Quote:
As if torture-testing cars in the nation's hottest place wasn't enough, Lee Foster had to worry about spies.
Lots of them.
Foster was leading a team of engineers from South Korean automaker Kia putting disguised cars through the most grueling tests imaginable. All the while, they had to fend off a legion of car paparazzi [censored]-bent on grabbing shots of vehicles that hadn't yet been shown publicly.
The cat-and-mouse game plays out all summer in Death Valley National Park, where the temperature was the highest in the USA on all but three days last month. The destination's scorching conditions draw automotive teams from around the world to see whether their latest engines, transmissions and air conditioners can take the heat.
Quote:
"Death Valley is the mecca for car testers," Foster says.
The Kias were tested against peers, a new Scion xB for the sports crossover, and a Toyota 4Runner and a Dodge Durango for the SUVs.
As soon as they hit the road, it was clear the Kia team wasn't alone. In summer, about the only traffic around the desolate landscape here are black-clad manufacturers' prototypes being tested in hot weather. The Kia engineers didn't have much trouble spotting teams from Hyundai, General Motors, Volkswagen, even a heavy-duty tractor-trailer. Only one car, escorted by a Subaru, remained a mystery.
The best testing comes in the afternoon. "We only have five to six hours a day when we have good heat," Foster says.
Quote:
The team ran two tests. In one, the SUVs hauled various heavy loads up a hill while temperature readings were taken. In the other, readings were taken in the cabin of the baking crossover and its rival as their air conditioners gradually cooled them.
The SUVs, meanwhile, pounded up and down the 5,000-foot grade from the Devil's Cornfield, an odd Death Valley landmark near Stovepipe, to the top of Townes Pass. They towed trailers weighing as much as 7,000 pounds in a brutal demonstration of their ability to handle heat and loads.
That's the secret of Death Valley, Foster says. It's not just the heat: It's the hills. Engineers pay careful attention to temperatures of transmission fluid and engine oil all the way up.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3559056&page=1
If a vehicle is doing well at Death Valley in summer running up and down fairly steep hills with recommended oil weght, there is nowhere in US is tougher than that.
This article is a little old, but its fundamentals are still valid today.
As if torture-testing cars in the nation's hottest place wasn't enough, Lee Foster had to worry about spies.
Lots of them.
Foster was leading a team of engineers from South Korean automaker Kia putting disguised cars through the most grueling tests imaginable. All the while, they had to fend off a legion of car paparazzi [censored]-bent on grabbing shots of vehicles that hadn't yet been shown publicly.
The cat-and-mouse game plays out all summer in Death Valley National Park, where the temperature was the highest in the USA on all but three days last month. The destination's scorching conditions draw automotive teams from around the world to see whether their latest engines, transmissions and air conditioners can take the heat.
Quote:
"Death Valley is the mecca for car testers," Foster says.
The Kias were tested against peers, a new Scion xB for the sports crossover, and a Toyota 4Runner and a Dodge Durango for the SUVs.
As soon as they hit the road, it was clear the Kia team wasn't alone. In summer, about the only traffic around the desolate landscape here are black-clad manufacturers' prototypes being tested in hot weather. The Kia engineers didn't have much trouble spotting teams from Hyundai, General Motors, Volkswagen, even a heavy-duty tractor-trailer. Only one car, escorted by a Subaru, remained a mystery.
The best testing comes in the afternoon. "We only have five to six hours a day when we have good heat," Foster says.
Quote:
The team ran two tests. In one, the SUVs hauled various heavy loads up a hill while temperature readings were taken. In the other, readings were taken in the cabin of the baking crossover and its rival as their air conditioners gradually cooled them.
The SUVs, meanwhile, pounded up and down the 5,000-foot grade from the Devil's Cornfield, an odd Death Valley landmark near Stovepipe, to the top of Townes Pass. They towed trailers weighing as much as 7,000 pounds in a brutal demonstration of their ability to handle heat and loads.
That's the secret of Death Valley, Foster says. It's not just the heat: It's the hills. Engineers pay careful attention to temperatures of transmission fluid and engine oil all the way up.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3559056&page=1
If a vehicle is doing well at Death Valley in summer running up and down fairly steep hills with recommended oil weght, there is nowhere in US is tougher than that.
This article is a little old, but its fundamentals are still valid today.
