Modern Muscle Cars Aren’t Quite As Safe As You’d Think
Since sports cars tend to be driven enthusiastically, it’s important they’re as safe as possible. However, a trio of modern muscle cars - a Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger - all missed out on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) top safety ratings.
To nab the IIHS’ ‘Top Safety Pick’, a car needs a ‘good’ rating in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restrain tests, and have some kind of front crash prevention system. The Mustang came closest, but was let down by an ‘acceptable’ rating in the small overlap test, where the roof buckled and the A-pillar plus instrument panel intruded into the cockpit.
The Camaro fared much better in the small overlap, but it scored only ‘acceptable’ in the roof strength test, and doesn’t have any front crash prevention tech.
The Challenger - the oldest of the trio - performed the worst, scoring ‘acceptable’ for roof strength and the head restraints, and only ‘marginal’ in the small overlap.
So in other words, room for improvement with all three cars…
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Let’s just call it pedestrian safety measures.
American* Cars aren’t as safe.
They aren’t AS safe….they are MORE safe. Mainly because they are less likely to leave you stranded from a broken timing belt.
lol Marcus Morton
“Sport cars”
Pony car.
These aren’t the V8 versions so they aren’t muscle cars
“The Camaro fared much better in the small overlap, but it scored only ‘acceptable’ in the roof strength test, and doesn’t have any front crash prevention tech.”
Can’t just me that thinks every car comes complete with front crash prevention tech?! It’s usually referred to as a driver, and comes complete with forward facing sensors (eyes), tied in to an advanced braking device that applies the brakes as soon as a threat is identified (feet).
The fact that a car has to have all sorts of ADAS crap shoved in to it to score top marks is atrocious. Why, as a society, do we have to walk as slow as the slowest? Lane assist, parking sensors, radar cruise control, advanced early brake systems are all proof of that. They serve no purpose other than to wrap another layer of faux-security around incompetent drivers. They’re also answers to questions that if you’d failed on your test, you wouldn’t be given a license. So why are they acceptable thereafter??
Because systems like that help avoid crashes on the public road, like it or not.
Hey, accidents happened whether the driver is focused or not. everything doesn’t go like what we want, right? Good driver is a nice guarantee to keep us safe from crashing, but there is still another factor.
Just like, how if you are going 150mph in Autobahn, and someone in front of you have a big collision? You need those systems to keep you safe, there, no matter how good you are.
accident prevention systems like early braking have reduced accidents by a large percentage.
Stupid safety T-DAWG
So the other than these American muscle cars just turned and avoided the wall or what?
But what about the crowd
Interesting how, when watching these videos you’re like “Hah! That one sucked, who designed?!” But any other time we’re complaining about nanny-state safety restrictions.