[SNAP]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The cool thing about being here the Consumer Reports Test Track
is that you never know what's going to happen next.
Jake, that was crazy.
What was that?
So what you just saw was what we call the avoidance maneuver.
And it's actually part of our emergency handling test here
at the track.
So first of all, we're going to have Ryan here.
He's going to drive the car.
And we're going to get in the control booth,
and I'll show you how we do this test.
So welcome to the control center.
All right.
Wow.
I like the view from here.
Below us, of course is set up with cones
to test how safely a car can handle a sudden swerve
around a road hazard.
So think about it this way.
Say you're driving along, and you're in your lane.
And then suddenly there's something in your lane
that you need to avoid.
Now you need to go and actually get into the oncoming lane,
because you need to avoid it.
And you don't want to go off on the grass.
But as soon as you get into the oncoming lane,
you've got to get back.
Because maybe there's a car coming.
That's true.
And then you come back.
And that's essentially what we're simulating here.
The objective is to try to figure out really
how fast this car can go through this maneuver.
Auto engineer Gabe [? Shinhar ?] tells technician Brian
Keselowski to start up his engine for the first test run.
The team uses a laser beam hooked up to a computer
to measure the car speed.
So he's going to go through the cones, laser beams.
Swerves, back and lane.
So what are we looking at here on the computer?
[INAUDIBLE] right there?
46.7.
Brian didn't hit a cone.
So now he hits the gas a little harder
as he runs the course again.
All right, there comes Ryan again.
Just went through the lasers, swerves.
Ooh, look at that.
So we're just going to keep on bringing up that speed
until we know exactly what is the maximum this car can
go through.
Some car that has really good handling and a lot of grip
from the tires, and it's tuned really safely,
that could do it quite quick.
But you get something, maybe like a taller SUV,
it's going to struggle more.
Now Ryan is asked to take the speed up another notch.
Ooh.
This time, Ryan clips the cone on the corner
as he comes back into his lane.
Couple of cones went there.
Yep.
What did we see there?
So he's past the speed that that car can do it.
And this time they found the exact speed limit for this car
in this situation.
Pretty good.
Yeah.
That went great.
Clean run.
So we're looking at 52, around there.
Maybe 50 miles per hour.
That's part of the top speed for that car
to be able to do the avoidance maneuver [INAUDIBLE]..
Right.
We're honing in on the what that speed is.
And it's not just about what that speed is,
it's about the confidence, too.
And we're measuring--
So now we're looking at the driver's confidence.
You've got it.
You got it.
It's one thing if a car can get through here
at 55 miles per hour, but only a top trained driver can do it.
We want this car to be able for everyone
to be able to go through it.
A car's top speed through the avoidance maneuver
is factored into its emergency handling score, which helps
consumers find safer cars.
What's been helping Ryan get through these hard turns
is a modern safety feature called
electronic stability control.
What electronic stability control does
is it uses electronics that will individually
hit the brakes on those four wheels
to help you keep that car where you want it to go.
Jake, we have a family that has a question.
Let's ask CR.
Sure.
Hey Jack, I'm Brian, and this is my daughter.
Hi, I'm Julianna.
I'm going to be driving in a couple of years.
And we are looking to buy a used car.
And I was wondering if there is any safety features
I should be looking out for?
That's actually a really good question, Jake.
What happens when you're a younger driver looking
for an older car?
Should it have stability control?
Absolutely.
This is one of the most important things.
This is a feature that could save your life.
And this happens all the time, because a lot of people,
they're looking for cars.
And if you're looking for a car that's older than 2012--
and that's when they made it standard--
it may have it, it may not.
But depending on having that feature,
this could be a game changer.
This could be whether or not you're going
to have that crash or not.
The car Ryan is using has been specially adapted
so that electronic stability control can be turned off.
And just look at the difference.
Whoa.
Oh.
That was not good at all.
So he didn't do anything different.
But because the car did not have that feature helping him out,
look at the difference.
And can you imagine how different
that would be if you were on the road?
Jake, that was fascinating and very informative.
Thank you.
Well, you're very welcome.
Nice job, Ryan.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[SNAP]