Walk into the largest test site in the west and explore the unknown story behind Ford's 300,000-kilometer road test.

Before I was 2 years old, I played with such a car.

When I was 3 years old, I drove a Ferrari.

When I was five years old, I started racing.

I have loved Lego carpooling since I was 7 years old.

10 years old, keen on go-karting.

So that all kinds of cars are gathered in the toy box at home. It can be said that every city boy has a racing dreams in his heart. When I grow up, although I can't travel to racing dreams in person, I am familiar with F 1, CCPC, WRC, 24 Hours of Le Mans, CTCC and other automobile races. For this reason, more and more car companies are willing to participate in various racing cars. On the one hand, they resonate with young people through competitions. On the other hand, fierce racing is also a test of product quality.

Among many car companies involved in racing, Changan Ford is an early one. Since 2006, Changan Ford has been competing in CTCC, China's top automobile race, for 13 years in a row, and achieved a good result of 13 years. Not only that, Ford also quickly applied the corresponding technology to production models, so that ordinary consumers can enjoy excellent performance experience in family cars. For this reason, consumers expressed their love for Ford products with the simplest word "Haokai", which also made Fox enter China 14 and gained 2.6 million fans.

So, why can Ford achieve such good results and get such a good evaluation? Finally, I had the opportunity to communicate with Ford engineers at close range and experience the performance of Ford products in various road conditions at the test site.

Dynamic performance of "fox bend" test

"Fox Bend" is the first exclusive term we got from the promo. From the engineer's introduction, we know that the seemingly simple F route contains rich philosophy: it integrates the pavement of ten famous bends in China, and tests the true skills of drivers and cars through high-speed bends, back bends, hairpin bends and U-bends.

Engineers told us that in the eyes of racers and engineers, the meaning of F track is different. In the eyes of racing drivers, they will mainly consider how to turn, what speed and when to brake in order to control the vehicle to win the race.

For the engineering team, different corners correspond to different speeds, which will bring different challenges to the control of vehicles. Only by doing enough matching work and matching with the corresponding hardware products can the vehicle perform well in pitch control, braking control, steering accuracy and other aspects. Secondly, when approaching the limit, the car body is required to have strong stability, which can give the driver enough prediction and keep the steering accurate enough.

Fortunately, we drove the Fox hatchback EcoBoost 180 automatic st line to experience the "Fox Corner" track.

This car is equipped with a powertrain of 1.5T+8AT, with a maximum output of 135kW and a rapid acceleration of 50m. It can feel the rapid response of the engine and has a strong sense of pushing back. However, when the vehicle decelerates sharply and enters the corner, it can be felt that the electronic stability of the ESP body can correct the side slip and reduce the roll, thus ensuring the stability of the vehicle when cornering. In the emergency braking near the end, the brake pedal gives linear feedback, which can realize rapid braking.

In the whole process, whether it is a high-speed sharp turn or a low-speed adjustment, the feedback from the steering wheel is that the high speed is not heavy, the low speed is not heavy, and the direction is clear.

Comprehensive test field measurement and control

In the world automobile championship of 190 1, a Ford car stood out with excellent handling and performance and won the race championship. Since then, the Ford brand has implanted this DNA and advocated the driving experience of integrating people and cars.

So how is this excellent handling performance tempered?

To this end, we drove the sharp world and followed the test driver to find the answer in Dianjiang, the largest comprehensive test site in the west.

There are high-speed loop, * * vibration road, impact road, pebble road, 45 ramp and 60 ramp, covering high-speed test road, basic performance test road, special performance test road and complex road conditions.

Engineers tell everyone that Changan Ford's vehicles have to undergo a rigorous 300,000-kilometer road test, and after the test, important components such as engines and gearboxes will be disassembled and analyzed.

The test driver told us that we should go through a rigorous examination and hold relevant certificates before taking up our posts. Their job is to drive vehicles before and after mass production, and repeatedly run to the limit on these test roads. At the same time, they also need to look at road conditions, meters, data and feelings. When I first took up my post, I felt that my eyes and brain were not enough. So we can see the strength of the road test run.

On the first lap, the test driver took us to experience the intensity below the test standard. When Sharp flies at the speed of 180km/h on the high-speed loop, I feel very stable; When passing through the twisted road quickly, the sharp chassis can filter out a large range, and passengers will not bounce on the seat, but feel a series of continuous and elastic ups and downs; When cornering quickly, the chassis suspension will give good support or tension, and passengers in the car will not feel the tail being shaken.

In the second lap, under the guidance of the test driver, the female driver personally drove the sharp world and felt its charm in the professional test field. When you step on the accelerator pedal rudely and violently, you will obviously feel that the speed is increasing, and the sharp edge will remain stable all the time. No matter high speed or low speed, the steering system can give proper feedback. For common road conditions such as multi-manhole cover, road repair and white line, you can easily deal with it as long as you step on the brakes a little. All of the above, in my opinion, this may be the "good driving" that Ford passed on to us.

60% steep slope certificate performance

As we all know, off-road vehicles have the strongest climbing ability, but it is currently recognized that only SUVs with a maximum climbing degree of not less than 57.73% can be called real off-road vehicles. This time in the challenge of Dianjiang proving ground, we watched Ford Maverick challenge 60% steep slope.

60% steep slopes are tested by vehicle dynamics, chassis height, approach angle, departure angle and longitudinal passing angle.

It can be seen from the scene that the four tires of the Maverick can firmly grasp the ground, and the chassis suspension also provides the most powerful support for the body and remains stable. In the process of climbing, you can feel the linear power output, so that the whole body feels full of forward power, and the four tires do not slip. The whole climb was done in one go, seemingly relaxed and happy, but it still made us sweat.

Conclusion: "Without personal experience, it is always hearsay", which is given to consumers before buying a car. In fact, buying a car is like finding an object: online parameter comparison is like matchmaker introduction, and personal testing is the process of finding an object. If Ford is good at driving, you might as well give it a try.