always testing
About 25 years ago I worked as a test engineer at the Dearborn proving grounds, so perhaps I can shed some light - assuming things are done the same way now as then. Testing begins on computer models before the first prototype is ever assembled. Prototype testing continues right up to the Job1 date. In the case of the Thunderbird that would be two years or longer. Once the production build is available, testing starts under actual driving conditions. Cars are driven on the street and test track 24x7 in an effort to weed out all the problems that will occur during the first year of release. Normally this will take place in the first month or two of manufacturing. It looks like Ford wants to extend this period to 4-5 months, probably for several reasons.
First, they did encounter some rear end stability issues during the prototype phase. I'd bet one or more of the X-braces was added as a design fix, so they want to make sure they got it right. Secondly, this is their flagship product. They are trying to avoid recalls for both the dealers' and customers' sake. Once production gets under way, they will likely do random sample tests, setting aside one or more cars a month for exhaustive road testing to guard against any manufacturing mistakes that might occur. This might be done for the first six months of production or in the case of the T-bird for the entire run. No matter how much testing you do, it's never enough. There's always the chance that something might appear under unusual circumstances that the engineers hadn't anticipated. Anyway, by the time you or I get behind the wheel most of the defects should be corrected. Even then, cars are like computer programs, you can never get all the bugs out. You try to get it to the point where the product is within acceptable bounds.
About 25 years ago I worked as a test engineer at the Dearborn proving grounds, so perhaps I can shed some light - assuming things are done the same way now as then. Testing begins on computer models before the first prototype is ever assembled. Prototype testing continues right up to the Job1 date. In the case of the Thunderbird that would be two years or longer. Once the production build is available, testing starts under actual driving conditions. Cars are driven on the street and test track 24x7 in an effort to weed out all the problems that will occur during the first year of release. Normally this will take place in the first month or two of manufacturing. It looks like Ford wants to extend this period to 4-5 months, probably for several reasons.
First, they did encounter some rear end stability issues during the prototype phase. I'd bet one or more of the X-braces was added as a design fix, so they want to make sure they got it right. Secondly, this is their flagship product. They are trying to avoid recalls for both the dealers' and customers' sake. Once production gets under way, they will likely do random sample tests, setting aside one or more cars a month for exhaustive road testing to guard against any manufacturing mistakes that might occur. This might be done for the first six months of production or in the case of the T-bird for the entire run. No matter how much testing you do, it's never enough. There's always the chance that something might appear under unusual circumstances that the engineers hadn't anticipated. Anyway, by the time you or I get behind the wheel most of the defects should be corrected. Even then, cars are like computer programs, you can never get all the bugs out. You try to get it to the point where the product is within acceptable bounds.
