June 6, 2005
The Audi A4 and Chevrolet Malibu sedans equipped with side air bags earned the highest score in the most recent round of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash testing. The 2005 Nissan Maxima and Suzuki Verona received marginal ratings. Researchers questioned how well the vehicles would protect occupants in side-impact collisions.
The Audi A4 with standard side airbags and the Chevrolet Malibu equipped with optional side airbags also earn the "best pick" designation in side impact crash tests recently conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Volvo S60 earns the second highest rating of acceptable. The Suzuki Verona and Nissan Maxima are marginal. No vehicle in this group is rated poor.
The Verona also did poorly in recent government tests.
The A4, which also is a "best pick" in the Institute's frontal offset crash test, becomes only the second car to earn this designation in both tests. Along with the Saab 9-3, it's a "double best pick."
"The Institute's side impact test is severe, reflecting what happens when vehicles are hit in the side by a pickup or SUV," says Institute chief operating officer Adrian Lund. "These latest test results show that more and more manufacturers are improving their vehicles to better protect occupants in side impact crashes."
The Institute now rates nine midsize car designs good for side impact protection.
Testing of the A4 and S60 was delayed from the Institute's first round of side tests of midsize cars conducted last year. The automakers asked for the delay because design changes were under way to improve side impact protection. The Maxima test also was delayed because of planned design changes, but those changes weren't implemented. The Verona and Malibu were retested to update results from last year because the manufacturers added new side airbags, which are standard on the Verona and optional on the Malibu.
Five more midsize models will be tested in side impacts later this year. The Acura TSX, BMW 3 series, and Infiniti G35 will have new design features added to improve side impact protection. The completely redesigned Lexus IS 300 and Volkswagen Passat will be introduced later in 2005.
Institute test more challenging
In the Institute's side impact test, a moving deformable barrier strikes the driver side of a passenger vehicle at 31 mph. The barrier weighs 3,300 pounds and has a front end that is shaped to simulate the front end of a typical pickup or SUV. In each side-struck vehicle are two instrumented dummies the size of a small (5th percentile) woman, one positioned in the driver seat and one in the rear seat behind the driver.
The federal government uses a barrier that represents the front end of a car. This barrier was developed in the early 1980s when cars represented most of the vehicles on the road. The height of the barrier's front end is below the heads of the dummies that measure injury risks in side-struck vehicles. These federal tests don't assess the risks of head injury from impacts with vehicles like SUVs and pickups.
The Institute's barrier is 12 inches taller and rides 4 inches higher off the ground. The top of it is at the same level as the heads of the dummies in the cars that are being tested. This is the scenario in real-world side impact crashes where occupants' heads often are struck by the intruding hood of a striking SUV or pickup truck.
