southpawboston
01-24-2007, 10:03 PM
okay, i posted before about euroNCAP, the european union's version of NHTSA crash testing:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=10128&highlight=euroncap
japan also has its own version, JNCAP. but the website is in japanese, so unless you understand the language, you won't get much out of it. i did a google website translation of it, which helps quite a bit:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.jafmate.co.jp/anzen/ncap/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DJ-NCAP%2B%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D
what's nice about google website translations is that for each link you click on, that link will also automatically get translated by google. so you can browse the website and click on different cars, and be presented with the translated versions of the page instead of the original.
in comparing the JNCAP website with euroNCAP, the JNCAP website is kind of limited. they do give you an explanation of how the tests were done, but remember that the translations can be pretty poor, and a lot is lost in translation (for example, passenger seat is translated as "suicide seat"!!!:D ). they also don't provide comments on each car like they do on euroNCAP, just the final score. they do both offset frontal and side impact tests, and cars receive a star rating, with six stars being the highest.
i wrote extensively about the caveats of comparing european versions of a car with the US versions of the same car, and i should stress that the same caveats apply to comparing japanese-market cars with the US versions. here's a copy of what i wrote in the euroNCAP thread:
1) lots of cars sold in the US are not sold in europe, and vice versa. so there's a pretty good chance that your car is not included in NCAP.
2) cars that are sold here and in europe may have different safety options, engine/transmission options, and equipment levels that may or may not affect their crash ratings.
3) cars that are the same here and in europe may be branded differently (eg, a US acura TSX is the same as a euro honda accord, which is nothing like the US honda accord)
4) cars that may be sold here and in europe may not be available in the same body styles (hatch, sedan, wagon)
lastly, the biggest problem with JNCAP is deciphering the names of the cars!!! translated into english, the names are all weird...no doubt an artifact of translation. here's just a partial list of the car names that google translation came up with, and i've indicated which japanese cars sold in the US correspond to them:
Honda fitting = Honda Fit
Honda inspring = Honda Accord
Honda odyssy = Honda Odyssey
Honda shibitsuku = Honda Civic
Mazda akusera = Mazda3
Mazda atenza = Mazda6
Mazda puremashi = Mazda5
Nissan skyline = Infiniti G35
Nissan teida = Nissan Versa
Subaru huoresuta = Forester
Subaru inpresserwportwagon = Impreza wagon
Subaru regashiitsuringwagon = Legacy wagon
Toyota bB = Scion xB
Toyota beruta = Toyota Yaris (sedan)
Toyota corolla = Toyota Corolla
Toyota crown = Lexus LS430
Toyota harrier = Lexus RX330
Toyota isuto = Scion xA
Toyota marx X = Lexus GS430
Toyota pri-mortar = Toyota Prius
Toyota recsuspension = Lexus IS
Toyota vuitsutsu = Toyota Yaris (hatchback)
Toyota wiendam = Lexus ES330
in the end, consider it more just for fun than meaningful or useful info! plus you can see some of the cool and funky cars they have there that we will never see!
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=10128&highlight=euroncap
japan also has its own version, JNCAP. but the website is in japanese, so unless you understand the language, you won't get much out of it. i did a google website translation of it, which helps quite a bit:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.jafmate.co.jp/anzen/ncap/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DJ-NCAP%2B%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D
what's nice about google website translations is that for each link you click on, that link will also automatically get translated by google. so you can browse the website and click on different cars, and be presented with the translated versions of the page instead of the original.
in comparing the JNCAP website with euroNCAP, the JNCAP website is kind of limited. they do give you an explanation of how the tests were done, but remember that the translations can be pretty poor, and a lot is lost in translation (for example, passenger seat is translated as "suicide seat"!!!:D ). they also don't provide comments on each car like they do on euroNCAP, just the final score. they do both offset frontal and side impact tests, and cars receive a star rating, with six stars being the highest.
i wrote extensively about the caveats of comparing european versions of a car with the US versions of the same car, and i should stress that the same caveats apply to comparing japanese-market cars with the US versions. here's a copy of what i wrote in the euroNCAP thread:
1) lots of cars sold in the US are not sold in europe, and vice versa. so there's a pretty good chance that your car is not included in NCAP.
2) cars that are sold here and in europe may have different safety options, engine/transmission options, and equipment levels that may or may not affect their crash ratings.
3) cars that are the same here and in europe may be branded differently (eg, a US acura TSX is the same as a euro honda accord, which is nothing like the US honda accord)
4) cars that may be sold here and in europe may not be available in the same body styles (hatch, sedan, wagon)
lastly, the biggest problem with JNCAP is deciphering the names of the cars!!! translated into english, the names are all weird...no doubt an artifact of translation. here's just a partial list of the car names that google translation came up with, and i've indicated which japanese cars sold in the US correspond to them:
Honda fitting = Honda Fit
Honda inspring = Honda Accord
Honda odyssy = Honda Odyssey
Honda shibitsuku = Honda Civic
Mazda akusera = Mazda3
Mazda atenza = Mazda6
Mazda puremashi = Mazda5
Nissan skyline = Infiniti G35
Nissan teida = Nissan Versa
Subaru huoresuta = Forester
Subaru inpresserwportwagon = Impreza wagon
Subaru regashiitsuringwagon = Legacy wagon
Toyota bB = Scion xB
Toyota beruta = Toyota Yaris (sedan)
Toyota corolla = Toyota Corolla
Toyota crown = Lexus LS430
Toyota harrier = Lexus RX330
Toyota isuto = Scion xA
Toyota marx X = Lexus GS430
Toyota pri-mortar = Toyota Prius
Toyota recsuspension = Lexus IS
Toyota vuitsutsu = Toyota Yaris (hatchback)
Toyota wiendam = Lexus ES330
in the end, consider it more just for fun than meaningful or useful info! plus you can see some of the cool and funky cars they have there that we will never see!