1997 Dodge Neon
small car / 4-door sedan
Moderate overlap front: original test
Rating applies to 1995-99 models
Tested vehicle: 1997 Dodge Neon Highline 4-door
The Dodge and Plymouth Neon were introduced in the 1995 model year.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of the Neon in two 40 mph frontal offset crash tests into a deformable barrier. In the first test of this car, the dummy's feet/ankles were an earlier design from the one used in tests of other small cars. A second test was conducted with a new foot/ankle design, and similar results were obtained. This evaluation is based on both tests, except leg/foot evaluations are based on the second test only.
| Overall evaluation | |
|---|---|
| Structure and safety cage | |
| Driver injury measures | |
| Head/neck | |
| Chest | |
| Leg/foot, left | |
| Leg/foot, right | |
| Driver restraints and dummy kinematics Dummy movement wasn't well controlled during either test. There was too much rearward movement of the steering wheel during both tests, and, in the first test, this contributed to the dummy's head bottoming out the airbag and hitting the steering wheel. In the second test, the airbag didn't bottom out. Otherwise, dummy movement was similar in both tests. |
Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.
Post-crash damage shot.
Intrusion in the driver footwell area and rearward movement of the instrument panel compromised the driver space during the offset test.
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Test ID | CF97019 |
|---|---|
| Footwell intrusion | |
| Footrest (cm) | 24 |
| Left (cm) | 29 |
| Center (cm) | 27 |
| Right (cm) | 21 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 27 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 14 |
| Right (cm) | 11 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 2 |
| Rearward (cm) | 13 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 24 |
Driver injury measures
| Test ID | CF97019 |
|---|---|
| Head | |
| HIC-15 | 265 |
| Peak gs at hard contact | no contact |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 2.1 |
| Extension bending moment (Nm) | 23 |
| Maximum Nij | 0.39 |
| Chest maximum compression (mm) | 39 |
| Legs | |
| Femur force - left (kN) | 4.7 |
| Femur force - right (kN) | 3.9 |
| Knee displacement - left (mm) | 0 |
| Knee displacement - right (mm) | 0 |
| Maximum tibia index - left | 1.13 |
| Maximum tibia index - right | 1.34 |
| Tibia axial force - left (kN) | 5.2 |
| Tibia axial force - right (kN) | 5.6 |
| Foot acceleration (g) | |
| Left | 74 |
| Right | 75 |