Jeep tops Chevy, Ford in safety tests of popular large SUVs
This was the first time IIHS had tested the best-selling large SUVs as a group. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released safety tests of popular large SUVs, including the Jeep Wagoneer, Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Expedition. This was the first time IIHS had tested these SUVs as a group, with the Jeep being the only large SUV to earn the IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK award. The Tahoe, Expedition, and Jeep fell short for multiple reasons, including subpar performance in the small overlap front crash test. The Jeep performed well in most of the crash tests, with an elevated risk of chest injury for the rear occupant. The vehicles also failed to offer good protection for backseat passengers. Despite side-impact crash tests and proper installation of child restraints, the Jeep's headlights were rated as marginal.
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Thursday released results from monthslong tests of the Jeep Wagoneer, Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Expedition.
This was the first time IIHS had tested the best-selling large SUVs as a group, something the vice president of the IIHS Vehicle Research Center said has been on his wish list for a while.
“The biggest takeaway is the Jeep Wagoneer rises to the top,” Raul Arbelaez said.
The Jeep was the only large SUV to perform well enough to earn the IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK award.
The Tahoe and Expedition fell short for multiple reasons, including subpar performance in the small overlap front crash test, according to IIHS.
“Let's be frank, these are $70,000-plus vehicles,” Arbelaez said. “I would expect much better performance. So yeah, absolutely I would be lying if I would say I wasn't disappointed.”
Folks might assume these SUVs are safe simply because they’re big.
“They certainly are big family haulers that can also serve double duty with towing and a lot of cargo,” Arbelaez said. “And the assumption is that bigger is better” in crashes.
That does apply in vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, but about half of crashes are single-vehicle collisions. And he said we need to make sure these SUVs also offer good protection when they slam into a fixed object, like a wall or tree.
And none of them offered good protection for backseat passengers, according to IIHS.
“All three vehicles did not achieve our highest rating in this test, and it was all because of the increased injury risk to the rear occupants,” Arbelaez said.
IIHS purchased four of each type of vehicle because different crash tests need to be conducted. But first they put the SUVs through nondestructive tests over headlights and collision avoidance systems.
The Jeep performed well in most of the crash tests, Arbelaez said.
The Wagoneer did get a marginal rating in the updated moderate overlap front crash test due to an elevated risk of chest injury for the rear occupant, he said.
The small overlap test and the moderate overlap test both look at how well a vehicle holds up in a front crash, though 40% of the vehicle’s front end is smacking into the barrier in the moderate test while only a quarter of the front surface is smacking into the barrier in the small overlap test.
And Arbelaez said they use different types of barriers.
“The Expedition received a marginal rating for the small overlap test,” he said. “And that test, the barrier that it strikes really caused a lot more deformation of that occupant compartment than we'd like to see.”
Side-impact crash tests were bright spots for all three SUVs.
And they all allowed IIHS evaluators to easily and properly install child restraints.
The Jeep’s headlights got good or acceptable ratings.
Headlights were rated as marginal on the Ford.
“When you have a vehicle that's that big, you want to be able to see far enough down the road and have enough time to hit the brakes,” Arbelaez said.
The Tahoe got an acceptable small overlap rating but a poor rating in the updated moderate overlap crash test.
“And I had mentioned the marginal rating for the Expedition’s headlights, the Tahoe was even worse,” he said. “It had poor-rated headlights.”