Cobalt and Corolla okay; Dodge SX 2.0 worst Compact sedans are the most popular type of vehicle in Canada, so it should be of great interest to consumers here to learn that none of the models of that type tested scored well in recent side impact crash tests.Indeed, most small cars earned ''poor'' ratings in side impact crash tests conducted recently by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a testing agency of the U.S. insurance industry. None of the cars scored a ''good'' rating in the tests, which involved crashing an SUV-shaped barrier about the weight (1,500 kg) of a Honda CR-V into their sides at 50 kmh.Whatever the results here, the laws of physics dictate that the injury patterns will be worse for the people in the compact sedan if the vehicle that hits them is larger than 1,500 kg. Roughly speaking, the larger the vehicle that hits it, the worse the injuries are likely to be. Only the Chevrolet Cobalt and Toyota Corolla equipped with optional side airbags with head protection performed well enough to earn the Institute's second highest rating of ''acceptable.'' Without the optional airbags, the Cobalt and Corolla are rated ''poor'' for side impact protection.''Taken together with ratings in the side impact test,'' says IIHS chief operating officer Adrian Lund, ''the Cobalt and Corolla equipped with optional side airbags now are the highest rated small cars overall in the Institute's crashworthiness ratings.''Another 12 small cars also earned poor ratings -- Dodge Neon (the SX 2.0 in Canada), Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Spectra, Mazda 3, Mitsubishi Lancer, Nissan Sentra, Saturn ION (tested with and without side airbags), Suzuki Forenza, Suzuki Aerio, and Volkswagen New Beetle.Three more small cars will be put through the IIHS's side-impact tests later this year, the IIHS reports. The Mini Cooper and Subaru Impreza will have new design features that are intended to improve side impact protection, and the Honda Civic will be a completely redesigned model. The Dodge SX 2.0 was the ''worst performer'' in the tests, says Lund. ''This car is a disaster," since the test shows that the driver would likely have died in a real world crash. The Dodge has "major problems'' beginning with its structure, Lund says. "The structure is poor, and both dummies' heads were hit by the barrier during the crash test. High forces were recorded on the head, torso, and pelvis of the driver dummy. If this had been a real driver in a real crash, it's likely it wouldn't have been survivable.''For testing purposes, each side-struck vehicle carries two instrumented dummies the size of a woman who's smaller than 95 percent of the population, one positioned in the driver seat and one in the rear seat behind the driver. Each vehicle's overall side evaluation is based on injury measures recorded on those dummies, an assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact. Injury measures obtained from the two dummies are used to determine the likelihood that the driver and/or passenger would have sustained serious injury to various body regions. The movements and contacts of the dummies' heads during the crash also are evaluated. The IIHS points out that this assessment is more important for seating positions without head-protecting airbags which, assuming they perform as intended, should prevent injurious head contacts. Structural performance is based on measurements indicating the amount of B-pillar intrusion into the occupant compartment. Some intrusion into the compartment is inevitable in serious side impacts, Lund says, but any intrusion that does occur should be uniform both horizontally and vertically and shouldn't seriously compromise the driver or passenger space.
Compact sedans do badly in side crash tests Cobalt and Corolla okay; Dodge SX 2.0 worst