Euro NCAP: Nissan Qasqhai Receives Record Points For Adult Occupant Protection

Not only did Nissan’s new compact crossover get a maximum 5-star rating for adult occupant protection, but thanks to a near to perfect 36.83 points out of a maximum 37 points, the Qashqai achieved the highest ever recorded score in this test for any vehicle in Euro NCAP’s 10-year long history. In the other tests, the Qashqai received 4-stars (out of 5) for child protection and a mediocre 2 out of 4-star for pedestrian protection. Commenting on the Qashqai’s results Euro NCAP’s Secretary General Adrian Hobbs said "Congratulations Nissan! This is a particularly impressive result for this manufacturer since the Qashqai is a new vehicle in this category. Nissan’s last entry into the small family class was in 2001." -Continued below

Euro NCAP Comments:

Front impact: Apart from the driver's chest, maximum points were scored for the protection offered to both the driver and passenger dummies. Double seatbelt pretensioners ensured that the driver's forward movement was very limited, keeping the knees and femurs well away from the dashboard.

Side impact: The Qashqai scored maximum points in the side impact and pole tests

Child-protection: The car scored maximum points based on the measurements recorded by the two child dummies in the front and side tests. The passenger airbag can be disabled to allow a rearward-facing child restraint to be used in that seating position. However, information provided to the driver regarding the status of the airbag is not sufficiently clear. The presence of ISOFIX anchorages is not clearly marked.

Pedestrian protection: The bumper scored maximum points for the protection it offered to pedestrians' legs. In contrast, the front edge of the bonnet scored no points. The bonnet was rated predominantly fair for the protection offered to the head of a struck child.

Euro NCAP: Poor Results From Electronic Stability Control Fitment Survey In The EU

We know it as ESP, ESC, DSC, DCS etc. We also know that Electronic Stability Control can turn potentially serious accidents into near misses and could reduce accident occurrence. Unfortunately though, according to a pan-European survey from Euro NCAP, there are huge differences in the extent to which ESC is offered as standard equipment to car-buyers across Europe. The EU wide survey places the UK, Netherlands, Greece, Malta and Ireland bottom of a country ranking with Denmark, Sweden and Germany topping the list in ESC fitment. -Continued after the Jump

The results were released today. Tuesday, May 8, in association with the launch of the new ‘Choose ESC’ Campaign, led by eSafetyAware! and under the patronage of the European Commission, with the goal of raising awareness of ESC.

In presenting the results, Euro NCAP’s Secretary General Adrian Hobbs said ‘We must all do what we can to raise awareness of ESC’s importance. Car manufacturers respond to the demands of customers but customers will only demand ESC when they become aware of the benefits. The media and organisations such as fleet buyers can play a pivotal role in increasing this awareness and in helping to bring pressure to bear on manufacturers and distributors to fit ESC as standard on all new cars, in all countries.’

Basically, the problem is focused mainly in the A (mini) and B (supermini) categories, and less in the C (lower-medium) and D (medium) segments. We totally agree with Euro NCAP that ESC should be fitted as standard in all cars, even if that means a surcharge of around €500 to 800 to the base price. If you ask us, we believe that like ABS, ESC will be standard in nearly every car sold in the EU in a few years. However, Euro NCAP should also concentrate on finding a way to assess vehicle driving dynamics, because ESC by itself is not a panacea in every case. Try out a Chevrolet/Daewoo Lanos with ESC and a Ford Focus without ESC and you’ll see what we mean.

Technorati: Euro+NCAP, Safety, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, Carscoop, blogs, 2007

Euro NCAP: 5-star rating for 2008 Peugeot 207 CC & MINI Cooper

As anticipated, the 2008 Peugeot 207 CC and MINI Cooper models managed to obtain a five-star rating in adult occupant safety in Euro NCAP’s latest safety results which were released earlier today. That’s a 1-star upgrade for the MINI Cooper over its predecessor which was tested in 2002 (the previous generation 206 CC hadn’t been tested by Euro NCAP). -Continued: Click “Read More…” below

Both cars achieved a poor two-star score in pedestrian protection. Oddly enough, the 207 hatchback has achieved a 3-star rating in the same safety test. Finally, the MINI Cooper obtained a mediocre 3-out-5 rating for child protection while the 207 CC didn’t get tested for child safety due to the fact that car was not large enough to fit the recommended child restraints on the rear seats, with the front seats in the normal position for average sized occupants.

Summary of Results

Superminis - Occupant Protection - Child Protection - Pedestrian

MINI Cooper - 5 stars - 3 stars - 2 stars

Peugeot 207CC - 5 stars -N/A - 2 stars

Technorati: Peugeot+207CC, MINI+Cooper, Euro+NCAP, Safety, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, Carscoop, blogs, 2007

EuroNCAP: Bravo, Corolla & Legend achieve 5star occupant protection; CR-V & Outlander get 4stars

Fiat’s new Bravo along with Honda’s Legend and Toyota’s new 4door Corolla received a top 5 star crash rating in occupant safety according to the latest results from Euro NCAP. The other two models tested, the new Mitsubishi Outlander and the Honda CR-V managed a 4star rating in the same test. However, EuroNCAP noted in the fine print (see the pics) that the CR-V scored enough points for a 5star rating, it didn’t achieve the minimum number of points needed in fontal impact. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below

Technorati: EURONCAP, crash+tests, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, Carscoop, blogs, 2007, pictures, images