1996 Dodge Grand Caravan

minivan

1996 Dodge Grand Caravan Minivan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test

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 1996-2000 models

Tested vehicle: 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan SE

The Dodge Grand Caravan, the Plymouth Grand Voyager, and the Chrysler Town & Country were redesigned for the 1996 model year.

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. There was too much movement upward of the steering wheel.

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

The upper interior of the occupant compartment was maintained reasonably well. However, the instrument panel pushed back against the dummy and the steering wheel moved upward to compromise the driver's survival space.

Vertical movement of the steering wheel rotated the dummy's head and neck sharply to the rear.

Intrusion of vehicle structure into the footwell area contributed to high forces on both lower legs.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CF96015
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 17
Left (cm) 28
Center (cm) 32
Right (cm) 29
Brake pedal (cm) 30
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 9
Right (cm) 9
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 12
Rearward (cm) 4
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 5

Driver injury measures

Test ID CF96015
Head
HIC-15 534
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 28
Maximum Nij 0.38
Chest maximum compression (mm) 36
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 7.1
Femur force - right (kN) 5.9
Knee displacement - left (mm) 4
Knee displacement - right (mm) 3
Maximum tibia index - left 1.92
Maximum tibia index - right 1.93
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 3.4
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 142
Right 157

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted