In the wake of launch of the New Ford Escort, the company has revealed details of how facilities in Thailand, India, Australia, the Middle East and China, are used to ensure its vehicles are ‘shaken, rattled and rolled’ in a variety of tests.
Based out of Jebel Ali, near Dubai, the engineering team at Ford’s Product Development base in the UAE take the heat during testing on a daily basis, said the company.
It added that thanks to the extremely high ambient temperatures during the summer months – and a country covered primarily in sprawling desert landscapes – “hot weather testing in the UAE places vehicles under real world conditions quite unlike that experienced anywhere else on the planet”.
“With ambient temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius, we need to ensure our cooling systems, engine, transmission, driveline systems, and also our passenger comfort are all robust to temperatures like this,” said Ziyad Dallalah, chief resident engineer, Ford MEA.
“Driving in deep sand places a unique load on the engine and transmission – with high revs at low speed. That means the engine works very hard, placing demands on systems that rely on the engine for power – like the air-conditioning.”
According to Ford, dust and sand can also play havoc with engine internals and suspension components by accelerating wear on moving parts, “so the team also monitors sand and dust egress on the engine, dampers and the cabin to make sure every Ford remains a comfortable place to be, even in the peak heat of a Middle East summer”.
