Does This Crash Test Mean Ford's Aluminum F-150 Is Unsafe? - Motley Fool
all-new F-150 pickup made headlines this past week. The gist of the story is that an extended-cab version of the new F-150 suffered damage during a crash test that presented a risk of serious injury to the driver. The findings came from a series of crash tests administered to new F-150s by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS. But the IIHS issued a press release giving the new F-150 high overall marks for safety -- and Ford says that crash tests prove that the F-150 is the safest full-size pickup. F-150 SuperCrew aced the tests, but F-150 SuperCab missed 1 out of 5. The IIHS tested two versions of the F-150 in five different crash tests. The crew-cab version of the F-150 (which Ford calls "SuperCrew") aced all five tests and earned the Institute's "Top Safety Pick" rating. The extended-cab version, which Ford calls "SuperCab," did well in four of the five tests. The answer seems to come down to a steel structure that Ford added to the larger F-150 to help it resist crash damage -- but that wasn't included on the smaller SuperCab version. The SuperCrew body style, which accounts for the vast majority of F-150 sales, aced the IIHS crash test and earned a "Top Safety Pick" designation. Source: www.fool.com
