It would seem the popular Bronco Sport has more up its sleeve than good looks and the ability to hold its own in an off-road situation. The crew at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has given the model its coveted Top Safety Pick+ award, meaning the model aced tests across its entire range of trims.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
In order to qualify for the ‘+’ suffix on the Top Safety Pick accolade, a model must be available with a front crash prevention system that earns Advanced or Superior ratings in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations. Equally as critical, it must also offer headlights earning a Good or Acceptable rating as standard on all models, regardless of trim level. This is all in addition to scoring top marks in six different crash tests.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
The headlight criteria catches out most automakers, since the best-performing (read: most expensive) headlights are often reserved for top-rung trims. This explains why some vehicles have a Top Safety Pick rating but not a Top Safety Pick+ rating. There is a difference and, in the eyes of the IIHS, it’s a pretty big one.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Ford needn’t worry about such distinctions when it comes to the 2021 Bronco Sport. The headlight system offered on all trims earned a Good rating (the best rating possible) while both the standard and optional crash prevention systems outperformed in IIHS evaluations. It also navigated six different crash tests with success, including the difficult small-overlap test which mimics an impact with a stationary barrier in the headlight area of a vehicle. This exam flummoxes some other cars, since the forces involved are more violent than a Quentin Tarantino movie.
Using the same platform as its showroom partner Escape, the new Bronco Sport is available in four flavours in Canada – Base, Big Bend, Outer Banks, and Badlands. In this country, prices start at $32,199 and run up to $40,199 for the top rung truck.