Click above to view high-res gallery of crash-tested Ford Taurus
Ford has been very quiet about what it will have onstage at the New York Auto Show tomorrow, but one vehicle we do know that will be under the lights is the Ford Taurus. While there will certainly be a number of Taurus models waxed, polished and placed just so in Ford's display at the Jacob Javits Center, one in particular will be a mess. Ford will display a crash-tested Taurus in New York to show off the big car's five-star rating for frontal and side crash tests from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Unlike the mangled Celica that used to sit outside your highschool at prom time, the crash-tested Taurus on display in New York will be interactive. Show goers will be allowed to sit in the post-crash Taurus to see what a crash test dummy sees after a 35-mph meet up with an offset concrete barrier. Looking at the pic above, it is pretty impressive that the passenger compartment remains untouched after such an event. We're looking forward to our seat time with this one, though any trip to the Autoblog Garage might necessitate a tow truck.
[Source: Ford]
PRESS RELEASE
CRASH-TESTED FORD TAURUS SHOWS SAFETY LEADERSHIP
Crash Tested Ford Taurus Show Safety Leadership: Taurus earns the highest available rating of five stars in frontal and side crash tests; earned five stars for rollover resistance from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- Crash-tested Ford Taurus on display at Ford's New York International Auto Show stand
- Showgoers place themselves inside the crash vehicle to re-live the test crash in a theatre-like experience
- Taurus earns the highest available rating of five stars in frontal and side crash tests; earned five stars for rollover resistance from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is rated a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Ford wants New York International Auto Show visitors to see how the Taurus – rated 'Top Safety Pick' by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) – fared in the 35 mph crash test. Positioned in the same place occupied by the seated crash-test dummy, showgoers view video of the actual crash test.
"We want people to see what happens in the blink of an eye," said Stephen Kozak, North American safety chief engineer for Ford Motor Company. "We want to open people's eyes that not all cars are created equal when it comes to safety. There is a difference and we want to show why Taurus is the safest rated large sedan sold in America."
A car crash can literally happen in the blink of an eye – 100 milliseconds, or about a tenth of a second, from start to finish. In that brief span of time, safety belt pretensioners tighten the belt, frontal air bags are inflated to the appropriate level, and the forces of the crash are being deflected by the structure of the vehicle designed specifically to help protect occupants inside.
The crashed Taurus test car is expected to be a popular display at the show – and not just because it looks so different from all the other vehicles. More than 50 percent of car buyers call safety a major purchase consideration.
The crash test was conducted at Ford's testing facilities in Dearborn, Mich., prior to the show. The company conducts hundreds of crash tests and thousands more simulated computer tests on a yearly basis for its vehicles.
"A crash can happen to the best of us, and it may happen before you have time to react," Kozak said. "So we believe the best way to react is to buy the car equipped to help protect you when the unexpected happens."
Taurus models equipped with optional AdvanceTrac® electronic stability control have earned the highest available rating of five-stars for rollover resistance from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Taurus earned five-star ratings from NHTSA for both driver and front passenger in a frontal crash test and five stars for both the driver and rear-seat passenger in a side impact crash test.
The IIHS also gives Taurus top marks – "Good" ratings – for frontal, side and rear impacts.
Key features of the Ford Taurus safety story include:
- Safety Canopy™, Ford's exclusive side impact protection system, featuring side curtain airbags that helps protect front and rear outboard passengers in both rollovers and side impact crashes. The curtains are designed to slip between the occupant and the side window.
- The Safety Canopy is designed to stay inflated for several seconds, as rollover crashes often last much longer than side impact crashes.
- SPACE, Ford's Side Protection And Cabin Enhancement architecture. SPACE is designed to help protect occupants using a complex configuration of strategically placed long steel rails and square tubes under the car body, along the vertical door posts (or "B pillars"), in between the front and rear seats, and along the roof lines (or "A pillars"). The rails are designed to bend and the tubes compress in a severe crash; this creates 10 different "crush zones" all over the car to help channel crash forces away from the occupants inside.
- AdvanceTrac® electronic stability control system can predict the vehicle's intentions using a sensor to detect and measure oversteer and yaw by monitoring the vehicle's speed, throttle position and steering wheel angle. When the system senses wheel slip, engine torque is reduced and braking is applied where needed to help keep the car tracking safely on its intended path.
- Ford's Belt-Minder®, a safety belt reminder technology for the driver and front passenger that takes over after the initial safety belt reminder stops chiming. If the driver or front passenger remains unbuckled, the system chimes and flashes a warning lamp for six seconds every 30 seconds for five minutes or until the driver buckles up, whichever comes first.
- Personal Safety System™, a suite of seven protection technologies working together as a system to help protect occupants, including dual-stage front air bags and occupant classification.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
SPG @ Mar 18th 2008 10:40AM
Awesome, I like it.
I remember as a child going to auto shows watching the footage of crash tests that some companies had at their booths over and over.
This sounds like it will be way better.
giallo @ Mar 18th 2008 10:44AM
I like the design of this.
Looks so much better than the old one.
But I see some design cues from audi.
Gregg @ Mar 18th 2008 11:03AM
That's sarcasm, right?
Frylock350 @ Mar 18th 2008 11:31AM
Meh all modern cars look the same. You can look at any car and see design cues from any other car.
giallo @ Mar 18th 2008 12:10PM
I meant that the gaping hole in the front is modern and daring. We need more postmodern design cues like this in the domestic lineup.
Gavin @ Mar 18th 2008 10:50AM
Is Ford really doing so bad that they have to dress their crash test dummies in ratty, hand-me-down t-shirts? They're really taking cost savings to the next level!
Artoo @ Mar 18th 2008 11:10AM
No, they are replacing their crash test dummies for bums.......
Saving money and reducing the unemployment rate at the same time.
Ford, we care about our community.
david damn @ Mar 18th 2008 10:50AM
That is a great marketing idea. The design simply does not sell to enthusiasts, but this will help the grocery-shopper customer remember that this is one of the safest cars in America.
Taylor @ Mar 18th 2008 10:54AM
It looked wrecked before the 'crash'. But, it's not as great as the totalled Corvette at the Bowling Green Plant.
Gregg @ Mar 18th 2008 11:04AM
It will be hard to sit in that one, given the interior has been hollowed out/removed.
Chris @ Mar 18th 2008 11:06AM
Just curious here: Why is the windshield cracked in the sixth picture but perfect in all the others? Did they crash more than one and pick the winner? Or did they swap out that windshield after the fact when they were putting the airbags away?
Derek @ Mar 19th 2008 6:04PM
Maybe something to do with cracked glass being a safety concern? It is impressive that they are still able to *mount* a windshield after the crash test. Perhaps someone will have to give us the low down if the new glass still fits flush all the way around.
Mattias @ Mar 18th 2008 11:07AM
Just take a Modus if you want a safe car:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/07/video-who-says-small-cars-are-less-safe-than-big-ones/
Shipey @ Mar 18th 2008 11:12AM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but our crash test is tougher than the one the Modus aced, is it not?
And this aced ours...
Mattias @ Mar 18th 2008 11:18AM
No, US NCAP and Euro NCAP are different, but one cannot say that one is better than the other. Speeds, offsets and the barriers used are just different. The result is that some American cars like the Dodge Caravan fail miserably in Euro NCAP on the one hand, on the other hand some European cars get dissappointing results in US NCAP. However, any car built with both tests in mind should give no surprise and result in four stars each. I guess that a Ford S-Max crashed in US NCAP gets alos at least four stars.
For example: http://www.euroncap.com/large_mpv.aspx
Frylock350 @ Mar 18th 2008 11:28AM
While the passenger compartment may not be compromised that doesn't make it safe. There's a lot of force being transferred to your internal bits that a heavier car like Taurus would absorb due to increased size for crumple zones and sheer inertia from the curb weight. Remember weight is energy at rest and the more you have the more energy you can absorb.
Chris @ Mar 18th 2008 11:16AM
I think its a great idea. It also highlights FOMCO's problem, they own Volvo but have taken Volvo's claim to fame and spread it around to where now Volvo has little to set itself apart from the other cars.
Silver @ Mar 18th 2008 11:20AM
What Taurus? All I see is a last-gen Passat here...
AndyMF @ Mar 18th 2008 11:26AM
"Unlike the mangled Celica that used to sit outside your highschool at prom time..."
Anyone care to explain this to a non-American like me?
Frylock350 @ Mar 18th 2008 11:29AM
Wrecked sports cars were shown around events where teens are likely to drink and drive as a deterrent.