The evasive manoeuvre test is performed to determine how well a certain vehicle evades a suddenly appearing obstacle. This test has been standardized in ISO 3888-2. Forms of the test have been performed in Sweden since the 1970s. The colloquial and internationally better-known name for the test was coined in 1997 by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung after the Swedishmotor magazineTeknikens Värld together with the TV-show Trafikmagasinet flipped a Mercedes-Benz A-Class in a test ostensibly made to measure the car's ability to avoid hitting a moose. In reality, the test is rather constructed to simulate, for example, a reversing car or a child rushing out onto the road. This is because it is more likely that the moose will continue across the road than remain in place or turn back, making it more advisable to brake hard and try to slip behind the animal than to swerve in front of it.
Test specifications
The test is performed on a dry road surface. Traffic cones are set up in an S shape to simulate the obstacle, road, and road edges. The car to be tested has one belted person in each available seat and weights in the boot to achieve maximum load. When the driver comes onto the track, he or she quickly swerves into the oncoming lane to avoid the object and then immediately swerves back to avoid oncoming traffic. The test is repeated at an increased speed until the car skids, knocks down cones, or spins around. This usually happens at speeds of about 70–80 km/h.
On October 21, 1997, the journalist Robert Collin from the motor magazine Teknikens Värld overturned the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class in the moose test at 60 km/h, while a Trabant — a much older, and widely mocked car from the former East Germany — later managed it perfectly. In July 2005, the Dacia Logan appeared initially to fail the test, but a later investigation concluded that excessive testing had worn the car's tyres to failure. During an interview in Süddeutsche Zeitung, Collin tried to explain this test by the example of an evasive manoeuvre for a moose on the road. It was soon called Elchtest.
Continued testing
Swedish automotive magazine Teknikens Värld tests "hundreds of cars every year" with the moose test. It publishes test results since 1983 on their web site and the Citroën Xantia Activa V6 has held the record since 1999, beating cars such as the track-oriented 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 RS and the 2017 McLaren 675LT. The slowest car to successfully complete the manoeuvre is listed as the Reliant Rialto at 42.5 km/h, compared to the twice as fast Citroën Xantia at 85 km/h.
