[Cadillac Drivers' LOG] Captured

[Bruce Nunnally]

By Liz

As we mentioned recently, the development process is at the point where we are making countless numbers of final checks before the launch. A big part of this is called our “Captured Test Fleet.” This is pretty simple: we are building several dozen cars that are intended to represent the “final” status of the 2008 car.

Then we drive the heck out of them.

We will attempt to drive as many miles as possible during the next several weeks; we could easily exceed a half-million total miles. Everything counts – from specific engineering tests, to simple things like driving to and from work, the kids’ baseball games, the grocery store … whatever.

Not a glamorous process, but important and effective. We’re in the process of putting people from all over the team (and even a few colleagues not directly on our team) into these very new cars built using the actual production process and parts. This is kind of like a final exam – except it lasts a couple of months. Everything everybody observes in the cars is noted and every mile driven is measured.

Cadillac Driver