NCAP Safety testing: four cars earn five stars

The current round of EuroNCAP testing has deemed the Mercedes-Benz CLA, Jeep Cherokee, Suzuki SX4 and Peugeot 2008 vehicles as worthy of five-star safety ratings.

Mercedes’ small A-Class-based sedan -- the CLA-Class -- earned Euro NCAP’s rating of “good” for frontal impact, side impact and whiplash protection, equating to a tally of 91 per cent. Top marks were attained in the side impact barrier test, affording occupants good protection for all areas. Child protection was also high with an overall percentage score of 75 per cent.

Should a collision with a pedestrian eventuate, the small Merc’s active bonnet assisted it in achieving a pedestrian safety rating of 74 per cent.

Judges also commended Benz’s inclusion of their Attention Assist, PRE-SAFE and Collision Prevention Assist systems which all work to reduce the possibility and severity of a crash, as well as potential injury to passengers.

Jeep’s new and aesthetically challenging Cherokee provided respectable occupant protection, with frontal and side impact both achieving a “good” rating. Whiplash protection was rated as “marginal”.

Overall, the mid-sized Jeep achieved a score of 92 per cent for this portion of the test.

Child protection was impressive, with an overall rating of 79 per cent and befitting a car that’ll be commonly used for family ferrying duties.

As a high riding SUV the Jeep scored a score of 67 per cent for pedestrian protection, with judges criticising the edge of the bonnet offering low levels of protection for the pelvis region. Bumper design provided good leg protection.

The Cherokee's suite of safety assistance systems were rated at 74 per cent.

Suzuki’s new and bigger SX4 attained an overall score of 92 per cent in the occupant protection category and its child protection score was a standout at 80 per cent.

Aspects of pedestrian protection are noteworthy, with the bumper scoring maximum points available for leg protection. However, Euro NCAP officials derided the edge of the Suzuki’s front bumper for offering little or no pelvic protection.

Peugeot’s 2008 micro SUV is almost identical to the small 208 on which it is based, and is also designed to effectively shield its occupants in the event of an impact. However, with an overall rating of 88 per cent, it did score marginally lower than the cheaper Suzuki, a car which it may be shopped against.

Whiplash protection in the event of a rear end shunt was described as marginal for the Pug 2008 while child safety was rated at 77 per cent and pedestrian safety was rated at 72 per cent. Judges did express concern over the safety base of the windscreen and rigid windscreen pillars.

All cars tested were in left-hand drive guise, European specification and may differ slightly to Australian delivered variants.