Berlin - A Porsche Macan has allegedly failed Sweden’s so-called ‘Elk Test’, designed to simulate what happens when a car swerves suddenly to avoid a moose or other road obstacle.
According to Autobild motoring gazette, the Macan S diesel alarmed staff from magazine Teknikens Vaerld during the procedure, carried out on a private test track at up to 70 km/h.
Swedish testers said the Macan displayed “odd behaviour” - as it switched back onto the correct side of the road after swerving around the obstacle, its left-side front disc brake apparently locked up, said the Swedish journal.
This caused the Macan to knock over a traffic cone and veer into what would have been the other carriageway if the test had been conducted on a public road.
‘VERY DEMANDING DRIVING STYLE’
The magazine’s video clip shows smoke coming from the left front tyre during the sudden lane-change manoeuvre - and the testers said they were able to repeat the effect using another Macan.
Porsche was quick to react to the test, saying the car's behaviour during the test was due to the “very demanding driving style” of the Swedish driver. A spokesman said that under normal circumstances the Porsche's sophisticated stability control and rollover prevention systems would have kept the driver in full control of the vehicle at all times,.
The original, boxy Mercedes-Benz A-Class famously failed the Swedish magazine's elk test in 1997. A test car rolled over during the manoeuvre. Other European magazines repeated the test, and the bad publicity affected sales.
sapa-dpa