2012 Dodge Grand Caravan

minivan

2012 Dodge Grand Caravan Minivan
2008 Dodge Grand Caravan shown

Crashworthiness

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

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection

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 2008-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2014 Chrysler Town & Country Touring

The Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country were redesigned for the 2008 model year, and the Volkswagen Routan was introduced in the 2009 model year and discontinued after the 2012 model year. The Chrysler Town and Country was discontinued after the 2016 model year.

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 as the steering column moved 22 cm to the right, resulting in little airbag cushioning for the chest and contributing to the head hitting the intruding instrument panel. The side curtain airbag deployed but does not have sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with forward side structure and outside objects. The side torso airbag deployed.

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 not maintained well.

During the crash, the dummy's head barely contacted the airbag before sliding off to the left as the steering column moved to the right, and the head hit the instrument panel.

Door hinge pillar, parking brake, and instrument panel intrusion was extensive and contributed to a high risk of injuries to the left hip, left knee, and left lower leg and a moderate risk to the right lower leg. The parking brake pedal was deeply embedded in the dummy's lower leg skin.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1438
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 39
Footrest (cm) 25
Left toepan (cm) 18
Brake pedal (cm) 20
Parking brake (cm) 36
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 20
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 17
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 35
Upper dash (cm) 39
Lower instrument panel (cm) 33

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1438
Head
HIC-15 230
Peak gs at hard contact not meas.
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.6
Extension bending moment (Nm) 18
Maximum Nij 0.35
Chest maximum compression (mm) 11
Femur (kN)
Left 13.4
Right 4.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 19
Right 7
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 100
Right 1
Maximum tibia index
Left 2.29
Right 0.90
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 3.5
Right 3.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 115
Right 43

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2008-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT

The Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country were redesigned for the 2008 model year, and the Volkswagen Routan was introduced in the 2009 model year and discontinued after the 2012 model year. The Chrysler Town and Country was discontinued after the 2016 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

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

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

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the roof rail and B-pillar during rebound. Head acceleration from this hit was low.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0806
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 11
Left (cm) 14
Center (cm) 12
Right (cm) 9
Brake pedal (cm) 7
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 2
Right (cm) 2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 2
Rearward (cm) -4
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 1

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0806
Head
HIC-15 249
Peak gs at hard contact 17
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 14
Maximum Nij 0.28
Chest maximum compression (mm) 32
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 4.9
Femur force - right (kN) 2.6
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 5
Maximum tibia index - left 0.38
Maximum tibia index - right 0.66
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.6
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 68
Right 55

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2011-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Chrysler Town & Country Touring with head curtain airbags for all three rows of seats and front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country were redesigned for the 2008 model year, and the Volkswagen Routan was introduced in the 2009 model year. Beginning with the 2011 models, side airbags designed to protect drivers' and front passengers' torsos were added to the side curtain airbags that were already standard on 2008-10 models. The Routan was discontinued after the 2012 model year and the Town and Country after the 2016 model year.

Two tests of the vans were conducted, one by the Institute in 2008 and the other by Chrysler in 2012 as part of side crash test verification. The vehicles are rated separately, except that structure ratings for the vehicles are based on both tests, as are the rear passenger injury and head protection ratings.

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 CES0813 VTS1113
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -8.0 -10.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1113
Head HIC-15 246
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.6
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 16
Lateral force (kN) 0.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 30
Average deflection (mm) 29
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.89
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.39
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.6
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.9
Combined force (kN) 4.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.1
L-M moment (Nm) 28
A-P moment (Nm) 133

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0813 VTS1113
Head HIC-15 84 124
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.4 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 28 32
Lateral force (kN) 1.2 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 37 40
Average deflection (mm) 23 26
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 5.14 4.23
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.89 0.80
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.2 0.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.4 2.7
Combined force (kN) 3.5 2.7
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.1 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 131 54
A-P moment (Nm) -45 163

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2012-20 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Chrysler Town & Country Touring

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 4,594 lbs
Peak force 20,717 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 4.51

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power cloth seats with manual lumbar AHR built. after March 2010

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power cloth seats with manual lumbar AHR mfg. after March 2010
Geometry
Backset (mm) 54
Distance below top of head (mm) 20
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.2
Head contact time (ms) 53
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 86
Max neck tension (N) 379

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