There is no rear crumple zone. The gas tank blows up & depending on how many minutes it's been since your last gas stop, you may or may not survive the X-plosion

 

I would prefer an accident in my wife's 2015 acura mdx loaded with air bags and safety features over my ex any day. However, the towing capacity is a fraction of the ex, won't carry anywhere near as much, etc. Most newer cars outperform most older cars on safety "in general. " fatalities have fallen dramatically through the years in spite of the increase in the numbers of vehicles on the road. Idk i didn't really but the ex because i wanted the safest vehicle on the road. Food for thought i suppose though.

 

ALL Excursions came equipped with the rear hitch receiver SPECIFICALLY to help prevent "small" cars from going underneath. It also adds a LOT of strength, which is "good" for you inside the Ex, but it does tend to cause frame damage IF you have hitch installed.. (NOT Excursions, but several on-line pictures, just search for rear accident with tow hitch installed)

Similarly on the front there is a "crash bar" behind the bumper - again to prevent a car from submarining underneath. The front tow hooks/bumper/crash bar are all mounted to the ENDS of the front frame - which is a "separate" sub-frame to 'help' with replacing it if bent in an accident.



OLD (1970-1980s) cars had low impact absorbing bumpers made of steel - mounted on "pistons". You hit a poll in the parking lot and the bumper would be pushed in but it protected the BODY of the vehicle. When you got home, you got a big hammer and smacked the backside of the steel bumper and it would pop back out and look normal. Total cost or repair: $0. They also ONLY had lap belts...
Then cars got lighter and used cheaper/lighter material and the front/rear PLASTIC bumpers became "integral" with the fenders, lights, grille, radiator, hood/trunk lid, etc. Now when you hit a poll you spend $3k dollars to replace the fenders, hood, fascia, and all the other flimsy parts, with cheaper non-OEM flimsier parts..

[/rant off]

 

I'll give you a teaser response, yes, the IIHS has done multiple "tests" on the excursion. I was there. The bad news. I can't show any pics. IIHS is right up the road from me, my fire dept frequently uses their crashed vehicles for training, and they were doing some testing on full size trucks and light commercial trucks. This was well after the model years, and was part of an independent test, which is why we are unable to share pics, yada yada.
I will say the X and the pickups are significantly different when it comes to the tests, the attached "top" in the rear makes a huge difference when it comes to the rigidity of the body. All the full sizes were fairly comparable in rollover tests, the drop test is a dumb test, and everyone agrees it is foolish, since nobody has ever seen a vehicle fall on the corner of the roof with zero rotation.
Will you be better off in the X than most passenger vehicles in a normal collision? Sure
Will you take out a busload of nuns if you hit them at 80mph? probably a couple rows of them, inertia happens.

 

That offset crash performed on the Supercab didn't look too bad except for the doors flying open. Remember though that a Supercab doesn't have a b-pillar so its cabin integrity is going to be very different than an Excursions.

I love Excursions but they will not match newer full sized SUVs like the Expedition EL or the Suburban because of those vehicles' full rows of airbags as well as their advances in construction simply because they are newer. Another safety downfall of the Excursion is its lack of third row seat headrests. Would any of this prevent me from getting into an Excursion? Absolutely not; your priorities might be different however.