How many times have you hear about how unsafe your Fiero is? How many people have you seen cringe when you told them that the Fiero gasoline tank is positioned in the frame just between the seats, forming the high center console?

According to a Consumer’s Report magazine article entitled "Which Cars Protect You Best?" from pages 186-188, April, 1984, the Fiero tied for first place in the small car class. In this test, the cars were run into a solid barrier at 35 miles an hour. From the article, "No car made today can survive a head-on collision into a fixed barrier at 35 miles an hour. After such a crash, the car is reduced to scrap metal" (p.186). After this crash test, the Fiero received a rating by Consumer’s Report of: minor injury to driver, minor injury to passenger, and moderate rating for structural integrity (p.187). The standard scale ranged from : 1). No injury or minor injury (best), to 2). Moderate injury; to 3). Certain injury, possibly severe; to 4). Severe or fatal injury; to 5). Severe or fatal injury was virtually certain (worse) (p.188). The only car that had a better rating, in fact the highest rating, was the Volvo DL. The Volvo’s ratings were: minor injury to driver, minor injury to passenger, and a minor rating for structural integrity (p.187). So, the only difference was that the Volvo had a step higher rating for structural integrity. Although this may not be highly scientific, very detailed data, on an overall basis, the Fiero scored extremely well.

The Fiero’s rating was tied with such marquees as: Chrysler’s Laser, Daytona, and LeBaron: Toyota’s Celica and Camry: GM’s Camaro, Firebird, 4-door Century, Celebrity, Ciera, and 6000; and the Jeep CJ7 (p.187).

The Fiero’s rating was far better than such marquees as: Ford’s Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis; and GM’s Le Sabre, Caprice, Delta 88, and Parisienne (P.187). Some of the poorest results were from the Honda Civic CRX, Peugeot 505, and Ford Escort 4-door (p.187).

Keep in mind, however, that these results apply only for severe head-on collisions, and that they apply to occupants who are wearing their seatbelts (p.188.

In a different interpretation of the same data, The US Department of Transportation released a newsletter on February 27, 1984, in which the Fiero again scored highly using different test criteria. These results were issued from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA 03-84 - For Release Monday, February 27, 1984 - "NHTSA Releases Crash Test Results of 1984 Model Vehicles:" from the Office of Public Affairs. Three results were tabulated: The HIC is the "Head Injury Criterion" which measures the value of possible head injury - the lower the value, the lower the risk of head injury (p.1). The "chest resultant" and "femur loads:" were the other results which measure impact on other parts of the body (p.3).

The highest values accepted before very serious injuries result are: HIC - 100; Chest - 60 G;s, and Femur - 2250 pounds (p.2) The Fiero’;s results for the driver/passenger were: HIC -309/356; Chest - 31/30; Femur, left - 850/740; Femur, right - 840/800 (p.3). The Fiero had the best ratings for HIC and Chest, that is, the lowest value. The Plymouth Conquest had the best rating for the Femur values: Left -410/180, Right - 360/320 (p.3).

Again, listing some of the other cars used in this test were, the Ford LTD station wagon, Chevrolet Corvette, Oldsmobile Cutlass 2-door, and the Renault Encore.