Temple of VTEC Rumors and News - Latest Euro NCAP Crash Test Results

Here's the latest Euro NCAP results and press release.
Both CR-V and S2000 got 4 stars for passengers security. 15 of the 16 vehicles tested only get 1 out of 4 stars in pedestrian protection, the exception being the Honda CR-V.

So far every civic based platform car (Civic 3/5 door, CR-V and Stream) scored 3 stars in pedestrian safety, where the Hatch only miss the 4 stars maximum rating by 2 points.

Note also that the C-Class achieved 5 stars because it gets extra points for the installation of a seat belt reminder, while it has previously achieved only 4 stars in pure protection performance.

STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL
11.00 am (CET)
Tuesday, June 25th, 2002

Latest Test Results from Euro NCAP

The latest generation Mercedes C-class has become only the second car to achieve five stars in Europe's leading independent crash tests confirmed Euro NCAP today (25).

For the first time crashworthiness results for sports cars and off-roaders were published at a press conference in Cologne co-hosted by Euro NCAP and the German Ministry of Transport. In addition test results for family cars and super-minis were also released.

Again, Honda shows the way in designing with pedestrian protection in mind with the CR-V achieving a three star rating.

Max Mosley, Euro NCAP Chairman and President of the FIA said,

"I am delighted that the Mercedes C-class has become Euro NCAP's second five star car. I feel confident that many more manufacturers will now rise to Euro NCAP's five star challenge.

"Our latest phase of testing is particularly interesting because for the first time Euro NCAP has assessed two specialist categories: two-seater sports cars and off-roaders. Whilst the safety performance of a small car cannot be compared like-for-like with another car that is far larger, many of those we report on here demonstrate high levels of safety.

"Whatever type of car you prefer to drive, whatever price you can afford, it's clear that there is now a wider choice of models offering stronger levels of protection than ever before."

Summary of latest results:

Off Roaders

Honda CR-V 4 stars
Range Rover 4 stars
Jeep Cherokee 3 stars
Opel Frontera 3 stars

Sports cars

Mazda MX-5 4 stars
Mercedes SLK 4 stars
Honda S-2000 4 stars

Super-minis

Audi A2 4 stars
BMW Mini 4 stars
Opel Corsa 4 stars
VW Polo 4 stars

Family Cars

Mercedes C-class 5 stars
Ford Mondeo 4 stars
Jaguar X-Type 4 stars
Opel Vectra 4 stars
Peugeot 607 4 stars
Proton Impian 3 stars

David Jamieson, UK Transport Minister said,

"I am pleased that Mercedes is the first manufacturer to meet the Euro NCAP seat belt reminder protocol and this means their C-Class has earned a five star rating.

"In the group of results released today, it is good to see that the Honda CRV achieved 3 stars for pedestrian protection, the highest score amongst its group. However, the pedestrian rating scores of the other vehicles are still disappointing, and I look forward to more vehicles earning higher scores.

"Manufacturers are to be congratulated on their results for occupant protection, however, I would like to see manufacturers doing more on the important issue of pedestrian protection where Honda's achievement deserves recognition."

Professor Claes Tingvall, Director of Traffic Safety, Swedish National Road Administration said,

"Euro NCAP should make constant progress in important areas of car passive safety. The promotion of effective seat belt reminders is an example of such valuable progress. The industry has responded rapidly to this and shows great interest in using efficient techniques to enhance seat belt usage. If the seat belt use in severe crashes increases from today's levels (approximately 50% in Sweden) up to some 95%, some 7000 lives could be saved in Europe annually. The Swedish National Road Administration welcomes this improvement of the Euro NCAP assessment of car safety."

Andre Seeck, Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) and Representative of the German Ministry of Transport in Euro NCAP said,

"There was confirmation of the trend that new car models, in most cases, provide significantly better occupant protection than when the car models were tested in previous phases. All super-minis, roadsters and practically all large family cars obtained four stars in phase 10. The progress made is demonstrated for example by the Opel Corsa which gained four stars after having only receiving two stars when the model was first tested in 1997. With its new model, VW was able to improve on the three stars gained by the old Polo and attained one of the best four-star results in the super-mini category.

"Vehicle development was given further incentive by the fact that, with the new Mercedes C-class, there is now a second car which has attained the five star rating; this suggests that much can be expected of future Euro NCAP test phases."

Dr Wilfried Klanner, Testing and Technical Manager for the ADAC said,

"For the second time since the existence of the European New Car Assessment Programme a model series, after the Renault Laguna, made it to the 5 star category : the Mercedes C-Class.

"The improvement by one star on the previous test result could be achieved alone by installing a system that contributes towards increasing the seat belt usage for driver and front-seat passenger. That's why the C-Class scored 2 additional points now and so has reached by rounding just enough total points for the 5 star category.

"The total result of the phase 10 confirmed the good result of the preceding phase. Passive vehicle safety is continuously improved on a broad basis. Despite the variety of the selected vehicle classes the majority of the vehicles, again, have a good safety standard. Out of a total of 17 vehicles tested - included the Mercedes C-Class - 13 reached the 4 star category and three the 3 star category in the occupant protection classification.

"But Pedestrian Protection still holds a large potential for improvement. With the exception of the Honda CRV which achieved three stars, all other test candidates only scored one star in the pedestrian protection classification.

"The increasing influence of Euro NCAP on automotive development has contributed towards raising the safety standard of today's vehicles and so to reduce the injury risk for the occupants again."

Guido Adriaenssens, ICRT Chief Executive said,

"Euro NCAP has clearly set new limits with this crash test and it is very encouraging to see that the majority of the 16 cars, including SUV's and two seaters, achieved a 4 star rating. Only 3 of the cars (including 2 SUV's) failed to achieve this rating. Moreover, by crediting smart seat belt reminders, the Mercedes C class has become only the second car in EuroNCAP's history to achieve 5 stars.

"ICRT also welcomes the advance in the pedestrian protocol to a more realistic mapping test. Although in general results were very poor, the results for the Honda CR-V show what a difference can be made when pedestrian-friendly front ends are included as company policy.

"In the area of child protection, the contrast in performance of one particular ISOFIX seat that was tested both 2-point and 3-point attachment is striking. The Roemer Britax Duo with top tether did very well in the Jaguar X Type, but poorly in the Jeep Cherokee without it.

"Finally, as around half the people killed in side impacts suffer fatal head injuries, ICRT is glad to see that head-protecting devices are now becoming available in the smaller cars such as the BMW Mini, Opel Corsa, VW Polo and the Audi A2.

Editors note:

1. Organisations contributing to Euro NCAP include the Departments of Transport of Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Catalonia as well as the European Commission, the FIA Foundation, the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) and the International Consumer Research and Testing (ICRT) on behalf of the European consumer organisations.

2. The results are announced in Germany.

3. Future Phases will continue with testing of more off-roaders and two seater sports cars as well as catching up on important new cars in the existing groups.

4. Australia has adopted the same testing protocols as Euro NCAP and they are publishing results from Euro NCAP that are applicable in their market. The Euro NCAP testing protocols are unique in that they include tests for front, side impact and pole impact and also gives information on pedestrian and child protection.

5. The front impact test is conducted at 64km/h (40mph) into an offset deformable barrier, the side impact test 50km/h (approx. 30mph), the pole test at 25km/h (18mph) and the pedestrian tests at 40km/h (25mph).

6. The full results will be on the web site www.euroncap.com from the embargo time of 11.00 CET 25 June.

Here's the link to the euro NCAP web site

http://www.euroncap.com