Charles Darwin gave us the theory of ‘Survival of the fittest’. But Ford Motor Company tests its new Transit Custom Van’s door to determine ‘Survival of the toughest’. Perhaps, the process might be too technical but this shouldn’t deter anyone from understanding what goes behind those locked doors. These tests were done to ensure that the doors can withstand heavy day-to-day usage without breaking down easily. The tests were conducted at Ford’s Merkenich development center in Germany by the Blue Oval’s engineers with the help of special automated rig. The engineers slammed different doors varying number of times in varying temperature conditions.
“This is a modern-day torture test, more than half-a-million slams, in everything from tropical heat to Arctic cold. After our new vans have been through this, they are ready for anything”, Barry Gale, Chief engineer, Commercial Vehicles, Ford, said.
The Ford Transit van’s front doors were slammed 250,000 times, the sliding door 150,000 times and the rear cargo doors 150,000 times in temperatures ranging from -40 Fahrenheit (-40 degree Celsius) to 180 Fahrenheit ( 82 degree Celsius) and humidity reaching upto 85%. Now, are the test conditions a replication of the actual scenarios? Well, Ford claims that these tests replicate the fastest speeds used by almost 90% of the customers to ensure they last longer.
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