As many of you know I was invited to visit Ford Headquarters a few weeks ago. The event was unbelievable they put together an attendee list of everyone from tech bloggers, to car bloggers, green bloggers, newspaper people, daddy bloggers, geek bloggers, seriously other then food bloggers I think everyone was there. I met so many new people and learned quite a bit about the car industry. I learned so much that I have something pretty GIANT in the works for all of you.
The last day of the event we got to go out on the test track and play drive the cars under an array of different conditions. Including the Ford 150 Drag Race (I totally beat Tom even the professional driver sitting in the truck next to me says my score should have counted.) There were quite a few driving experiences we got to experience including one which they has a camera in the car to video tape the experience so we could share it with friends and family. They told us it would be filmed so if we missed a target not to curse or it would be caught on film and us forget it happened and then without thinking upload the video to our blog for the whole world to hear us cursing because we missed a target.
There was also the hands free park assist test area where the car literally pulled into the spot for the driver. You control the gas and brakes and the car does the rest. The driver is asked to hold their hands in the air or sit on them so they don’t have the urge to take control back from the car. The guy in this picture was nice enough to raise his hands in the air so I could take this picture.
While waiting on line at this test drive I got to speak with the Ford Representative there who was really amazing to speak with. She is a great grandmother but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. Her and her husband are big Mustang fans and have quite a few different model year cars at home. She is a test driver for Ford and landed the job much later in life. She says she loves it but especially loves when there are events and she is called in to work them and interact with everyone. her husband who was not there is what I am going to refer to as a stunt driver. Basically they call him out when they need to make cars do horrible things. Like during a tire issue where they need to recreate tires popping at high speeds they will call him in slash the tires on the car and then send him out to see how the car reacts. They need to test all weather safety they call him out. They want to try and recreate a situation where there could be a default or an issue has been pointed out he is the one called in and he will spend hours a day trying to make the default happen. That’s why I say he is a stunt driver. While she is a level 2 driver for Ford he is the highest level driver in the US and apparently there are very few of them period with any car company. I also found out that those taking us for the test drives on the wet tracks are the same high level drivers that he is and so there was never any danger of them loosing control of the cars while we were in it. I never felt like they didn’t have anything under control but I wish I knew it so I could have stayed and waited for a break in the line to take the car out myself and see how it handled for me. sort of a regret but that’s ok.
A picture of the different test track areas:
Just some of the Ford line up.
Very cool! Let me guess…you’re going to give away a Ford Focus to all of your followers!!!!!:-) Yipppeee!
Totally cool with us if you want to start that rumor 😉
What a cool experience! I would have loved the drag race. I’m afraid I would have been trying to hit those spots at a 55 MPH or higher. I often feel the need for speed but don’t feel I can do so on the road. But a race track? Oh boy!
I am VERY curious about the GIANT thing you are working on. Any relation to something you hinted at in a tweet? 🙂
Out of curiosity did Ford share any dog-friendly cars, packages, etc. I love my Honda Element because it is so dog-friendly, but would consider buying a Ford if I knew they had one (especially since Honda is discontinuing the Element). If it has carpet it’s a no-go, Daisy sheds all of the time, but hope you’ll be sharing more about any cars they do have that might fit the bill!
That looks like a TON of fun!