Dubai’s Deserts Serve as Ford’s Bakkie Testing Ground

The deserts and dunes of Dubai can reach a sweltering during midday in the searing summer days and while these conditions are largely unbearable for people, Ford’s bakkies prove that they can handle the heat. Deserts

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The sands of deserts during peak summer are the opportune location for automakers to test the functionality and durability of their powertrains and their related cooling systems. Ford is no different, with its engineers taking to Dubai to test bakkies and SUVs for this purpose. In Dubai, that job falls to Ziyad ‘Z’ Dallalah and his product development team. Dallalah established the team in 2009, and they’ve become an integral part of Ford’s global test programme since.

Related: Uncovering South Africa’s Forgotten Role in Ford’s Legacy

“In simple terms, driving in deep, soft sand is like dragging a heavy weight around. That resistance you feel when you’re dragging that weight – it’s the same thing for vehicles in the desert,” Dallalah said.

Over and above the punishing desert sands, the vehicles that are tested, which include models like the Ranger, are also subject to urban sprawl and city or highway driving. While the summer sun sends temperatures soaring, driving on sand means the engine and transmission needs to work harder than on the road – and that creates more heat. Vehicle speeds are typically slower than they are on the road, so cooling systems don’t get the same airflow to dissipate that extra heat.

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Inside the cabin, the team monitors the performance of the climate control system after letting the vehicle soak in the sun with the engine off and windows closed for over an hour and then setting the A/C on max. The hottest temperature ever recorded by the team during this soaking process was 72 degrees C.

“Whether you’re based in Dubai, Durban or Darwin, you need to know that if you set the climate control to 15.5 degrees C, it’s going to deliver,” Dallalah said.

This type of real-world testing compliments an enormous amount of work that Ford teams worldwide pour into ensuring vehicles, systems, components and parts are engineered to cope with everything owners demand. That includes using computer-aided design (CAD) and engineering (CAE) to help accelerate and streamline vehicle development.

“CAD and CAE have really helped transform the way we design and engineer our vehicles,” Dallalah said. “But nothing beats real-world testing to expose issues you didn’t anticipate. And, until you experience the kind of heat and conditions we get here, it’s hard to imagine just how that affects everything your vehicle needs to handle.”

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The post Dubai’s Deserts Serve as Ford’s Bakkie Testing Ground appeared first on CAR Magazine.


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