High fives all round?
Not quite. 10 out of 12 cars scored the maximum rating of five stars in the latest round of Euro NCAP testingWhen a vaunted crash-testing program has to impose a new pre-requisite measure for eligibility and 90 per cent of cars still score the maximum rating, the message must be getting through to car manufacturers.
From the commencement of this year, crash safety testing body, Euro NCAP, changed the rules for its own testing process, insisting that a car could not be considered for the best rating -- five stars -- without standard stability control fitted. Vehicles previously tested and rated at five stars were now qualified in Euro NCAP's records with the remark that they had been tested prior to 2009. Would the stability control pre-requisite have any influence on the number of cars scoring five stars? Apparently not, since 10 of the 12 cars sampled in the latest round of Euro NCAP crash testing achieved the top result.
Toyota's Urban Cruiser, which is not sold in Australia, was not one of those 10. A smaller car, rivalling the Nissan Dualis, the Urban Cruiser accrued only sufficient points to warrant a three-star score. During the side pole impact test, it was marked down for inadequate head protection from the side-curtain airbags and, for the frontal impact test, the dummy in the driver's seat registered a knee impact on the left -- despite the car coming equipped with a knee airbag. Its overall score was three stars, taking the wooden spoon in this company.
The tiny Chevrolet Spark performed better, achieving a four-star rating. While the Spark actually coped fairly well for its small overall size, it failed to achieve a five-star rating due to its lack of stability control, something General Motors will be addressing with this model early next year.
Other models taking part and scoring the top rating included:
• BMW X1, which will be arriving in Australia next year,
• Chevrolet Cruze, basically the same car as the Holden Cruze which has already been tested by ANCAP,
• Citroen DS3,
• Infiniti FX,
• Mazda3,
• Mercedes-Benz GLK,
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class,
• Opel Astra,
• Peugeot 5008,
• Volkswagen Scirocco.
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