Pesky Small Overlap Crash Test Sinks Another One

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s small overlap crash test — the bane of every automaker’s existence — has prevented another pickup from achieving high marks.

This time, it’s the 2017 Nissan Titan — a full-size pickup struggling to stand apart from its domestic competition after recently undergoing its first redesign in 13 years.

In IIHS testing, the Titan crew cab, like many of its rivals, folded under pressure during the small overlap test. That keeps the truck out of the running for an ad-worthy Top Safety Pick rating.

The small overlap test, introduced in 2012, has sunk many a vehicle’s crash rating. Designed to simulate a partial frontal collision with another vehicle — or an impact with a tree or utility pole — the test has proved notoriously hard to master. Nissan’s Titan garnered a second-from-bottom “marginal” rating.

During the 40 mph test, intrusion into the footwell reached 11 inches at the lower door hinge pillar and 8.3 inches at the dead pedal, almost guaranteeing lower leg injuries for the driver. As with many other models, the Titan performed just fine in the other tests. Moderate overlap, side and rollover protection was rated “good,” as was the model’s head restraints.

Headlight performance — the latest addition to IIHS’s testing regimen, and another industry sore point — turned up marginal. A frontal crash prevention system is absent from the model’s equipment roster.

While this is bad news for the Titan, its competition didn’t exactly excel. Only one pickup — the recently redesigned Honda Ridgeline — earned a Top Safety Pick + rating. Two variants of Ford’s F-150 were the only other pickups to earn a good rating in all crash tests. The Titan can at least comfort itself in knowing that it isn’t the Ram 1500, which scored marginal ratings in both the small overlap and roof strength tests.

The Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 crew cabs also saw a marginal rating for the small overlap test. Extended cab variants of these three models garnered an acceptable rating.

[Image capture: YouTube]