How Safe Is Your Muscle Car? 2016 Chevy Camaro vs. Dodge Challenger vs. Ford Mustang

2016 ford mustang iihs small overlap test
2016 Ford Mustang: small overlap crash test

How safe is you new muscle car? Are all of them created equal as far as crash worthiness is concerned? Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducted a thorough battery of crash tests to get to the bottom of this.

They selected a 2016 Chevy Camaro, 2016 Dodge Challenger, and a 2016 Ford Mustang. These cars range from fast to crazy fast, so safety cannot be overlooked. All of these muscle cars have high performance variants such as the Chevy Camaro ZL1 with 640 horsepower, Dodge Challenger Hellcat with 707 horsepower, and Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 with 526 horsepower.

So how do they compare? IIHS conducted the following tests: moderate overlap front and side crash tests, roof strength, head restraints/seat strength evaluation, and front crash prevention system analysis. Perhaps the toughest challenge to pass is the small overlap front crash test. A very small section of the car’s front structure makes an impact with an immovable barrier. This is where the front suspension and the wheel are pushed into the firewall and the passenger compartment where the driver sits.

2016-muscle-car-iihs-crash-comparison

The bottom line is that none of the three muscle cars got an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating. The rest of the results are not as clear cut. The Chevy Camaro performed “good” on all of the tests except roof strength. The Ford Mustang did “good” on all except the small overlap front crash test. However, it edged out the Camaro because of an available front crash prevention system.

The Dodge Challenger did not do so well. Its platform is the oldest of the three, and it got a “marginal” performance on the small overlap front crash test, and “acceptable” on the roof strength and head restraints and seats tests.

Check out the IIHS crash videos below.

2016 Ford Mustang

2016 Chevy Camaro

2016 Dodge Challenger