We noted with interest a recent article in Car and Driver magazine concerning the 2022 Mercedes Benz S 500. Along with many of its other attributes, the S500 managed to navigate the skidpad test at .92 Gs. The Skidpad test is driving in a circle with a known radius and increasing the speed until the driver cannot keep the car on the radius. Then they take the MPH number and apply it to a relatively simple equation that determines the vehicle cornering power measured in Gs, which is lateral acceleration.

The S500 is not the only executive vehicle with an impressive skidpad number. Here are the numbers for some other Executive Vehicles. 

• The Audi A8  – .93 gs, 
• BMW – .88 gs, 
• Bentley Flying Spur – .98 gs,
• Cadillac CT 5 – .93 gs

We are mentioning the high cornering power of these vehicles to point out that not too long ago, an executive vehicle that had this level of handling capability was unheard of. Skidpad numbers in the .9 Gs were for sports cars back then. 

Some History

Many years back, the Scotti School, through their website SecurityDriver.Com looked at executive vehicles and would develop the Executive Car of the Year Award (ECOTY). In fact, we had two awards, the Domestic Executive Car Of The Year (DECOTY) and the Foreign Executive Car Of The Year (FECOTY). Years back, you would not find a U.S. company driving a foreign car; back then, it was our opinion the selected vehicles were the best available for the environment they drove through.

Also, an interesting point is that when we first started the ECOTY awards, there was no need to have an SUV category – few, if any, corporations used them as “executive vehicles.”

When we first created the ECOTY award, a vehicle had to have a minimum skidpad handling number of .7 G’s to qualify. So when you look at the vehicles used today for secure transportation, the handling numbers have increased by close to 40%. So if we define Executive Vehicles as sedans, not SUVs, this also means that today’s Executive Vehicles capability has also risen by more than 40%.

Taking this to the next level. 

We define driving skill as the driver’s ability to use the vehicle’s capability. If the vehicle capability has gone up by 40 %, the modern security driver has that much more vehicle capability to get themselves out of a problem.

The skidpad numbers are a good measurement of vehicle handling capability. But that was just one of the measurements we used in the ECOTY test to determine the vehicle handling capability.

In an emergency, there is a substantial difference between the numbers presented via the Skidpad versus the numbers obtained from an exercise such as the Lane Change. 

For the Lane Change test, the Scotti School used the ISO 3888 -2 Lane Change Standard. This standard is used to measure a vehicle’s capability to avoid an accident.

The bottom line is that the modern Executive Sedan has far more capability than its predecessors.

Additional Resources

For those with an interest in Security Driving, Secure Transportation, or Executive Protection, the International Security Driver Association (ISDA) offers several resources worth considering.

One option is to sign up for the ISDA’s LinkedIn Newsletter, “Security Driver Journal,” a twice-monthly educational email publication that contains articles written specifically for the Security Driver/Secure Transportation community. This resource provides continuing education and benchmark research to help improve your skillset and advance your business.

Another resource is the ISDA’s YouTube channel, which features playlists containing videos covering topics such as Case Studies of Vehicle Attacks, Security Driving, Armored Vehicles, and the Business of Security.

Those interested in connecting with other professionals in the industry can also follow the ISDA’s LinkedIn page, which provides educational content on various topics related to Security Driving and Secure Transportation, including Armored Vehicles, Secure Transportation Business Metrics and Data, Surveillance Detection, The Change in Executive Vehicles, and Case Studies, Including Lessons Learned.

Lastly, visitors can check out the ISDA Store for hats, t-shirts, decals, and other merchandise related to the organization and secure transportation.