Ford tests new Focus to its limits

By Tom Phillips

30th July 2010

Ford reckons is next Focus will be ready for anything. And to make sure its new Golf challenger can cope with any conditions drivers can throw at it, Ford’s engineers have travelled the globe in search of the most testing conditions around.

As part of the third generation Focus development, prototypes have been thrashed over frozen arctic lakes, hammered across the hottest deserts, and driven overloaded up and down high Alpine passes to ensure impeccable reliability and dependability.

Ford uses the Grossglockner High Alpine road in Austria. It’s a 30-mile route which travels through the Hohe Tauern National Park through 36 challenging bends up to a maximum height of 2,504 metres. And with gradients of up to 12 per cent, and the thin air at such high altitudes, the location is perfect for putting the Focus through its paces.

The firm’s engineers spend two weeks at a time driving up and down the hill for 120 miles per day. Both the Focus petrol and diesel are put to the test, but the latest session has concerned the car with the new 1.6-litre EcoBoost petrol engine.

Cars are driven quickly in low gears to push powertrains to the limit. And as if the punishing climb wasn’t enough, some test cars are fitted with wind deflectors which cause heat to be trapped inside the engine bay, pushing the car’s cooling system to its limits.

Ford will also fit its Focus test mules with large water bottles, which mimic the weight of heavy adults, and tow large trailers up the hill at a constant speed of 20mph, as engineers seek to discover how much the powertrain can stand, and how much weight the car can cope with,

Clutches, engines and gearboxes take the biggest pounding on the ascent, and the brakes take an equal pasting on the way down, with engineers deliberately braking late for each turn. Only when the car passes all of Ford’s quality targets can the new Focus be signed off for sale.