THE EUROPEAN NEW Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has released its crash test scores for its latest round of testing.
The following eight new cars were tested: the Ford Fiesta, Jeep Compass, Kia Picanto, Kia Rio, Mazda CX-5, Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet, Opel Grandland X and Renault Koleos.
The all-new Ford Fiesta was awarded the maximum five-star safety rating and scored high for both adult (87 per cent) and child (84 per cent) occupant protection. The Fiesta achieved a maximum score in tests designed to replicate a car-to-car side impact, and also scored highly in frontal and side-pole tests.
However, although the Fiesta achieved five stars, the car does not come with standard-fit Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), which means the SEAT Ibiza is still the Thatcham Research Supermini safety pick of 2017 so far.
Speaking about this, Matthew Avery, director of research at Thatcham Research said:
That one of the UK’s best-selling vehicles is a Five Star Euro NCAP car is good news. However, its AEB system is only available as an option, which is a shame as fewer than 5 per cent of car buyers take up additional safety packs. For this reason the SEAT Ibiza remains our top safety choice of the Superminis launched so far in 2017.
The new Jeep Compass also attained the maximum five-star EuroNCAP rating. However, the SUV demonstrated an apparent lack of restraint robustness in side impact testing. To test side impact rating a car is propelled sideways at 32km/h against a rigid, narrow pole and a single make adult crash test dummy is placed in the driver’s seat. During this pole test for the Jeep Compass, the readings in the dummy’s chest indicated injury risk values above the limit to qualify for points, but below those which indicate an unacceptably high risk of life-threatening injury.
The Mazda CX-5 also scored a full five stars and scored the highest for adult occupant protection with 95 per cent.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet was awarded a five-star safety rating but during the side barrier test the head of the crash test dummy – representing a 10-year-old child – seated behind the driver, struck the roof frame as the side airbag did not fully cover the impact area.
The Opel Grandland X also got five stars.
The Renault Koleos scored a full five-star rating and performed well on crash avoidance thanks to standard-fit AEB and Lane Departure Warning systems.
The Kia Rio achieved a five-star rating but only with the optional safety pack. Without it, the Rio has a three-star safety rating.
The Kia Picanto scored only three stars but this rises to four stars with the optional safety pack.
By testing cars with and without safety packs it is hoped that consumers will “understand the benefit of additional equipment expressed in extra stars.”
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