UTAC operates two winter proving grounds in Northern Finland, 300 kilometres above the Arctic Circle, specialising in vehicle and tyre testing in cold conditions.

UTAC Finland is known for its track quality, as well as the world’s first indoor winter testing facilities, allowing testing on snow and ice throughout the year.

Both winter Proving Grounds offer a variety of snow and ice tracks designed for tyre and vehicle testing, with supporting infrastructure including workshops and offices, EV charging and cold chambers.

Ivalo Mellatracks Proving Ground

Mellatracks Proving Ground offers over 80km of tracks on snow and ice, including:

  • Snow flats up to 50 x 1 000 metres
  • Oval track 3,2 kilometres
  • Various snow handling tracks
  • Ice flats and ice handling

All tracks are located close to the workshops and other facilities, allowing efficient testing. All workshops have vehicle lifts, basic tools and connected offices.

The proving ground is also used to organise winter driving experiences for companies.

Ivalo Airport

The Airport Proving Ground is located next to Ivalo Airport, offering over 20km of tracks including handling tracks with significant elevation changes. All tracks are built on solid ground, offering the longest winter season available.

Airport tracks include:

  • Snow flats up to 40 x 900 metres
  • Snow and ice handling tracks
  • Ice flat
  • Split-friction hills 15%/20%/25%
  • Split-friction flat track

The tracks are located close to the workshops and other facilities, allowing efficient testing. All workshops have vehicle lifts, basic tools and connected offices.

Indoor Facilities

Located at Mellatracks Proving Ground, the indoor test facilities allow testing on ice and natural snow to continue through the summer. Only natural snow is used offering the accurate representation of winter conditions.

Asphalt and ice tracks offer a possibility to create split-μ (mu) and μ-jump configurations, or use the complete track on ice or asphalt.

Indoor tracks are suitable for a variety of testing from subjective and objective tyre tests to testing vehicle and systems cold climate performance.

Even being in the far north, Ivalo is well connected with international airport and daily flights from Helsinki. Ivalo and Saariselkä villages nearby offer a variety of accommodation possibilities, restaurants and services.

Workshops

Take advantage of our workshops available on site. Fully equipped and privative. Our workshops come with offices located nearby.

We have garages from 62m² to 215m² and offices from 31m² to 45m².