Top Safety Pick + Top Safety Pick criteria

2014 Ford Fusion

midsize car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles with optional front crash prevention

2014 Ford Fusion 4-door sedan
2013 Ford Fusion shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Basic

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning
  • Optional lane departure prevention

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.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2013-16 models built after December 2012

Tested vehicle: 2013 Ford Fusion SE 4-door

The Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ were redesigned for the 2013 model year. Beginning with 2013 Fusion models built after early December 2012, structural changes were made to improve occupant protection in small overlap frontal crashes. (Information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on the driver door or adjacent B-pillar.) The tested Fusion and all 2013 MKZ models were built after the structural changes were in place.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
The dummy’s head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off the left side and leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward structure. The side curtain airbag deployed and had sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects.

Action shot taken during the small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained reasonably well.

The dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but then slid off the left side. The side curtain airbag extended far enough forward toward the A-pillar to protect the head from contact with forward side structure.

Except for door hinge pillar deformation, intrusion into the driver's space was reasonably well controlled, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1236
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 16
Footrest (cm) 7
Left toepan (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 5
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 5
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 3
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 9
Upper dash (cm) 8
Lower instrument panel (cm) 6

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1236
Head
HIC-15 54
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 12
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 14
Femur (kN)
Left 1.2
Right 0.5
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 4
Right 0
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.67
Right 0.44
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.3
Right 0.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 41
Right 27

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2013-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Ford Fusion SEL 4-door

The Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ were redesigned for the 2013 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test of a Fusion conducted by Ford as part of frontal crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF1207
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 4
Left (cm) 4
Center (cm) 3
Right (cm) 6
Brake pedal (cm) 6
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 3
Right (cm) 2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -1
Rearward (cm) -2
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 3

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1207
Head
HIC-15 127
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 9
Maximum Nij 0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm) 20
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.6
Femur force - right (kN) 0.6
Knee displacement - left (mm) 1
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.21
Maximum tibia index - right 0.39
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.0
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 39
Right 35

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2013-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Ford Fusion SEL 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ were redesigned for the 2013 model year. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test of a Fusion conducted by Ford as part of side crash test verification.

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
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1212
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -12.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1212
Head HIC-15 365
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 40
Lateral force (kN) 1.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 33
Average deflection (mm) 30
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.15
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.33
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.0
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.6
Combined force (kN) 3.5
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 25
A-P moment (Nm) 69

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1212
Head HIC-15 153
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 38
Lateral force (kN) 1.4
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 35
Average deflection (mm) 24
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.92
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.42
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.6
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.7
Combined force (kN) 3.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.6
L-M moment (Nm) 21
A-P moment (Nm) 100

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2013-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Ford Fusion SE 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 3,411 lbs
Peak force 17,527 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 5.14

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power cloth seat

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power cloth seat
Geometry
Backset (mm) 11
Distance below top of head (mm) 1
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 13.0
Head contact time (ms) 51
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 18
Max neck tension (N) 619

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

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Optional Collision Warning

Package name

  • Optional 205B + Adaptive Cruise Control

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2013-14 models

Basic
Basic
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • Autobrake not available.

How front crash prevention is evaluated