The 2017 Ford Mustang has scored just two stars in the Euro NCAP crash test ratings. According to reports, this is the first car from a manufacturer like Ford to score such low ratings in the Euro NCAP tests, whose cars would otherwise score a full five stars.
The crash tested model had dual front airbags, knee airbags, seat belt pretentioners and loadlimiters, isofix mounts, seat belt reminder, and active bonnet. The muscle car was subjected to frontal offset impact at 64 km/h, front full width impact at 50 km/h, side impact at 50 km/h, and side pole impact at 32 km/h. Adult occupant safety score stood at 72%, 32% for child, and 64% for pedestrian safety.
According to media reports, the low score is due to the lack of electronics such as radar-based collision warning system, autonomous emergency braking, lane assist system, pedestrian detection and so on. The Euro NCAP too points out the lack of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system, along with ineffective airbags and loadlimiters for the low score.
“Analysis of the dummy data showed that the driver’s head had ‘bottomed out’ the airbag i.e. there was insufficient pressure in the airbag to prevent the head from contacting the steering wheel through the deflated airbag material. The head of the passenger dummy also bottomed out the airbag against the dashboard, owing to insufficient inflation of the airbag and inadequate restraint for larger statures by the front passenger seatbelt load-limiter. The scores of both the driver and passenger were penalised for the airbag performance.” said the report.
“The current Mustang is not equipped with an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system, which would have provided greater whiplash protection. However, Ford have indicated that the next version of the Mustang will have AEB.” the report added.
For the child safety, the report said “the head bottomed out the side curtain airbag, making contact, through the deflated airbag material, with the trim on the C pillar. Consequently, all points were lost for the 10 year dummy in this test. The front passenger airbag can be disabled to allow a rearward-facing restraint to be used in that seating position. However, information provided to the driver regarding the status of the airbag did not meet Euro NCAP’s requirements and the system did not score any points.”
In an official response to the Euro NCAP results, a Ford spokesman said: “The Mustang is a safe car, meeting or exceeding, all applicable safety standards globally. The Mustang’s safety credentials are further demonstrated by the five-star NHTSA NCAP rating awarded in the US as well as a good Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rating.”
Ford has informed NCAP that the 2018 model will come with all the electronic safety aids such as pedestrian detection, forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking.
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