All-new Ford Focus undergoes high-altitude testing
Posted by Susannah Mayers
The all-new Ford Focus has been undergoing testing in some of the worlds most extreme locations.
It has been driven across frozen arctic lakes, some of the planets hottest deserts and is now being tested on high-altitude roads in the Austrian Alps.
Ford vehicle integration engineer Bernd Herweling is in the Alps for two weeks, guiding the highly-camouflaged vehicle around the 48km-long Grossglockner High Alpine Road every day.
This ribbon of tarmac weaves its way through the heart of the Hohe Tauern National Park and ends opposite the tallest mountain in Austria – the Grossglockner – and its glacier, the Pasterze.
“Were evaluating driveability on steep mountain roads from a customer perspective. The bottom line is were here to find out how the car performs driving up and down seriously steep hills,” said Mr Herweling.
As well as using people to test its vehicles on the road, Ford uses robots to look at the feel and appearance of their surfaces and interior switches.
What do you think are the most important tests to be carried out before a vehicle is launched?
