Cars and Drivers

Dodge Challenger Flunks Major Safety Test

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: May 24, 2016 9:50 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 7:39 am

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has set the gold standard for the evaluation of the effect of car accidents. It recently tested three so-called muscle cars. One, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V.’s (NYSE: FCAU) Dodge Challenger, received a “marginal” rating in a portion of the tests. In the era of cars that protect their occupants well, the assessment puts the Challenger’s crash-worthiness just short of a failure.

The results of the tests of three powerful sports cars:

IIHS evaluated 2016 models of the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang in the full battery of crashworthiness evaluations. The Mustang comes closest to earning TOP SAFETY PICK, while the Camaro falls short in one category and lacks an available front crash prevention system. The Challenger is most in need of improvement.

The Chevy Camaro is built by the largest division of General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM). The Mustang is Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) best-selling sports car.

The IIHS has four ratings: good, acceptable, marginal and poor. Many of the cars tested by the IIHS receive good or acceptable grades for the six parts of the tests. Based on these yardsticks, the Challenger’s construction did not prevent some troubling injuries:

The Challenger wasn’t up to the challenge of the small overlap test. Extensive intrusion into the lower occupant compartment limited the driver’s survival space and resulted in a poor rating for structure and for leg/foot protection. Measures taken from the dummy indicate a high likelihood of serious lower leg injuries.

“During the crash, the Challenger’s front wheel was forced rearward into the occupant compartment, and the footwell intrusion trapped the dummy’s left foot and deformed its ankle,” Lund explains. “Our technicians had to unbolt the dummy’s foot from its leg in order to free it. Entrapment is pretty rare. That’s only happened five other times in a small overlap test.”

In four other tests, the Challenger received two good ratings and two acceptable ones.

Some muscle car buyers may not care about the ratings. Fast cars, by their nature, are dangerous. In the Challenger’s case, more dangerous than many drivers think.