Not all new Holden Astras score five-star ANCAP rating

Holden's new Astra has been awarded a maximum five-star safety rating by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).

However, the top rating applies only to top-spec Astra RS and RS-V variants, leaving the cheapest and most likely the most popular Astra R unrated owing to an anomaly in the procedure of sourcing ANCAP ratings from the European (Euro NCAP) crash test body.

“Australian ANCAP and European NCAP are converging, so from now until 2018 there are two choices for how you have your car tested,” explained Holden Performance Engineer, Ian Butler.

"You either take the European pathway and reuse all the European data, provided the car is the same, or you take the Australian pathway and test to the local requirements where you have to undergo physical testing yourself.

“The plan here was to go the Euro NCAP pathway, because the European-spec car that was tested had the features and content of the RS and RS-V [grades], so the result that you get we can only apply to the RS and RS-V."

The problem for Holden is the base Astra R doesn't come standard with a host of potentially life-saving advanced driver aids, and they won't become optional for it until March next year.

“Basically the HoldenEye technology [that is offered optionally on Astra R variants], which brings Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Keeping, Forward Distance Monitoring and a number of other technologies to Astra, isn’t fitted as standard to the Astra R," said Butler.

“The way Euro NCAP worked at the time the Astra was crash-tested was that if you were offering that content at more than 50 per cent penetration you would get a single rating for the car because more than half your product line-up had it. That was the data we had to work with, so being rigorous, Australian NCAP has obviously applied that to the car.

“For the R model, all of the passive [safety] content is identical, and as we’ve got a rating that applies to more than half of the model line-up, we weren’t that hung-up on it. The alternative would have been to take the Australian pathway which involved a lot of extra testing, and because those tests aren’t converged, they’re all slightly different, we’d have to do them all again, which is quite an expensive proposition; and when you’re launching 24 new models between now and 2020, where we can follow the European pathway and get a result is obviously of benefit.

“To me, the simple way I would explain it, would be if a customer is looking at an R model, is that it is identical to the models that are tested in terms of its passive performance. So if being protected in the event of a crash is important, you’re effectively getting the same car."

Holden's communications director Sean Poppitt defended the new Astra's safety rating.

“From March next year you’ll be able to option all of the same equipment that got the Astra its five-star EuroNCAP rating,” he said.

“I think AEB is a really important piece of technology, there’s no about it. But it is definitely the shiny, happy toy that everyone kind of looks at at the moment [but] crash worthiness, the passenger safety cell, the double seatbelt pretensions [front and rear] are equally important.”

Holden is not unique in offering AEB as part of an optional safety package. In the small-car segment in which the Astra will compete, Mazda also offers optional safety equipment as part of its Mazda3 range, which is the same case for Volkswagen with its Golf. Other competitors do not offer AEB at all, including the Kia Cerato, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30.

“I think the public understand the Astra is a very safe vehicle and they have a choice to make at that entry level,” said Holden’s Executive Director of Sales, Peter Keley.

Structurally, the Astra performed well across the range of tests. Pedestrian protection also rated as ‘Good’. The front bumper test area scored maximum points for its protection of pedestrians’ legs with good results seen at all test points. Protection provided to the pelvic region was also good.

This safety rating applies to RS and RS-V hatch variants which come with autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and lane support systems (LSS) as a standard feature. The Astra R is unrated.

The Holden Astra also arrives as standard with stability and traction control, six airbags, and ISOFIX and top-tether child-seat anchor points.

“The new Astra will enter showrooms with a five-star ANCAP safety rating providing another new option for consumers in the competitive small car segment,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, James Goodwin.

“Real world safety benefits are being achieved by these important safety technologies and we encourage consumers to choose a model with these technologies fitted,” added Goodwin.

The new Holden Astra goes on sale from December 1, 2016. All variants will be available from the get-go, however, the optional Safety Pack which includes AEB, as well as Holden’s new LED intelligent headlights, and 1.6-litre automatic variants, will be in limited supply until March 2017.

Visit motoring.com.au again this Friday for our first Australian review of the all-new Holden Astra.