Ford: Wet leaves as slippery as snow
LIMITED LIABILITY A Ford study found that wet leaves on roadways can reduce tire grip as much as snow. A new driving mode takes that fact into account. Autumn leaves are a beautiful sight. But if the colorful leaves no longer hang from the tree but cover the road, they become a major hazard for drivers; especially if they are wet [...]
Autumn leaves are a beautiful sight. But if the colored leaves no longer hang on the tree, but cover the road, they become a great danger for the driver; especially if they are wet and lie in several layers.
A group of Ford engineers has now asked themselves what would be more slippery: wet leaves or snow. In contrast to the information on grip values on snow, no research data was available on fall and winter leaves. Using a friction meter, Ford technicians investigated how slippery leaf-covered surfaces are on the test track in Lommel, Belgium. They found that leaves allow extremely little grip in certain situations.
Slippery mode in the new Focus Active
The more slippery a surface is, the lower its µ value. The tests on leaves produced µ values between 0.3 and 0.4 - the same as on snow. Ford engineers used these tests to develop the slippery mode in the new Focus Active, a crossover variant of the new Focus. This mode controls the settings of the electronic stability program and traction control in mud, snow and ice. The spinning of the wheels in a straight line, for example when starting off, is reduced. In addition, the throttle response is less spontaneous.
