File this one under "unexpected". The first imported car under $10,000 (that's $22,671 today) with an airbag was an Isuzu? And they sure did seem proud of it, with this launch commercial for their Stylus compact from the late spring / summer of 1990's entire focus being on the bag. But how safe was the Stylus relative to other 1990 small cars? How cheap could you get an airbag if you were willing to go domestic?
The Stylus launched in March 1990, about halfway through the 1990 model year; oddly, Isuzu still called it a 1990 model, rather than an early 1991. And it was a massive improvement over its predecessor, the I-Mark. With a 21% severe injury risk for the driver, it landed at the very high end of a 3 star range and was the best performing Isuzu for driver protection until the 1995.5 Rodeo, which had a 20% risk (putting it barely over the line into 4-star territory). Sadly, the Stylus's passenger risk was lost.
First, let's compare it to the I-Mark. It seems the airbag, and the design changes, helped the Stylus immensely. The I-Mark was tested three times by NHTSA (1985, 1986, and 1987).
1985: 59% driver risk (HIC/Chest G: 1514/38)
1986: 93% driver risk (HIC/Chest G: 2179/43)
1987: 83% driver risk (HIC/Chest G: 1809/53)
Stylus: 21% driver risk (HIC/Chest G: 580/57)
But how did the protection of Stylus drivers compare to its competitors? All results are for 1991 vehicles or equivalent, as the Stylus was tested as a '91 (and made from 1990-1993).
Ford Escort: 9% driver risk (434 HIC, 42 Chest G)
Dodge Shadow: 11% driver risk (503 HIC, 42 Chest G) - Only competitor with an airbag
Nissan Sentra: 13% injury risk (583 HIC, 46 Chest G)
Chevy Cavalier: 17% driver risk (770 HIC, 48 Chest G)
Isuzu Stylus: 21% injury risk (580 HIC, 57 Chest G)
Saturn sedan: 21% driver risk (918 HIC, 44 Chest G)
VW Jetta: 22% driver risk (898 HIC, 50 Chest G)
Mazda Protege: 24% driver risk (779 HIC, 57 Chest G)
Honda Civic: 31% driver risk (1,071 HIC, 50 Chest G)
Mitsubishi Mirage: 34% injury risk (960 HIC, 62 Chest G)
Toyota Corolla: 43% driver risk (1,238 HIC, 53 Chest G)
Hyundai Elantra: 62% driver risk (1,345 HIC, 70 Chest G)
As you can see, the Stylus came in 5th place of the 12 vehicles - its 21% risk also narrowly besting the average of 26% for the remaining vehicles. But it was not the safest imported small car (that honor went to the newly-redesigned 1991 Nissan Sentra), although, at this time, the safest small cars were still dominated by American models, led by the Ford Escort (which had some serious Mazda engineering kicking around). Ultimately, the airbag served to help make the Stylus competitive, but not a class leader.
As for the cheapest airbag you could get, the $9,199 ($20,855 today) Stylus was bested by the $6,995 ($15,858 today) Dodge Omni. While the Omni was discontinued after the 1990 model year, its only year offering airbags, they were technically on sale during the same model year. For 1991, the Dodge Shadow America would set you back $7,599 ($17,227 today) as the cheapest car with an airbag.
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