Crash Test 2017 Pickup Trucks – Colorado, Tacoma, Frontier. The 2017 Toyota Tacoma crew cab, which Toyota calls the Double Cab, was the top performer in the small overlap test. The Tacoma crew cab earns a good rating, with good individual ratings for structure, restraints and kinematics, and all injury measures but the lower leg and foot, in which it earns acceptable. The Tacoma crew cab is the only small pickup to earn a good rating for structure in the small overlap test. Results for the extended cab, which Toyota calls the Access Cab, were similar, with the exception of an acceptable rating for structure due to some additional occupant compartment intrusion. Toyota re-engineered the Tacoma for the 2016 model year.
The 2017 Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab and its GMC Canyon Crew Cab twin also earn good ratings for occupant protection in a small overlap front crash. The Colorado and Canyon extended cabs earn an acceptable rating.
The Colorado and Canyon were redesigned for the 2015 model year after a two-year absence from the market. Beginning with the 2017 model year, the A-pillar, lower door-hinge pillar and door sill were reinforced to improve protection in small overlap front crashes. The crew cabs’ structure and safety cage largely resisted intrusion and preserved survival space for the driver in the small overlap test. In the extended-cab tests, there was more intrusion into the driver footwell area, contributing to a poor rating for lower leg and foot protection, compared with a good lower leg and foot rating for the crew cabs.
Both the 2017 Nissan Frontier King Cab and the Frontier Crew Cab earn marginal ratings. The Frontiers are the oldest designs in this group of small pickups, with no structural changes since the 2005 model year. Beginning with 2017 models built after February, Nissan lengthened the side curtain airbags on the Frontiers to improve protection for people in small overlap front crashes. The side curtain airbag protected the dummy’s head from contact with side structure and outside objects in both the crew- and extended-cab tests. The Frontier’s structure, however, allowed considerable intrusion into the occupant compartment, compromising driver survival space. The footwell was pushed back toward the dummy’s legs nearly 17 inches in the crew-cab test and 14 inches in the extended-cab test. In a real-world crash like this, the driver would likely sustain serious injuries to the lower legs and left foot.
The Frontiers earn good ratings in the moderate overlap front, side and roof strength test and acceptable ratings for head restraints. The extended-cab versions of the Colorado and Canyon earn good ratings in the moderate overlap front, roof strength and head restraint evaluations and acceptable ratings in the side test.
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