General Motors invited us up to its Powertrain Center in Pontiac, Michigan, and showed us some of the technology it uses to test prototype engines.

 It's the first time we've heard of the tilt stand. (Click here to see an animation of it in  action in our Videos section.)

Imagine testing only an engine an simulator, which is loaded with digital racetracks (of real tracks like Milford or Sebring). The tilt stand re-creates the actual lateral Gs the engine would experience if it was installed in a car and running the physical track at wide open throttle.

The tilt stand has been around since approximately the year 2000, and every Pontiac engine from that time to the end of the brand has been tested in it.

It's a "wow" machine, and that's a fact.