The new Ford Focus has undergone severe weather tests, including being taken over frozen lakes, across blistering deserts, and up and down high Alpine passes, to check its reliability on all terrain.
The tests were designed to check the Focus’s performance, but also the comfort of the driver and passengers in extreme conditions.
The travels of the climate control test team have taken them around the world, all to test the Electronic Automatic Temperature Control (EATC), which needs to be able to adjust quickly to changes in temperature, keeping the occupants warm in cold conditions and cool in scorching heat. The EATC in the new Ford Focus is able to do this more effectively than ever before, since the fans are quieter and quicker at moving cool air through the cabin. The aim has been to fine-tune this system before the car goes on sale early next year.
The new Focus has been tested regularly in Antequera in Southern Spain, one of the hottest places in continental Western Europe, with temperatures regularly going above 40°C in peak summer.
Two test vehicles have been used with different calibrations, to accommodate the differences between European and North American drivers. Apparently Europeans enjoy a cabin that is cool but not chilled, while North Americans prefer a strong cooling effect. This is why, as well as observing what the sensors say, the experience of the team while test driving in the cars has been important in assessing comfort for the driver.
A key assessment has been the ‘pull down test’, where the cars are parked side by side in direct sunlight after 250km of motorway driving. When the cabin temperatures reach about 60°C they are driven 30km to see how long it takes to get back down to the chosen comfort point.
Other tests included an altitude test and a control curve, where the temperature settings are changed and the test team monitors how it feels inside the cabin as the system adapts.
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Katie Dickinson
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