BETTER PARTSSecurity Wizard is becoming increasingly important
Brussels ( Belgium), 22 April 2015
Good occupant safety is no longer enough now to achieve five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test. In contrast, electronic assistants for the maximum number of points are more important. This is also the latest test run with the four candidates Renault Espace, Suzuki Vitara, Fiat and Mazda 500X. 2
Twice five and two four-star
Two cars, the Espace and Grand Vitara, received five stars, the other two had to be content with four stars. Interestingly, all four cars were good reviews (more than 80 percent) for the safety of the front occupants. In contrast, Mazda got 2 and 500X with the assistance systems only accept 64 percent, while the two five-star cars well sections here: The Espace maintained 80 percent, the Vitara to 75 percent.
Praise for the emergency braking system of the Vitara
The active safety systems that feed into the review, include emergency braking at speeds above 30 km / h. Here was the Vitara 2.4 points, the highest rating ?? the system works to the satisfaction of the tester very good. The Espace garnered only half a point because the wizard did not work well. The two test losers received zero points: the Mazda 2 For there is no such helper, the Fiat 500X it is installed only in a few vehicles.
Good system to speed violations at Espace
Also, excessive speed is still a major cause of accidents. Help wizard, at least to avoid unintended violations and are therefore viewed positively by EuroNCAP testers. The 500X, the Mazda 2 and the Vitara have on speed, but you must manually ?? that's enough for 1.3 points. The Espace with his camera-based system cut here much better and got three points.
Additional frontal impact test
Even apart from the wizard there were methodological changes in recent times. Thus came the start of 2015, a second frontal impact added to full width of the vehicle. It is performed in addition to the previously performed collision with a deformable barrier and 40 percent overlap. Background: The vehicles were always stiffer and stronger lately, leading to fewer injuries by deformed or penetrating body parts. But even if you do not bang against a sheet metal part, you can get alone by the strong deceleration at impact severe internal injuries. Therefore, a solid, non-deformable barrier is used for the new frontal test. The total score for the frontal impact is distributed over the two tests.
More severe side collisions
In the side impact now racing a heavier slide into the vehicle edge, and also the side pole impact a stronger impact is simulated. Both now the new " WorldSID "-dummy is used, which allows to better assess the injury. The points thresholds were raised for the achievement of three, four and five stars. Overall, the changes are so strong that no longer can compare the results with previous results. So we must not be surprised that the 500X now received a lower rating than the virtually identical, Jeep Renegade, who still got five stars in 2014 . ( sl)