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Sedans Low End Sedans (under $16k)
3820 messages, Last post on Nov 24, 2008 at 9:45 AM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: germancarfan1 (Dec 20, 2006 12:40 pm)  How about we move on? |
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What's interesting is that the government has recently mandated the use of crash test scores on display of each car sold. The scores would, of course, come from NHTSA, and actually boasts well for Hyundai, specifically the Sonata, one of the few vehicles actually archiving 5/5/5/5.
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Replying to: joe97 (Dec 20, 2006 5:03 pm) Anyway, wrt low-end sedans, we'll have another one available very soon: the Versa. I suppose its IIHS frontal and rear crash test scores will be the same as the hatchback's (since the fronts are the same and they don't actually test the car in the rear test), but I wonder if the side test will be redone? Maybe they will also run the frontal test too, if there's a significant weight difference from the hatchback.
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Replying to: backy (Dec 20, 2006 7:08 pm) I really don't know why all of this sniping occurs here on Edmunds' forums. Everyone has their own opinion of course, but statistics are only statistics. It makes me wonder how I am still alive driving my 1985 SAAB 900 for 22 years without airbags, ABS, VSC, and all the other safety goodies on cars today. Heck, my wife and I were T-boned by a large '70s vintage Pontiac sedan when driving an old MG Magnette sedan in the early '70s, and we both walked away without any injuries. The same couldn't be said of those in the Pontiac - strange isn't it. The facts are it mostly comes down to the driver's skill (something quite lacking with many drivers today) - and, luck. In a jocular tongue-and-cheek mode, German cars are some of the safest cars on the road. Why? Because in the long term, they spend more time in the shop, than on the road. I'm sorry, I just had to say that!
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Replying to: w9cw (Dec 20, 2006 7:32 pm) 
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Replying to: germancarfan1 (Dec 20, 2006 12:40 pm)
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Replying to: targettuning (Dec 21, 2006 5:28 am) |
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Replying to: backy (Dec 20, 2006 12:13 pm) This is to say that you'd better off in a Yaris plus side airbags than you would be in a Crown Vic, even with its side airbags and "substantial" body on frame structure and weight, given the same size, shape, angle etc., of the impeding vehicle. Also, I don't think that vehicles are designed to favor one test over the other, and many vehicles do well in both. My opinion though, is still that the NHTSA side impact rating is very flawed, since it discounts BOTH Head Injury and Pelvic injury. Interesting correlation to note: The 5 star (NHTSA) side impact rated Hyundai Sonata recieves a 'Poor' Score for Driver Pelvis/Leg from the IIHS. In the NHTSA test, the Sonata had a Pelvic injury rating that was 1.5 times that of the top-scoring (both tests) Camry. (But the NHTSA score doesn't include Pelvis.) ~alpha
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Replying to: alpha01 (Dec 21, 2006 2:19 pm) It seems the IIHS disagrees with you (bold added by me): The Institute's side test is especially challenging for small cars because the barrier that strikes the test vehicle represents the front end of a pickup truck or SUV. Side airbags designed for head protection are crucial because the barrier crashes into the side of the car right at the head level of the two dummies that are positioned in the driver seat and in the rear seat behind the driver. "The Versa is bigger than the other cars we tested, so it has size and weight on its side as well as good test results," Lund says. http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr121906.html Maybe I am reading that wrong, but the way I read it, the IIHS is saying that the size/weight of a car does make a difference in side crash protection. I read someplace else recently (can't remember where) that another reason that small/light cars are at a disadvantage in a side crash is that they can be pushed further than a heavier vehicle, and potentially putting the car into another traffic lane or other hazardous position.
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Replying to: backy (Dec 21, 2006 2:42 pm) The IIHS says that size matters in general, but in the IIHS test results for side impacts, some smaller cars do better than largers cars. And the side impact tests are the only ones that can be compared across vehicle class.
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