Mercedes-Benz Tourismo K Bus Is a Track Monster

Video captures bus driving through insane banked curve at 50-year-old Stuttgart test track.

An important part of the Mercedes-Benz’s highly-touted performance history is celebrating a birthday of sorts.

One of the carmaker’s test tracks, known for its first iteration as a fairly basic concoction of circles and road surfaces, turns 50 this year. It served as a go-to test spot for a number of vehicles that have helped shape the Mercedes-Benz brand.

As highlighted in a report by The Drive, the Stuttgart test facility took nearly a decade to develop. It evolved from a track with very basic capabilities to one with everything ranging from high-speed straights to some of the most insane banked curves on the planet. All and all, the track has roughly 10 miles of testing surfaces.

CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About This Historic Track

The totally revamped track officially debuted in the spring of 1967, which makes it 50-years-old to date.

These days, the track is used for both consumer and commercial vehicles. In fact, The Drive stumbled on the above video clip, which actually captures a Tourismo K bus testing on the test track. We imagine it would make for a pretty scary scenario for the average passenger. That is, unless you don’t fear feeling like you’re free falling when banking high turns.

How high? Consider this, according to Mercedes, once a car gets past 93 mph on the track, the driver can actually take his hands off the steering wheel and let the centrifugal force keep the vehicle straight.