As we’re all waiting for the 2022 Bronco to enter production on December 20th, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has tested the 2021 Bronco to see how safe the pickup-based SUV actually is. Lo and behold, the Bronco has aced all crashworthiness tests except for the head restraints and seats.
What seems to be the problem, you may be asking? The nonprofit organization says “the head restraints fail to provide good protection against whiplash injuries,” which is why the all-new Bronco has earned the acceptable rating instead of the good rating. The issues don’t end here…
The Arlington, Virginia-based IIHS also mentions inadequate headlight illumination on curves, seat anchors that are too deep in the seats, and potential lower leg and foot injuries in the driver-side small overlap front crash test. Alas, the Bronco has fallen short of the lower-tier Top Safety Pick award. The higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ is only awarded to vehicles with good or acceptable headlights offered as standard across all grades.
These ratings apply to the four-door Bronco Base and four-door Bronco Outer Banks, which are currently listed by the Ford Motor Company from $33,450 and $41,700 sans taxes. Gifted with the absolute essentials, the Base can be bettered with the Sasquatch off-road pack that costs $5,790.
As for the Outer Banks, the Ford Motor Company presents it as off-roading in style because of the high-gloss wheels, LED headlamps and taillamps, body-color fender flares, and powder-coated tube steps. On the inside, this grade adds convenience in the guise of an optional 12-inch touchscreen.
The 2022 model year Bronco will see the introduction of two new colors (Eruption Green and Hot Pepper Red) as well as the introduction of a special edition. Everglades is how the latter is called, and it’s the first Bronco to feature a factory-fitted snorkel and winch. As for the Raptor, you’ll have to wait until the 2023 model year to get your hands on that beefed-up rig.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News