Ford of Europe’s all-new Ranger has achieved something no other pickup can claim. After the dust settled from the Euro New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP)’s recent testing, the midsize truck has become the first and only pickup to earn a full 5 Star rating. The tougher-than-nails testing protocol also revealed a total safety score of 89 percent: the highest ranking of any truck tested by the NCAP. To add to everything else, the new Ford earned the outfit’s highest rating for pedestrian protection with a score of 81 percent.
“With such good pedestrian protection, the Ford Ranger is undoubtedly raising the bar of safety in the category of pickup trucks, which had until now not proven to be the safest,” said Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP secretary general. Ford of Europe engineers put the Ranger through numerous tests before it was ready for production. The truck went through 110 actual crash tests, 410 sled tests and more than 9,000 virtual tests before the Euro NCAP even got a hold of one. Side curtain, bolster and knee air bags are standard on all Ranger models and the body’s structure is designed in a way to reduce injury in the event of a pedestrian accident.
“On the all new Ranger we did more crash simulations than any of our prior programs to ensure all parts of the vehicle’s safety performance were optimised,” said Adam Frost, chief engineer, Digital Innovation, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa. “This was backed up by a comprehensive physical crash test program. The end result is a world class outcome we are all very proud of.”
Source: Ford
