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Ford Fusion Dissapoints
in Crash Testing
Crashworthiness evaluations
for seven new or redesigned midsize car models
reflect performance in the Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety's front, side, and rear impact
tests. The models include three moderately priced
cars — Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata and Pontiac
G6. The other four models are luxury/near luxury
cars — Acura TSX, BMW 3 series, Infiniti G35
and Lexus IS.
The best overall performers are the BMW 3 series
and Lexus IS, which earned the silver 'Top Safety
Pick' designation for good performance in the
Institute's front and side crash tests plus acceptable
ratings for seat/head restraint designs in rear
tests. The Ford Fusion, tested without optional
side airbags, earned the lowest overall ratings.
It's the only car in this group that didn't earn
a good rating in the frontal test. It earned a
poor rating in the side test and a marginal rating
for rear crash protection.
"Nearly every car now earns good ratings
in our frontal test," said Institute president
Adrian Lund. "The Fusion is acceptable, which
isn't a bad result, but it's not competitive with
other cars in its class. Based on this car's side
and rear evaluations along with its acceptable
frontal rating, the Fusion is the lowest rated
moderately priced midsize car we've evaluated."
New Fusion isn't up to par with midsize competitors:
The Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan is among only two
current midsize car designs (the other is the
Dodge Stratus/Chrysler Sebring) that don't earn
the highest rating of good in the Institute's
frontal offset test.
"The Fusion is a disappointment because it's
a brand new design," Lund said. "Ford
has done a good job with some other recent models,
but the Fusion is at the back of the pack among
midsize cars for overall safety performance."
In Fusions manufactured after January, Ford added
a structure below the accelerator pedal designed
to reduce injury risk to the right leg and foot
in frontal offset crashes.
"This fix didn't work in our test,"
Lund said. "Forces recorded on the dummy's
right leg were high, and a metal pin broke in
the dummy's ankle. Ford is doing more research
to find a solution and has indicated it will ask
the Institute to retest the Fusion for frontal
crash performance later this year."
The Fusion earned the lowest rating of poor in
the side impact test. Without side airbags, injury
measures recorded on the driver dummy indicated
that serious head injuries would be possible in
a real-world crash of similar severity. Measures
from other parts of the dummy indicated that rib
fractures or internal organ injuries and a fractured
pelvis also would be likely. (CONTINUE...)
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