In recent side crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2008 Toyota Tacoma earned the highest rating while the Dodge Dakota, Ford Ranger, and Nissan Frontier faired "okay" and the and the Chevrolet Colorado is rated "poor." What's seems to be the problem?
The ratings found on these small pickups aren't great when you consider that most cars and SUVs rate better. One of the major missing elements on small pickups is electronic stability control. Only 12 percent of 2008 pickups are equipped with standard ECS. Where as 64 percent of cars and 95 percent of SUVs are so equipped. During testing, the Tacoma and Frontier were the only two pickups available with ECS. Toyota is planning to make this feature standard on the Tacoma starting with 2009 models.
Click here to watch this video about the IIHS side crash tests.