficionado little by little during the

leg. Being aware of this step will surely

serve him well in the future.

The team went from Italy , through

Austria, and into Ljubljana, Slovenia.

F r o m h e r e s o m e o f t he p r o j e c t

Reporter◯Toshiya Muraoka

members with the exception of the

TMC technicians are returning to their

h o m e c o u n t r i e s . H o w w i l l t h e y

incorporate what they learned in the

5 C o n t i n e n t s D r i v e i n t o t h e i r

day- to-day work? The approach of

“thinking for yourself and making

d e c i s i o n s” c o u l d i t s e l f b e t h e

greatest takeaway of the experience.

Distance : 2,067km

Duration : September.4-

September.8,2017

Days : 5days

Vehicles : C-HR HV,Yaris HV,

　 Prius PHV,Land Cruiser 200,

Corolla,GT86,PROACE

9.5

9.4

9.6

9.7 9.8

Lisbon

Barcelona