Even if you are not an engineer, it’s always interesting to learn about what goes on behind the locked doors of automotive test facilities.
Ford is affording us a sneak peak at how it tested the new Transit Custom Van’s doors to ensure that they can withstand heavy day-to-day usage without breaking down.
With the help of a special automated rig in Ford’s Merkenich development center in Germany, the Blue Oval’s engineers slammed the van’s front doors 250,000 times, the sliding side door 150,000 times, and the rear cargo door 150,000 times in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit) to 82 degrees Celsius (180 Fahrenheit) with up to 85 percent humidity.
If you do the math that’s 550,000 door slams. And mind you, Ford notes that the tests replicate the fastest speeds used by 90 percent of customers.
“This is a modern-day torture test, more than half-a-million slams, in everything from tropical heat to Arctic cold,” said Barry Gale, chief engineer, Commercial Vehicles, Ford of Europe. “After our new vans have been through this, they are ready for anything.”
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