The Dodge Darts of old were sturdy, dependable, and good-looking, and Americans bought enough of them to make the badge a minor legend until the last one rolled off the assembly line in 1976.
But like almost every car of that era, they had no seat belts, air bags, crumple zones, ABS brakes or stability systems, though that doesn’t mean the company completely ignored safety. On the 1960-62 Darts, for instance, you could purchase optional "Child Guard" vacuum-powered door locks that operated from an instrument panel switch. But mostly, if you smacked up a Dart, it didn’t turn out well for you or your passengers.
That’s all changed with the introduction of the new Dart, which recently scored maximum possible ratings in every IIHS Top Safety Pick test. It’s got more than 60 available safety and security features, including 10 standard-equipment air bags.The first product born of Chrysler Group LLC’s alliance with Fiat S.p.A. recorded the maximum possible rating in each of the four crash tests used by the IIHS to evaluate occupant protection, the primary attribute of a Top Safety Pick. The 2013 Dart achieved a score of “good” in tests that simulate rollover, rear, side and moderate-overlap frontal impacts.
The IIHS rating scale comprises grades of good, acceptable, marginal and poor, and the Top Safety Pick is the highest safety honor bestowed by the IIHS. “Winners afford buyers the best overall protection in four of the most common kinds of crashes, and help them avoid crashes altogether with electronic stability control,” says IIHS President Adrian Lund. The Dart’s safety story starts with a solid structure: high-strength-steel comprises 68 percent of the car’s body, one of the highest ratios in the industry. Ten standard-equipment, advanced-design air bags further improve occupant protection. Every Dodge Dart comes equipped with:
• Dual-stage, adaptive, venting air bags for the driver and front-seat passenger,
• Front-seat-mounted pelvic and thorax air bags for driver and passenger,
• Two rear-seat-mounted pelvic air bags,
• Knee air bags for driver and front-seat passenger,
• Two curtain air bags designed to protect front and rear passengers on both sides of the car
Equally important are Dart technologies that deliver accident-avoidance capability, such as Electronic stability control, electronic roll mitigation, traction control, standard four-wheel, four-channel anti-lock disc brakes, electronic brake-force distribution, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-path detection and more.
Courtesy of NYDailyNews.Com
