2012 Ford Flex

midsize SUV / 4-door SUV

2012 Ford Flex 4-door SUV
2009 Ford Flex shown

Crashworthiness

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

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 2009-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2014 Ford Flex SEL 4-door 4wd

The Ford Flex was introduced in the 2009 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, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward side structure. 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 and torso barely contacted the airbag before sliding off to the left. The side curtain airbag did not extend far enough forward toward the A-pillar.

Despite considerable intrusion of the door hinge pillar and instrument panel, risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1514
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 20
Footrest (cm) 13
Left toepan (cm) 11
Brake pedal (cm) 10
Parking brake (cm) 18
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 7
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 11
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 21
Upper dash (cm) 17
Lower instrument panel (cm) 15

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1514
Head
HIC-15 49
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Extension bending moment (Nm) 16
Maximum Nij 0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm) 23
Femur (kN)
Left 2.8
Right 2.2
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 7
Right 1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.53
Right 0.69
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 0.7
Right 0.8
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 33
Right 60

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2009-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Ford Flex Limited 4-door 4wd

The Ford Flex was introduced in the 2009 model year. Frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Ford as part of frontal crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF0811
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 7
Left (cm) 10
Center (cm) 13
Right (cm) 11
Brake pedal (cm) 9
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 6
Right (cm) 5
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 1
Rearward (cm) 1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 3

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF0811
Head
HIC-15 102
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 11
Maximum Nij 0.34
Chest maximum compression (mm) 36
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 2.1
Femur force - right (kN) 1.1
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.31
Maximum tibia index - right 0.82
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 0.8
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.2
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 59
Right 146

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2009-19 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Ford Flex SEL 4-door 4wd with standard head curtain airbags for all three rows of seats and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Ford Flex was introduced in the 2009 model year.

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

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0833
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -12.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0833
Head HIC-15 99
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Compression (kN) 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 28
Lateral force (kN) 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 30
Average deflection (mm) 25
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.53
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.35
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.6
Combined force (kN) 3.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 74
A-P moment (Nm) 38

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0833
Head HIC-15 59
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.1
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 26
Lateral force (kN) 1.1
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 26
Average deflection (mm) 17
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.22
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.23
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.1
Combined force (kN) 3.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.7
L-M moment (Nm) 61
A-P moment (Nm) 19

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2010-19 models built after January 2010

Tested vehicle: 2010 Ford Flex SEL 4-door 4wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 4,639 lbs
Peak force 20,917 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 4.51

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 18
Distance below top of head (mm) 8
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 10.7
Head contact time (ms) 54
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 324

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