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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg The last half is where it gets interesting ;) (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=226745)

http://www.youtube.com/v/1Qv--vRaw4E&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_profilepage&fs=1Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) - Aug. 10, 2009

Ford’s ultra high strength boron steel in the upcoming Ford Fiesta - More than 50 percent of the all-new Fiesta’s body structure will be made from high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel including boron steel, which helps deliver great fuel economy and low CO2 emissions

Not only is boron useful in making steel stronger, the element also serves an array of household and industrial uses ranging from the ordinary (detergents, insecticides and glass) to the extraordinary (pyrotechnics, rocket fuel, nuclear reactors)

Ford Fiesta Movement agent Ryan Dembroski of Milwaukee recently traveled to the “Will It Blend?” studio in Orem, Utah, to put a piece of the Fiesta’s ultra-high-strength boron steel to the Blendtec Total Blender test. Having decimated objects including an Apple iPhone, marbles and magnets, Tom Dickson, founder of Blendtec and host of the popular YouTube videos, tried but failed to crack, cut or crush the steel. While boron steel won’t blend, it will help protect occupants of the Fiesta and many other Ford vehicles.

Has there ever been an element better named than boron? Antimony? That’s a Greek goddess, right? Californium? Don’t the USC Trojans play there? And isn’t Xenon an alien planet?

The chemists who named boron, on the other hand, hit the nail on the head. It actually sounds strong, hard and elemental – like iron or krypton. It’s probably some superhero’s Achilles’ heel.

Boron is used to make steel super strong, which is what Blendtec found out the hard way. The element is used to strengthen car parts, aerospace structures, even golf clubs and fishing rods. It is extremely versatile, serving an array of household and industrial uses.

Boron is used in:
Detergent
Antiseptic
Cosmetics
Insecticide
Enamel glaze
Ceramics
Glass
Pyrotechnics
Rocket fuel
Flame retardant
Nuclear reactors
Punching tools
Spades
Knives and saw blades
According to Wikipedia, boron is relatively rare, representing only 0.001 percent of the Earth’s crust. The worldwide deposits are estimated as 10 million tons, with nearly three quarters of it coming from Turkey. The element also is found in the Mojave Desert in California. Nearly all boron ore is extracted for refinement into boric acid for antiseptic, insecticide and flame retardant, or borax for detergents, cosmetics and enamel glazes.

Boron and beyond

Ford uses boron and other ultra-high-strength lightweight steels in various structural areas on several of its current models, including the Ford Taurus, Transit Connect, Flex, Mustang, F-150 and Focus, as well as the Lincoln MKS. Boron will also be extensively used in the all-new 2011 Ford Fiesta to help protect occupants in the event of a collision.

The Fiesta uses an exceptionally high level of cold- and hot-formed high-strength steels in its body structure. More than 50 percent of the body structure is high-strength steel, including grades of very high-strength, dual-phase steel and ultra-high-strength aluminized boron steel.

Yet, despite its additional strength, the all-new Fiesta body structure overall is lightweight. This means advancements in safety are achieved in harmony with fuel economy and CO2 emissions.

Fiesta reinforcement
High-strength steels are used in areas of the 2011 Fiesta where structural strength and reinforcement are essential for crashworthiness. This includes the floor structure, front rails and beams, and the vehicle’s integrated body-side reinforcement to help protect against side impact.

High-strength materials are used to create a very strong B-pillar section and a strong rocker section fore and aft in a crash. Impact loads are also transferred laterally to the opposite side of the car via under-body crossmembers to maximize dissipation of side-impact forces. This integrated body-side reinforcement resists side intrusion in the event of a collision and helps the body structure manage the energy of other impacts effectively – be they frontal, offset or rear.

Elements of the body-side reinforcement include the slim A-pillar forming the forward part of the vehicle’s stylish roof arch, the intrusion-resistant B-pillar, the rocker panels or lower rails to which the B-pillar is fixed, the stabilizing rocker baffles, side roof arch and the lower A-pillar.

These individual high-strength elements are formed into an integrated subassembly during manufacturing before they are joined to the vehicle on the production line. This process ensures better joint strength and a more efficient body structure.

More high-strength steel

High-strength steel can be found in other areas of the all-new Fiesta’s body structure, including:
The dual-phase steel front and side frame rails feature structural actuation points – or “trigger points” – to initiate predictable collapse in crush zones. Forming the triggers hardens the dual-phase material, giving it unique twin characteristics of energy absorption and energy resistance.

Under-floor structural beams – or “sled-runners” – also are formed from dual-phase steel, as are lateral floor reinforcements, which help manage front and side-impact forces. Reinforcements in the vehicle’s roof, doors and floor are made from other gauges of high-strength steel, including boron steel beams.
“Safety is an important attribute for the new Fiesta, but achieving real weight reduction was also a key objective,” said Bernd Liesenfelder, Body engineering manager. “High-strength steels – cold- and hot-formed – were key to delivering the lighter weight and higher strength we needed for structural efficiency. We believe the materials used on the new Fiesta are setting a new benchmark in the small car segment.”

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2009_Ford_Fiesta_-_Production_version.jpghttp://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2009_Ford_Fiesta_-_Production_version_Side_Profile.jpg

Boron is not that new!

This is one of Ford's alloy games. This goes back to Validieam. <<< ( big time spelling issue,,, sorry ) There was nothing new concerning that metal used in early Ford A's. My grandfather slut slapped Henry and a few of his engineers over there claims when he was invited to the Ford school of engineering back in the 20's. That altercation is why you never parked a Ford in my grandfathers driveway! Down the street was OK,,, but not in his driveway. He didn't hate Ford cars,,,, Just Henry and his lying mouths.

Grandfather went on to invent the tools for what to this day is called the seamless muffler. Worked with syn's/plastic's and poly's to develop the full view canopy for aircraft in the P-51, ( the bubble ) worked his but off in plastic injection molding. Heck I have the pure brass original Water Pick in my desk drawer. And a prototype Zebco 33 real. My grandfather helped and worked on the perfection of the poly modern tooth brush. There is a major aerospace company to this day in Tulsa that make the windows and other poly parts off lic. from my grandfathers work. He also developed and produced the only working model ever built of a true hydrogen rocket. The rocket motor could be fired off on coal oil and transitioned to any other hydrocarbon then fueled off the hydrogen in the atmosphere. I have seen it run in water! We as a family gave it to the USA as a gift to the country.

So let me tell you,,, first hand when Ford brags about a new metal. There won't be much of it in the structure. And it's more PR than reality. Think about it! A metal that won't bend or break. Where are you going to use mass amounts of that in a unibody auto? And from what I saw in the vid. The dude didn't work to hard at bending the metal. Or anything for that matter.