Carsales Staff•21 May 2013
NEWS
Forester edges out ASX in US safety test
Small frontal overlap test winnows out all but two cars from buyer considerationAmerica's Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), has introduced a demanding new crash safety test that is making a real impact – in more ways than one.
Just two out of 13 cars passed a recent round of testing, in accordance with the IIHS's 'small frontal overlap' standard. Of the two cars, only the Subaru Forester was deemed 'good' by the Institute. The other car, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, which we know as the ASX, was 'acceptable'.
IIHS Vice President for Vehicle Research, Joe Nolan, explained how most cars built today are effectively designed to achieve a set standard for large frontal overlap crashes. But there's significant trauma taking place on American roads not specifically addressed by current design methods and crash testing. That's probably true of Australian roads too, by extension.
"These small overlap crashes are responsible for about 25 per cent of the serious injuries and fatalities that occur in frontal crashes in the United States," Nolan said, in a video on the IIHS website.
Describing the car's crash safety design as "textbook," Nolan welcomed the outstanding result for the Forester, saying that it "aced the test." Forester is the newest design to reach the market, of those tested by the Institute using the new method. Aware in advance of the upcoming test procedure, Subaru engineers tailored the Forester's crash safety structure accordingly.
"With the redesigned Forester, Subaru's engineers set out to do well in our new test and they succeeded," said Nolan. "This is exactly how we hoped manufacturers would respond to improve protection for people in these kinds of serious frontal crashes."
The pass mark for the Forester and the ASX earn the two cars a 'Top Safety Pick+' rating from the Institute, the '+' symbol indicating both cars were tested for small frontal overlap crash safety as well as the Institute's usual tests, which were recently harmonised with Euro NCAP's testing regime.
Since the IIHS introduced the small frontal overlap test last year, only 20 cars have earned a 'Top Safety Pick+' rating, the two newcomers among them.
One of the cars that didn't fare so well in the compact SUV testing conducted by the IIHS was the Ford Escape, which is sold here as the Kuga. In earlier testing the Ford secured a 'Top Safety Pick' rating, but was tripped up by the small frontal offset test. But the IIHS, a body that speaks with the same authority as ANCAP does in the Australian market, has reserved its strongest condemnation for the Nissan Rogue. The Nissan is a crossover SUV in the style of the Dualis, but larger and sold exclusively in North America.
In the 25 per cent frontal offset test, ploughing into a five-foot high barrier (about 1.5 metres), the Nissan endured significant cabin intrusion. The IIHS revealed that "the front pillar of the Nissan Rogue's door frame was pushed far inside the occupant compartment and after the crash was almost touching the driver seat."
Jeep's Patriot also scored low marks for its "restraints and kinematics," which comes as no surprise, given its platform sibling, the Jeep Compass was rated just two stars by Euro NCAP. According to Nolan, the Jeep's steering column was so badly deflected by the impact loads that the crash dummy's head glanced off the airbag rather than connecting with it, and the side curtain airbag to protect the head didn't deploy.
Picture, courtesy of IIHS, shows Subaru Forester on left, Nissan Rogue on the right.
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Forester
Car News
SUV
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Written byCarsales Staff
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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