Top Toyota Test Driver Killed in a Road Accident

**renzo_d10** · June 27th, 2010 03:50 PM

May he rest in peace. :pope:

Toyota master test driver, Hiromu Naruse, was killed in a crash on Highway 410 near Germany’s Nürburgring circuit today. He was test driving a Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition and was 67 years old. Naruse has been a driver for Toyota since 1963, involved with the development of cars such as the 2000GT, Sports 800, 1600GT, the Toyota 7, AE86, AW11 MR2, Supra, and many others. Toyota employs 300 test drivers, but Naruse was known as the “Meister,” the highest-ranked among them all. Details are not clear yet; all we know at the moment is that the LFA and ad BMW collided, killing Naruse and seriously injuring the driver and passenger of the BMW as well. Most haunting is his quote from a recent interview in Lexus Magazine: “When we raced the LFA in Nardo, Italy, I thought I might not return to Japan alive.” RIP, Naruse-san. German news report below the fold

source :: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/blog...r-nurburgring/

Sayang sila pareho. The Lexus LFA he was driving and him.

**oliver1013** · June 27th, 2010 04:22 PM

RIP to him..Occuptional hazard yan, I think yung mga ganyang worker may kamikaze mentality.

**Monseratto** · June 27th, 2010 04:42 PM

Yung binungo na Bimmer was also a test car. Two person were in it, both test drivers. Na injured, one seriously.

Reports by German media said the Japanese test driver, who was behind the wheel of a yellow LFA, apparently collided with a test car driven by two BMW test drivers outside the Nüburgring. The BMW drivers reportedly were injured, with one reported to be in critical condition. The LFA's front end was accordioned, and it appeared that the driver's airbag had deployed, according to video from the accident scene.

A prototype of a special Nüburgring edition of the LFA has been undergoing testing here. The 2012 LFA, with a suggested retail price of $375,000, is expected to go into production in December with a run of only 500 units. The $70,000 Nüburgring package featuring a 562-hp version of the car's 4.8-liter V10 will be offered on 50 cars, according to media reports.

**renzo_d10** · June 27th, 2010 09:20 PM

Yep, it was a bimmer.

The LFA is a very powerful car. An expert should only really handle it.

Hiromo, though he's the Top Toyota Test Driver you cannot deny the fact that he's getting old already ( 67 y.o. ) and with his reflexes getting weaker and weaker by the time passes by ... I guess letting him drive the LFA is really a risky thing to do.

**vito corleone** · June 28th, 2010 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by renzo_d10

Yep, it was a bimmer.

The LFA is a very powerful car. An expert should only really handle it.

Hiromo, though he's the Top Toyota Test Driver you cannot deny the fact that he's getting old already ( 67 y.o. ) and with his reflexes getting weaker and weaker by the time passes by ... I guess letting him drive the LFA is really a risky thing to do.

yes, we can say that. . .but in japan, especially in the corporate world, the culture of sempai-kouhai (see the move rising sun with sean connery and wesley snipes) is still strong. . .the seasoned veteran is always better than the rest of the pack. . .they should learn from this incident

what if the the test driver next to hiromu-san is 64 yrs old? delikado na naman sila

rip to the deceased

**uls** · June 28th, 2010 11:56 AM

baka "crash" test yan

hehe

**digitel** · June 28th, 2010 12:13 PM

RIP for Naruse,

* uls - bagsak sila sa crash test? Ahahaha!

like what they say, never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly. mahina na yung guardian angel.. hehe.

**uls** · June 28th, 2010 12:51 PM

bagsak hehe

mas matibay pa yung BMW

**vito corleone** · June 28th, 2010 01:11 PM

here's the interview that was mentioned in the news

https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lex...st-Driver.html

i particularly liked this portion

What’s your most memorable moment as a test driver?
Well, I can you that for a little while during the LFA races, I knew how to draw the back of a Porsche without looking—we had been behind them at first. But when the Lexus LFA passed Porsche for the first time, we had such big emotions! After that, other racing manufacturers started showing us respect. They told us, “Lexus has created such an impressive car!”