Ford Mustang in crash test flop | Car Talk - Car News Jan 2017

09:22 Thursday 26 Jan 2017

The latest Euro NCAP safety tests have resulted in disappointment for Ford after the manufacturer’s Mustang muscle-car scored a paltry two stars.

The tests highlighted a lack of standard safety equipment on the European version of the Ford Mustang, as well as concerns regarding adult and child occupant protection in the event of a collision. Ford did make some updates to meet stringent European pedestrian safety regulations. However, the removal of the Forward Collision Warning system from the European spec model, and its disappointing performance in crash tests, contributed to the low score. When the frontal offset test was conducted it was found that the airbags of both the driver and passenger inflated insufficiently to properly restrain the occupants, while in the full-width frontal test a lack of rear seatbelt pre-tensioners and load-limiters meant that the rear passenger slid under the seatbelt. In the side impact crash, the head of the 10-year dummy contacted the interior trim bottoming out the curtain airbag.

Ford have responded to the test results by announcing that a face-lifted Mustang with updated safety technology will be released later this year, including Pre-Collision Assist and Lane Keep Assist as standard, and they will be anticipating an improved performance when this version undergoes Euro NCAP testing.

That announcement was given a cautious welcome by Euro NCAP Secretary General Michiel van Ratingen, who said: “Ford did not expect Euro NCAP to test the Mustang and chose not to fit safety technology in Europe which is available to its American consumers, and available on several other sports cars for that matter. Such an attitude to safety should trouble Ford’s customers, whether they are buying a high-powered muscle car or a regular family car. We welcome any improvement, of course, and look forward to publishing a new rating for the updated model. However, more fundamental updates may be needed if the Mustang is to get a significantly better result.”