Kia Motors has subjected its new Grand Carnival MPV to a unique kind of crash test, dropping the vehicle down a specially-designed vertical street, as part of a post-launch campaign. It was dropped from a height of 12.6m down a 90° street, replicating the effects of a 56km/h crash.
As the Grand Carnival is dropped and rolls on to its roof, the high-strength body maintains its structure, and still enables the power-sliding rear doors to open easily after a serious collision.
To show the lengths that Kia went to in order to drop the Grand Carnival down the vertical street, the company has released a behind-the-scenes-video.
The project took 76 people and 15 days to complete. It required 6,219.6m of steel pipe to create a structure strong enough to hold the Grand Carnival in place, before a crane released the car down the street.
December 2, 2015