Shocker: Ford Mustang Scores 2 Stars In The Euro NCAP!
- by Arun Shenoy
- Jan 27, 2017
- | Views: 5457
The muscle car scored low marks in child occupant protection and safety assists
In case you've just got your hands on a brand spanking new Ford Mustang here in India, here's one more reason to make sure you don't stuff it. The pony car has scored a rather paltry 2 stars in the crash test conducted by the Euro NCAP. Notably, the rating applies to the Mustang coupe only - irrespective of the engine (5.0 V8 or 2.3 EcoBoost) and left/right-hand drive.
What led to this dismal score? Well, key issue number one is the driver dummy's head hitting the bottom of the steering wheel. The Euro NCAP states the possible cause for the occurrence being "insufficient pressure in the airbag to prevent the head from contacting the steering wheel through the deflated airbag material". The co-passenger dummy faced a similar scenario, as its head hit the dashboard. The crash test also brought out the fact that there's inadequate restraint for larger builds by the front passenger seatbelt load-limiter. As a result of this, the Mustang scored low marks for driver and co-driver safety.
The second negative marker was because of the rear seat passenger slipping under the lap portion of the seatbelt in the full-width rigid barrier test. In such circumstances, the occupants are likely to suffer injuries around the knee, femur and pelvis. Protection for these areas in the Mustang has been rated as 'poor'. Owing to the lack of pre-tensioners and load-limiters in the rear seatbelt, the car couldn't do much to protect the chest of the rear seat occupants either. What further brought the rating down was the lack of active safety assists (such as autonomous emergency braking) and low child occupant protection.
Here's a quick snapshot of the Mustang's scores:
While the performance is quite surprising, Ford have taken it in their stride and has informed the NCAP of their intention of equipping the Mustang with better safety tech. Pre-Collision Assist (with Pedestrian Detection, Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking) and Lane Keeping Aid will be bundled in with future models.
Recommended Read: Ford Mustang Real World Driving Impressions
Ford Mustang Video Review
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