2008 Mercury Mountaineer

midsize SUV / 4-door SUV

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
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.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2006-10 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Ford Explorer XLT 4-door 4wd

The Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer were re-engineered for the 2006 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Ford as part of frontal crash test verification.

The moderate overlap frontal crash test ratings also apply to the Explorer Sport Trac, which was redesigned for the 2007 model year (no 2006 model Sport Trac was available). The Sport Trac is very similar to the Explorer, except that it has a longer wheelbase and an open cargo bed behind the occupant compartment in place of the Explorer's enclosed cargo area with optional third row seat.

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 VTF0602
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 9
Left (cm) 9
Center (cm) 9
Right (cm) 8
Brake pedal (cm) 6
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 4
Right (cm) 3
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 4
Rearward (cm) -4
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 5

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF0602
Head
HIC-15 353
Peak gs at hard contact 18
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 8
Maximum Nij 0.25
Chest maximum compression (mm) 34
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.2
Femur force - right (kN) 0.3
Knee displacement - left (mm) 4
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.50
Maximum tibia index - right 0.47
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.0
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 86
Right 82

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2007-10 models

Tested vehicle: 2007 Ford Explorer XLT 4-door 4wd with standard front seat-mounted torso airbags and optional front and rear head curtain airbags

The Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer were re-engineered for the 2006 model year. All 2006-10 models have standard side torso airbags; beginning with 2007 Mountaineer and 2008 Explorer models, head curtain airbags were also made standard.

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 airbags.

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 CES0723
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -4.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0723
Head HIC-15 169
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.5
Compression (kN) 0.6
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 36
Lateral force (kN) 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 29
Average deflection (mm) 26
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 6.03
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.72
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 3.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.4
Combined force (kN) 6.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 182
A-P moment (Nm) -45

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0723
Head HIC-15 110
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.1
Compression (kN) 0.6
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 39
Lateral force (kN) 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 34
Average deflection (mm) 30
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.14
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.59
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.4
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.9
Combined force (kN) 3.1
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 155
A-P moment (Nm) 47

How the side crash test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: All seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type All seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 68
Distance below top of head (mm) 68
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 9.9
Head contact time (ms) 101
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 210
Max neck tension (N) 801

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