Press Release
Page 2: Chassis / Special Features
Safety
2007 MKX delivers comprehensive active and passive safety
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Solid foundation designed to help driving confidence and manage crash forces
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Six standard air bags help provide frontal, side and rollover protection
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Industry-exclusive AdvanceTrac???????????????????? with Roll Stability Control (RSC????????????????????)
Lincoln MKX features a solid structure and an impressive list of advanced safety technologies that help provide occupants active and passive protection.
The robust unibody construction allowed engineers to deliver confident driving dynamics that help drivers avoid hazardous conditions. In the event of an accident, the structure is engineered to help channel crash forces away from the occupant cabin.
MKX??????????????????????????????????????s standard safety features include:
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Ford's Personal Safety System???????????????????? with dual-stage front air bags
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Energy-absorbing safety belts, load-limiting retractors and pretensioners
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Seat-mounted side air bags, large side-curtain air bags and structural technologies intended to help meet strict side-impact tests
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Available AdvanceTrac???????????????????? with Roll Stability Control (RSC????????????????????)
"The first line of defense is the driver??????????????????????????????????????s ability to steer around dangerous situations," says Steve Kozak, safety chief engineer, Ford Motor Company. "The solid structure also helps manage crash forces while advanced active and passive safety technologies help protect occupants in a variety of accident scenarios, including rollovers."
Safety Foundation
The crossmember ladder construction of MKX provides rigidity to help the vehicle manage side-impact forces. Side-impact intrusion beams add further protection to occupants.
In frontal collisions, bumper-to-bumper flow-through rails help distribute energy away from occupants. And with the wide size range of vehicles on the road today, MKX helps provide vehicle-to-vehicle front compatibility protection with an innovative energy managing perimeter subframe with blocker beam.
The front A-pillar upper load path helps manage crash energy up and away from occupants, while the reinforced greenhouse helps improve safety performance in a variety of accidents.
Vehicle safety engineers also designed-in energy-absorbing materials on the interior to help manage crash forces inside the cabin. A load-limiting decoupling driveshaft adds another measure of safety.
Six air bags help enhance crash protection
For passive occupant protection, MKX utilizes the elements of Ford's Personal Safety System????????????????????, including dual-stage front air bags, energy absorbing safety belts, load-limiting retractors and pretensioners.
To tailor the inflation level of the front-passenger air bag, "load cells" determine whether the seat is occupied. Using a logic circuit that factors in weight on the seat, crash severity and whether the safety belt is being used, the onboard safety computer determines whether to deploy the passenger air bag and at what level.
On the driver's side, deployment of the steering-wheel-mounted air bag is tailored to the seat-track position, which takes into account the driver's distance from the steering wheel, as well as crash severity and safety belt usage.
MKX also employs standard side air bags that include seat-deployed torso bags for front occupants, as well as two-row air curtain air bags that provide head-protection coverage for both rows of seating.
The side curtain can help prevent both front and rear occupants from hitting their heads on the side window or pillars in a severe side collision. In addition, the side-curtain air bag can help block glass splinters or other objects that could cause injury in a side impact.
MKX's side curtains also feature "roll-fold" technology ??????????????????????????????????????? a class exclusive. If an occupant is resting his or her head against a window, the air bag is designed to slide down between the glass and occupant as it fills. This roll-fold inflation helps keep the side curtain against the glass, even when the occupant is out of position.
Both driver and front passenger benefit from energy absorbing materials used in the knee bolster for the driver, and in the glove box door on the passenger side. The steering column is designed to "stroke" up to three inches during a severe impact, and side door trim is also softened for added protection.
World??????????????????????????????????????s only AdvanceTrac???????????????????? with Roll Stability Control (RSC????????????????????)
MKX offers as an option Ford Motor Company??????????????????????????????????????s industry-exclusive AdvanceTrac???????????????????? with Roll Stability Control (RSC????????????????????) system. The system has been enhanced with significant improvements to help provide improved control levels when needed.
"Competitor's yaw control-only systems try to calculate both yaw and roll control based on yaw rate, lateral acceleration, and steering rate," says Steve Kozak, Ford Motor Company chief safety engineer. "Without Ford??????????????????????????????????????s unique roll rate sensor and roll angle estimation, they lack the accuracy of our Roll Stability Control system."
The system uses a gyroscopic sensor to help detect potential roll conditions during emergency maneuvers and help counter potentially dangerous conditions by applying braking to the proper wheels necessary to stabilize the vehicle. If conditions warrant, the system will activate necessary safety devices.
All-weather confidence
MKX??????????????????????????????????????s chassis setup includes standard 4-wheel disc brakes that help provide stopping power with a firm, confident feel even under extreme braking conditions. Anti-lock brakes (ABS) help the driver maintain control while braking on slippery surfaces, whether it??????????????????????????????????????s rain, snow or mud, while the traction assist feature constantly monitors slip at all four wheels, acting quickly to help restore or maintain traction.
Personal security
MKX??????????????????????????????????????s key with built-in fob buttons allows one-touch door locking or unlocking from outside the vehicle. It also has a standard keyless keypad entry system. Doors lock automatically once the vehicle begins to move.
To protect against theft, MKX is equipped with Ford's SecuriLock???????????????????????????????? passive anti-theft system. The system is designed to help prevent the engine from being started unless a coded key programmed to the vehicle is used.
Safety first: Computer crash modeling helped design a safer MKX
When Kirk Arthurs?????????????????????????????????????? computer crashes, he doesn??????????????????????????????????????t panic and scream for tech support, in fact, most of the time, he??????????????????????????????????????s pleased with the results. Arthurs is the crash safety supervisor for the 2007 Lincoln MKX. He and his team conducted the multitude of crash tests that are needed to meet Ford??????????????????????????????????????s stringent internal safety targets.
Crash simulation software uses the computer aided design (CAD) data from the engineering and design departments to build a virtual vehicle. Specific properties are given to each of the components and the virtual vehicle is then crashed into a virtual barrier. By examining the data, safety engineers can accurately predict how the vehicle will perform in a real-life crash.
"MKX performs in real crash tests just the way the computer modeling said it would," says Arthurs. "As a result, we haven??????????????????????????????????????t had to make any major structural changes to the original design."
Through the use of computer simulation, safety engineers are able to solve potential safety problems before any vehicles are crash tested. As part of the process, Arthurs?????????????????????????????????????? team spends quite a bit of time reviewing crash test data from previous vehicle development programs.
"Though the parts and structure differ," says Arthurs, "unibody vehicles share some of the same design philosophies and we can learn a lot from observing how they bend and react during impact."
Data from early tests of the D-car program ??????????????????????????????????????? including the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego that, equipped with side air bags, are the only large cars in the world to achieve the IIHS Top Safety Pick-Gold ??????????????????????????????????????? alerted the team to a possible problem with the middle B-pillar to rocker panel integrity during side-impact testing.
"Since we knew that area was sensitive to shearing," says Arthurs, "we designed a reinforcing ring that was added around the area where the safety belt retractor attaches to the floor at the B-pillar to strengthen it."
The new part was developed, validated and delivered to the body design team.
The design of the MKX??????????????????????????????????????s interior door trim panel was also safety driven. Computer modeling with finite-element analysis (FEA) computer dummies helped set parameters for designing a door panel that would help reduce injuries in the event of a side impact.
Computer crash test modeling has come a long way in the last five years. Run time has gotten faster (an average NHTSA off-set barrier test needs about 10 hours to run), but most of the increase in computer power is used to play catch-up with the advances in CAD technology, creating more detailed models.
"Anything that can bend is added to the model," says Arthurs. "Components such as fuel lines weren??????????????????????????????????????t done five years ago."
