Thursday 6th July 2017
Ford Mustang made (a bit) safer
From two Euro NCAP stars to... three
Euro NCAP caused a bit of a stir back in January when it revealed everyone's favourite budget V8, Ford's new Mustang, had scored just two stars in its latest round of crash testing. This was the worst performance in almost a decade, and the organisation's members didn't hold back. "Ford has made a deliberate choice, said Thatcham Research director Matthew Avery. "The car has been designed to score well in less wide-ranging US consumer safety tests and only minor updates have been made to meet required European [pedestrian] regulations." Throw in a lack of radar collision avoidance systems and you have, er, a car crash of a result.
Despite insisting the Mustang was "fundamentally a safe car", Ford kicked off some engineering upgrades, and it's the revised car that Euro NCAP says is now worthy of three stars rather than two. "A three-star Euro NCAP rating is never a cause for celebration," said Avery, but "Ford's rapid addition of a suite of standard-fit safety tech and its prompt updates to improve the performance of the airbags and restraints is to be applauded". All told, then, a result for Euro NCAP.
So what's Ford done? First of all, it's fixed the underinflation of the airbags. Previously, the driver's head could strike the steering wheel, something that really shouldn't be possible in a car with full-size airbags. Standard equipment also now includes pedestrian detection, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking and a lane-keeping aid. Whose 'off' button will be worn smooth in many a PHer's 2017-on Mustang, we're sure.
The Mustang still isn't where it should be - it'll take a revised front end that's safer for pedestrians for that. Maybe that's where the 2018 facelifted car comes in, However, it no longer has substandard airbags, and is now more likely to avoid an accident in the first place. Another lesson for the One Ford initiative to digest.
