Being a Top Gear fan, I always loved it when Clarkson kills vehicles. Sure the ways are too extreme (at least they proved that the Toyota Hilux was one tough mo-fo) but seeing things blow up sure is fun.AutoMotto recently posted this article on The Ways Ford Tortures Its Cars. The word torture caught my attention. (No, I don’t have aggression issues.)

Cars’ test models usually get pretty beat up during testing to make sure that the car’s structural integrity is decent once it hits the showrooms. Just take a look at the ways Ford do their torture tests, this time, on a 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty.

Open-and-Shut Case. All the swinging parts – doors, windows, hatches, the hood – are all swung repetitively by a hydraulic arm, simulating years of use, just to make sure nothing falls apart.

Surviving Silver Creek. Cars being driven off-road in the company’s Proving Grounds is more than enough torture vehicles that would usually spend their lives on asphalt and concrete.

Chuckholes. 4-inch deep and 30-inch wide chuckholes help tune shock and rebound rates.

Sand Wash. To test the AWD and 4WD steering systems, Ford drives their vehicles in 8-inch sand.

Deep Freeze. Thermal shock tests to make sure sudden temperature changes don’t wreck the car.

Strangling the Pump. Transmission pumps are bled dry while engines are revved up to 8000.

Wear and Tear for the Clutch Assembly. The vehicle’s clutch assembly is applied with a continuous slip until all clutch assembly material wears out.

strong>Curb Testing. Vehicles enter and exit a 5-inch curb with a 5-inches and an exit height of 5.5-inches at approximately 10 degrees.

Twist Ditch. It simulates a vehicle going through a deep-angled ditch just like negotiating washouts and dry river bend.

Soda Proofing. Now this sounds like the typical everyday torture tests. Got clumsy behind the wheel while downing soda? Or probably some unruly kids. Soda and fruit juice are poured in the shifter to make sure it doesn’t jam.

Wow. And that are some hardy tests. But this raises the question why does Ford-badged vehicles score pretty low on dependability studies despite these torture tests. Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, which uses the same tests, scored a lot higher. Why the differences? Is it because the Lincoln and Mercury lines are for a more targeted market?

These tests can help convince the consumer that Ford vehicles are actually hardy. However, this would also raise the expectations that consumers have. One of the tenets of customer-orientation is to make sure that they deliver. While, Ford-badged vehicles aren’t grossly undependable (221 problems per 100 vehicles), their rank still below industry average (216 problems per 100 vehicles).

Remember how the F-Series Super Duty got recalled a few months ago due to a fuel leak? Some torture test.