Today was not a very good day for Ford regarding its image, with most of the GT's official specs being a bit of a letdown and now the Mustang receiving only 2 out of 5 stars after a Euro NCAP crash test.
We will probably have to firstly specify that Euro NCAP crash tested the 2017 version of America's favorite pony car, not the droopy faced version that unveiled less than two weeks ago.
Secondly, according to Euro NCAP officials, it probably wouldn't have made too much of a difference anyway, despite the facelifted model coming with Pre-Collision Assist and Lane Keep Assist as standard.
“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. We, therefore, hope Ford takes the opportunity to invest in the changes needed now for future Mustang generations.” said Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP's Secretary General.
Still, a two stars rating sounds a bit extreme, doesn't it?
As it happens, Ford didn't expect Euro NCAP to actually test the Mustang, considering the European organization doesn't usually crash sports cars. With that in mind, the Blue Oval didn't fit the Euro version of the Mustang with the same safety systems as its American counterpart, or any other sports cars available on the Old Continent.
The lack of a pre-collision safety system wasn't the only reason for the model's horrible crash test rating, though. As it happens - and this is probably news to a lot of people - the 2017 Ford Mustang doesn't have rear seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters, just like a car from the 1960s. This implies a high risk of abdominal injuries in real life accidents according to Euro NCAP and common sense. In the full-width frontal test, rear dummies slid under the seatbelt.
In the frontal offset test, both driver and passengers airbags “inflated insufficiently to properly restrain the occupants,” while in the side impact crash, the 10-year dummy hit its head on the “interior trim bottoming out the curtain airbag.”
On the plus side, both the video and the static images of the crash tests don't show any problems regarding the structural integrity of the passenger cell. Hopefully, the refreshed 2018 model will rectify most of the problems encountered by Euro NCAP.
Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project. Full profile
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