Ford Fiesta Takes the Youtube Blender Test

Ford Fiesta Movement continues the campaign that started four months ago in order to build Fiesta awareness in the US before its launching next year. As we were telling you then, 100 agents were selected to take part in the campaign, test driving the new Fiesta.

One of those Ford Fiesta Movement agents, Ryan Dembroski of Milwaukee, not only drive tested the car, but he also went to the “Will It Blend?” studio to put a piece of Fiesta’s boron steel to the Blendtec Total Blender test. However, Tom Dickson, who founded Blendtec and destroyed marbles, magnets and even an Apple iPhone in his Youtube video series, tried but failed to crack, cut or crush the steel.

Ford uses boron in various structural areas on several of its current models, including the Ford Taurus, Transit Connect, Flex, Mustang, Focus and Lincoln MKS. Of course boron will also be extensively used in 2011 Ford Fiesta to help protect occupants in the event of a collision.

“Safety is an important attribute for the new Fiesta, but achieving real weight reduction was also a key objective. High-strength steels – cold- and hot-formed – were key to delivering the lighter weight and higher strength we needed for structural efficiency,” said Bernd Liesenfelder, Body Engineering Manager of Ford of Europe.

According to Ford, high-strength steels have been used in several areas of the 2011 Fiesta, including the floor structure, front rails, and beams, and the vehicle's integrated body-side reinforcement, all of these essential for crashworthiness.

More than 50 percent of the body structure is high-strength steel, including grades of very high-strength, dual-phase steel and ultra-high-strength aluminized boron steel. However, Fiesta has a lightweight overall body structure, which means an increased fuel economy and less CO2 emissions.