Ford Sierra vs. Ford Mondeo crash test – From the Old Box

Switching to the next generation of a model is often done because of the flashier appearance, new gadgets or better powertrains. Fewer people will have the improved safety at the forefront as the reason. Although sometimes that can make a significant difference. Certainly in the past, the step in that area was sometimes big with a generation change. Especially from the 1980s to the 1990s, car safety progressed rapidly. This was also proven by a crash test of the Ford Sierra and its successor, the Ford Mondeo.

Exactly thirty years ago we watched when the Mondeo and the Sierra were successively slammed against the wall in Germany in the same room. At 50 km/h, the two middle class cars hit it with the (seen from the car) left corner of the front. Especially in profile, the difference was immediately visible.

Take a look at the front of both cars above. That of the Sierra is clearly much more dented. 5.2 cm further to be exact. At the A-pillar, the body of the Sierra is kinked much further than that of the Mondeo. Furthermore, the windscreen and the dashboard are clearly more battered inwards. The difference was also clearly visible on the inside. “Dashboard and steering wheel are still roughly in place in the Mondeo, the airbag is slack down. Chaos reigns in the Sierra, on the other hand. The dashboard has attacked the driver, plastic parts at knee height have been shattered. The steering wheel has found its way has been swept towards the roof; it stands 25 cm higher than before. It seems destined to be the landing place for the driver’s head.”

Was it all top in the Mondeo? No, not that. Although safety had clearly improved compared to the Sierra, there were certainly still areas for improvement. For example, the driver’s door of the Mondeo only opened after quite a bit of violence, while according to Ford there was already an improved lock in this copy to facilitate this. Furthermore, the test engineers were certainly not happy about what had happened in the footwell of the Mondeo. “The bulkhead behind the pedals is folded up almost vertically, the clutch and brake pedals are pushed towards the driver and blocked, the underbody is strongly curved. That hurts. Although Ford dismisses the objections, the test panel believes that the legroom should be made safer. “

Test results

Despite that blemish on the Ford Mondeo’s reputation, the test panel felt that safety had improved considerably over the Sierra. The Mondeo scored a higher figure in almost all areas, as you can see below. Remarkably enough, salvaging passengers was a fraction easier in the Sierra than in the Mondeo, although on the other hand, the seatbelts in the back and the back seat of the Sierra could cause injuries much sooner than was the case with the Mondeo.