2003 Dodge Neon

small car / 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteria	Rating
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Head restraints & seats

Key

G
Good
A
Acceptable
M
Marginal
P
Poor

Superior
Advanced
Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2000-05 models

Tested vehicle: 2000 Dodge Neon 4-door

The Dodge and Plymouth Neon were redesigned for the 2000 model year. The Plymouth Neon was dropped after the 2001 model year, and the high-performance Dodge SRT-4 model was added in the 2003 model year. Both the Dodge Neon and SRT-4 were dropped after the 2005 model year.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
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. As the dummy moved into the airbag, it also moved toward the driver door, which had bowed outward, and its head approached but didn't hit the window sill. There was too much rearward movement of the steering column, and during the impact the steering wheel broke off from the column.

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

The driver's survival space wasn't maintained well. There was too much rearward movement of the instrument panel and steering column plus too much intrusion into the footwell area.

Rearward movement of the instrument panel contributed to the high forces on the dummy's left femur.

During the impact the steering wheel broke off from the column.

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CF99007
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	20
Left (cm)	22
Center (cm)	27
Right (cm)	17
Brake pedal (cm)	17
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	13
Right (cm)	12
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	2
Rearward (cm)	12
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	14

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CF99007
Head
HIC-15	449
Peak gs at hard contact	no contact
Neck
Tension (kN)	2.7
Extension bending moment (Nm)	17
Maximum Nij	0.44
Chest maximum compression (mm)	42
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	12.4
Femur force - right (kN)	4.0
Knee displacement - left (mm)	4
Knee displacement - right (mm)	7
Maximum tibia index - left	1.19
Maximum tibia index - right	0.87
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	2.0
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	4.3
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	65
Right	128

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2000-05 models

Tested vehicle: 2005 Dodge Neon SXT 4-door without optional side airbags

The Dodge and Plymouth Neon were redesigned for the 2000 model year. Side airbags were made optional beginning with 2001 models. The Plymouth Neon was dropped after the 2001 model year, and the high-performance Dodge SRT-4 model was added in the 2003 model year. Both the Dodge Neon and SRT-4 were dropped after the 2005 model year.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection The dummy's head was hit by the intruding barrier, producing high head injury measures.
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection The dummy's head was hit by the intruding barrier, producing high head injury measures.

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing damage to the occupant compartment.

Action shot taken during the side impact crash test showing the driver dummy's head being hit by the intruding barrier.

Embedded glass fragments and paint marks indicate where the rear passenger's head was hit by the barrier.

Technical measurements for this test

Test ID	CES0423
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	2.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0423
Head HIC-15	2,677
Neck
Tension (kN)	2.4
Compression (kN)	0.7
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	53
Lateral force (kN)	2.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	54
Average deflection (mm)	40
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	7.11
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	1.57
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	4.4
Acetabulum force (kN)	3.4
Combined force (kN)	7.7
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.7
L-M moment (Nm)	265
A-P moment (Nm)	-50

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0423
Head HIC-15	868
Neck
Tension (kN)	2.0
Compression (kN)	1.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	37
Lateral force (kN)	2.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	39
Average deflection (mm)	30
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.81
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.61
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.5
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.4
Combined force (kN)	1.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	5.2
L-M moment (Nm)	416
A-P moment (Nm)	-158

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Seats with adjustable head restraints

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Seats with adjustable head restraints
Geometry
Backset (mm)	65
Distance below top of head (mm)	68
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g)	12.6
Head contact time (ms)	118
Force rating	3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	256
Max neck tension (N)	1,298

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.