Convenience & Quiet Built Into New Ford Expedition
Ford engineers and designers created a passenger cabin in the 2007 Expedition that is so quiet, a normal conversation in the front seat is still audible all the way back to the third row.
While they were at it, designers also solved one of the perennial complaints about sports utility vehicles (SUVs) – the difficulty of getting third row seats out the way for more cargo space.
"Like we’ve done for F-Series, we’ve aimed with Expedition to set a new standard for interior refinement for full-size SUVs," said John Viera, Expedition chief engineer. "Expedition’s all-new interior is as comfortable as your favorite pair of jeans."
Keeping Outside Noise Outside
A large SUV like the Expedition takes a lot of power to keep it moving along the road, power in the Expedition supplied by a 5.4L, 300hp, V8 engine. Ford staff faced the challenge of keeping the engine’s sound under the hood where it belonged and not in the Expedition’s passenger cabin. First off, engineers decided to use a new acoustical windshield.
"By law, all windshield glass is laminated," said Patrick O’Mahony, engineer for noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) on the project. "That means the windshield is made of three layers – two of glass and a middle layer of a compound like polyvinyl butyral (PVB)."
Typically, when engineers needed to reduce noise, the solution was to increase the windshield’s thickness. While thicker glass helps deaden noise, it also adds weight to the vehicle. With a large vehicle like the Expedition, any added weight contributes to reduced fuel economy.
In the acoustic windshield, the center layer is made of a material called Vanceva Quiet from Solutia Automotive. This material, according to Solutia, reduces noise by approximately 2 db (decibels) without adding weight.
"The acoustic windshield reduces noise in the passenger cabin from the engine compartment along with the sound of wind and road surfaces," O’Mahony said.
The acoustic windshield is also used in the 2007 Lincoln Navigator and Land Rover’s Range Rover and LR3 models, and Volvo has used the technology in several models over the years.
Lamination is key to another Expedition noise-reduction feature, Quiet Steel. This product, from Material Sciences Corporation, utilizes a sound-dampening rubber inner layer sandwiched between outer layers of steel.
"We use Quiet Steel selectively in the vehicle where it does the most good because of its extra cost," Mahony said.
Like the acoustic windshield, Quiet Steel is used to dampen noise in the Navigator’s front end. The dashboard includes Quiet Steel along with insulation and the oil pan is stamped from Quiet Steel.
"Basically we purchase Quiet Steel in the same way as any other steel, and then stamp out the parts we need," O’Mahony said.
Improved sound-deadening materials have also been used in the carpet and headliner, door panels while side glass is thicker.
Bigger, softer body mounts and improved engine and transmission mounts isolate the cabin from unwanted vibration. Wind tunnel-tuned-and-tested outside mirrors further reduce wind and road noise. Even Expedition’s tires have been specifically tuned to reduce road noise.
Folding The Third Row
Engineers also tackled the problem of getting a third row of seats to fold flat without much trouble.
"A lot of thought and energy went into the design and flow of the interior components," said Chelsia Lau, Expedition chief designer. "Every button and switch was purposefully and ergonomically placed with an astute attention to detail."
One of those buttons controls the optional Powerfold™ third-row seat, also an option on the Explorer. Available as an option on XLT and EL XLT models and standard on the Eddie Bauer models, the Limited and the EL, the Powerfold can be folded flat for cargo space by pressing a button. For 2007, engineers developed a faster and more fluid folding action into the feature.
The Expedition uses an impendent rear suspension while competitors do not. That fact means there’s more room to let the seats fold flat in the Expedition, while the suspension on competitors obstructs the space.
The Powerfold earned a thumbs up from the Wall Street Journal when comparing the Ford Expedition to the 2007 Chevy Suburban.
"And more important, the Ford’s third-row seats fold at the touch of a button to form a flat floor," said Journal auto writer Jonathan Welsh. "To get a flat floor in the Chevy, we had to negotiate a clunky series of latches, which was difficult to do with just one hand."
Expedition’s second row features one-lever action 40/20/40-split seats that also fold flat, providing either extra cargo room or easier access to the third row seats. And if a front-seat passenger needs to reach back to the second row, a Centerslide™ sliding center section can be moved forward up to 11 inches, providing easy access to the second row.
Note to children: the Centerslide makes it easy for a parent to reach behind them from the front and the Expedition’s quiet ride makes it probable that mom and dad will hear every word you say. Just a word to the wise when on a family vacation in the 2007 Expedition.
Source: Ford Motor Company
While the interior design of the 2007 Ford Expedition has been described as "game changing, for customers it’s the seats that matter most.
"The seat is one of the primary influences on consumers when they buy the vehicle," said Steve Nunez, supervisor of Ford’s Active Comfort Engineering team within Product Creation. "It is the only part of the vehicle that the consumer is in contact with through the lifetime of ownership."
Nunez says early customer feedback on Expedition’s seats left something to be desired, so with only 18 months to go before Job 1, his team focused on what he calls Expedition’s "Seat Comfort DNA" with Ford supplier Johnson Controls.
"We found three key areas that needed improvements," said Nunez. "The actual contour of the seat, particularly the angle of the seat back, cushion hardness and the initial feel of the seats to the customer were all changed. The seats were perceived to lack plushness, so we made some changes."
Using tools that measure cushion hardness, engineers can effectively simulate the load conditions for a variety of potential drivers.
"We are able to effectively measure from a ‘fifth percentile’ female (5 feet tall, 105 pounds) all the way up to a ’95th percentile’ male (6-feet-2, 215 pounds)," Nunez said. "We can literally measure how much give, or deflection, an individual seat has, which then gives us a metric that correlates to exact customer preferences."
The work done by Ford’s Active Comfort Engineering seat team has become standard on all Ford future vehicle seat programs, including the upcoming launch of the all-new 2007 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers.
Source: Ford Motor Company
Tags: Ford, SUV
Category: News
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