Justin: Let's say I've been called into work for an emergency at 4 am. It's 40 below zero and I accelerate at full throttle without giving the engine a chance to warm up. Are there preventative measures taken to ensure such abuse doesn't cause extensive damage?
ATDT: It's not wise to force an engine to deliver maximum performance without giving all fluids a chance to start warming up and circulate. You should drive moderately until the engine warms up, but some vehicles include control strategies that limit engine output until certain operating conditions are achieved. The best practice is to drive moderately during the warm up period- just think of an athlete stretching before a workout.
Justin: Can you share any specific exercises that vehicles are put through in cold weather testing?
ATDT: Vehicles are "soaked" at a very cold temperature for a period long enough for all fluids and parts to reach the same (cold) temperature. Typical cold tests are cold start and heater warm up with juries, made up of normal people who get in the cold vehicle and then rate their comfort as the vehicle warms up.
We also start the vehicle and drive away, to assess powertrain performance. There are some federally mandated tests to assess defroster performance. Sometimes we do "snow packing" tests where we assess the affect of snow being ingested into the underhood environment. We can make it snow indoors (and rain or sleet too), so all of these tests can be done at our test facility.
Justin: Take us through a day in the life of an engineer on a cold-weather testing job?
ATDT: When the engineers go out on a cold trip, they awake at 3am to make sure all of the data recording equipment is ready to go. Then they jump into vehicles that have been sitting out all night in the cold and begin their testing. Sometimes it doesn't get cold enough and testing has to resume another day. The test facilities at the Chrysler Technology Center make it possible to have cold miserable days anytime of the year, even in the summer. Having the ability to simulate real world conditions will help us meet our promise of "Customer First" and "Quality Period".
photo:Justin Pritchard
 |
ATDT: It's not wise to force an engine to deliver maximum performance without giving all fluids a chance to start warming up and circulate. You should drive moderately until the engine warms up, but some vehicles include control strategies that limit engine output until certain operating conditions are achieved. The best practice is to drive moderately during the warm up period- just think of an athlete stretching before a workout.
Justin: Can you share any specific exercises that vehicles are put through in cold weather testing?
ATDT: Vehicles are "soaked" at a very cold temperature for a period long enough for all fluids and parts to reach the same (cold) temperature. Typical cold tests are cold start and heater warm up with juries, made up of normal people who get in the cold vehicle and then rate their comfort as the vehicle warms up.
We also start the vehicle and drive away, to assess powertrain performance. There are some federally mandated tests to assess defroster performance. Sometimes we do "snow packing" tests where we assess the affect of snow being ingested into the underhood environment. We can make it snow indoors (and rain or sleet too), so all of these tests can be done at our test facility.
Justin: Take us through a day in the life of an engineer on a cold-weather testing job?
ATDT: When the engineers go out on a cold trip, they awake at 3am to make sure all of the data recording equipment is ready to go. Then they jump into vehicles that have been sitting out all night in the cold and begin their testing. Sometimes it doesn't get cold enough and testing has to resume another day. The test facilities at the Chrysler Technology Center make it possible to have cold miserable days anytime of the year, even in the summer. Having the ability to simulate real world conditions will help us meet our promise of "Customer First" and "Quality Period".
photo:Justin Pritchard