One of the most important elements to creating a comfortable vehicle is something cannot be offered via a feature or piece of technology. The nicest leather seats won’t do any good if a car is so loud you can’t hear yourself think. So how quiet are Ford vehicles? Ford recently created a mobile aeroacoustic wind tunnel that will help the company manufacture the quietest vehicles possible.
“Our new mobile wind tunnel saves our engineers time and increases productivity. It’s a fine example of the innovation mindset we’re trying to incorporate into everything we do.” – Bill Gulker, Ford wind noise core supervisor
Benefits of a mobile air tunnel
Ford currently has a full-sized wind tunnel located in Allen Park, Michigan. This large tunnel is able to obtain advanced aerodynamic and aeroacoustic information on new vehicles. However, facilities that large are expensive to build and run.
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Ford’s new mobile wind tunnel is a much more cost-effective testing facility. Even with its smaller size, the mobile tunnel can still create winds up to 80 miles per hour, enabling the facility to simulate noise levels equivalent to highway traffic. Mobile testing facilities like this one enable Ford to detect and resolve any noise-related issues earlier in the manufacturing process.
Smaller, mobile wind tunnels like this one will allow Ford factories to simply pull vehicles off of the assembly line for testing, ensuring that data is being taken from true production models.
This new wind tunnel will make its debut at Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan. The mobile air tunnel can be broken down within a day and then carried by truck to any Ford assembly facility in North America. Assembling the tunnel once it arrives on site can be done in just a few hours.
If you would like to judge for yourself how well Ford has been doing at making quiet vehicles, the best thing to do is take one out for a test drive. If you’re in the Tampa area, we would be happy to help you out at Brandon Ford. Take a look at our selection to learn more about all of our great Ford vehicles.
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