2009 Ford Crown Victoria

large car / 4-door sedan

2009 Ford Crown Victoria 4-door sedan
2007 Ford Crown Victoria shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
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 2003-11 models built after May 2003

Tested vehicle: 2003 Lincoln Town Car Premium Signature 4-door

The Lincoln Town Car, Ford Crown Victoria, and Mercury Grand Marquis were re-engineered for the 2003 model year. Beginning with 2008 models, the Ford Crown Victoria was sold when new only to fleets. The Mercury Grand Marquis was discontinued after the 2010 model year.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of a 2003 Town Car in two 40 mph frontal offset crash tests into deformable barriers. In the first test, a high acceleration occurred when the dummy's head rebounded against the B-pillar, indicating a possibility of head injury. This led Lincoln to modify the frontal airbag deployment characteristics on models produced after May 2003 (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door).

The Institute tested a second Town Car with the modified airbags, and all head injury measures were low. Ratings of the Town Car listed here are from the second test.

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 was reasonably well controlled in the second test. During rebound, the top of the head hit the roof rail and adjacent window frame between the A- and B-pillars. As in the first test, the driver's seat tipped toward the door.

Action shot taken during the second of two frontal offset crash tests.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after both crash tests indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well (second test shown).

Smeared red greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the B-pillar during rebound in the first test, producing a high head acceleration.

Forces on the lower left leg were high enough to indicate the possibility of injury in both tests (second test shown).

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0313
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 10
Left (cm) 12
Center (cm) 14
Right (cm) 11
Brake pedal (cm) 6
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 5
Right (cm) 5
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 3
Rearward (cm) 3
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 7

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0313
Head
HIC-15 265
Peak gs at hard contact 15
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.5
Extension bending moment (Nm) 10
Maximum Nij 0.26
Chest maximum compression (mm) 36
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 7.5
Femur force - right (kN) 2.6
Knee displacement - left (mm) 13
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.97
Maximum tibia index - right 0.34
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 4.2
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 87
Right 60

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2009-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2007 Ford Crown Victoria LX 4-door with optional front seat-mounted combination head and torso airbags

The Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis were re-engineered for the 2003 model year. Beginning with 2007 models built after July 2006, design changes were made to the optional side airbags and door trim to improve occupant protection in side impact crashes (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door). Beginning with 2008 models, the Ford Crown Victoria was sold when new only to fleets. Beginning with 2009 models of the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis, side airbags were made standard. The Grand Marquis was discontinued after the 2010 model year.

Two tests of the Crown Victoria were conducted, one a 2007 model with the design changes and equipped with optional side airbags, and the other a 2006 model without side airbags. These vehicles are rated separately, except that the structural ratings and rear passenger injury and head protection ratings for both vehicles are based on both tests.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection
The dummy's head was hit by the pillar behind the rear passenger door. This pillar is required by federal standard to provide some protection for occupants' heads.

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

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

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbag.

Smeared red greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was hit by the pillar behind the rear passenger door.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0612 CES0633
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) 6.5 7.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0633
Head HIC-15 602
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.1
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 42
Lateral force (kN) 2.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 37
Average deflection (mm) 31
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 6.75
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 1.09
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 4.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.9
Combined force (kN) 7.7
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.8
L-M moment (Nm) 173
A-P moment (Nm) -34

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0612 CES0633
Head HIC-15 281 226
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.8 1.7
Compression (kN) 0.6 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 24 30
Lateral force (kN) 1.4 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 41 45
Average deflection (mm) 20 23
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 4.08 4.06
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.76 0.90
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.1 1.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.2 3.3
Combined force (kN) 4.3 4.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.3 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 112 101
A-P moment (Nm) -32 -34

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Seats with adjustable lumbar

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Seats with adjustable lumbar
Geometry
Backset (mm) 55
Distance below top of head (mm) 60
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 8.4
Head contact time (ms) 126
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 238
Max neck tension (N) 723

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