The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently conducted its annual small overlap front crash test with a group of 12 compact cars from the 2014 model year, and only the MINI Cooper Countryman managed to earn a “Good” rating.
The 11 others (including two all-electric cars and one hybrid) were either rated as “Acceptable,” “Marginal,” or “Poor.”
Introduced in 2012, the small overlap test replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle collides with another vehicle or an object such as a tree or utility pole. In the test, 25% of a vehicle's front end on the driver's side strikes a rigid barrier at 40 mph (about 65 km/h).
The test is more difficult than either the head-on crashes conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the IIHS' moderate overlap test. In the small overlap test, the main structures of the vehicle's front-end crush zone are bypassed, making it hard for the vehicle to manage crash energy. The occupant compartment can collapse as a result.
Here are the overall ratings for the 12 small cars tested by the IIHS:
Source : iihs.org
The 11 others (including two all-electric cars and one hybrid) were either rated as “Acceptable,” “Marginal,” or “Poor.”
Introduced in 2012, the small overlap test replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle collides with another vehicle or an object such as a tree or utility pole. In the test, 25% of a vehicle's front end on the driver's side strikes a rigid barrier at 40 mph (about 65 km/h).
The test is more difficult than either the head-on crashes conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the IIHS' moderate overlap test. In the small overlap test, the main structures of the vehicle's front-end crush zone are bypassed, making it hard for the vehicle to manage crash energy. The occupant compartment can collapse as a result.
Here are the overall ratings for the 12 small cars tested by the IIHS:
- MINI Cooper Countryman: Good
- Chevrolet Volt: Acceptable
- Ford C-MAX: Acceptable
- Mitsubishi Lancer: Acceptable
- Scion FR-S (built after December 2013): Acceptable
- Subaru BRZ (built after December 2013): Acceptable
- Scion xB (built after February 2014): Marginal
- Hyundai Veloster: Marginal
- Fiat 500L: Poor
- Nissan Juke: Poor
- Nissan LEAF: Poor
- Mazda5: Poor
Source : iihs.org