IIHS rates vehicles for roof strength in rollover crashes for first time

[Jeanum]

Excerpted from http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr032409.html


News Release | March 24, 2009

Roof strength is focus of new rating system;
4 of 12 small SUVs evaluated earn top marks

ARLINGTON, VA — The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is launching a new roof strength rating system to help consumers pick vehicles that will help protect them in rollover crashes. Twelve small SUVs are the first to be put to the test. Only 4 earn the top rating of good. The Volkswagen Tiguan has the strongest rated roof, and the Kia Sportage has the weakest among the 2008-09 models evaluated.

This new rating system is based on Institute research showing that occupants in rollover crashes benefit from stronger roofs. Vehicles rated good must have roofs that are more than twice as strong as minimum federal safety standards require.

The Tiguan, Subaru Forester, Honda Element, and Jeep Patriot earn good ratings. The Suzuki Grand Vitara, Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue, and Mitsubishi Outlander are rated acceptable. Roofs on the Honda CR-V and Ford Escape are marginal, and the Kia's is poor.

"We anticipate that our roof strength test will drive improved rollover crash protection the same way our frontal offset and side impact consumer test programs have led to better protection in these kinds of crashes," says Institute president Adrian Lund.



The full news release, including details of the IIHS roof strength testing, vehicle ratings chart, online video, roof strength status report, and research paper about roof strength and injury risk, may be viewed at the above link.

[joolsplus3]

Sigh. I just hope I never roll my Escape. You should already see how slow I drive on our local shoulderless/hilly roads :whistle:

[skaterbabscpst]

Heh.

I rolled my 88 Astro when I was pg with Joy. I should dig up those pictures.....:whistle:

[codex57]

Good. It's about time. The manufacturers were always quite murky about how strong their roofs were when that Ford Explorer/Firestone rollover issue was in the news. I knew Ford was bad cuz they actually forced Volvo to withdraw ads citing how strong their roofs were cuz it highlighted how bad Ford (the parent company) was. But I remember import companies making statements that made me susppect they weren't that great either.

[chickabiddy]

The Tiguan, Subaru Forester, Honda Element, and Jeep Patriot earn good ratings.

I loved my Forester -- it was reliable and safe and good on gas and fun to drive -- but it was so very carseat-unfriendly. Maybe I'll get another one a few years down the road.

[TechnoGranola]

Thanks so much for posting this! I just wish they had tested mid-size SUVs already!

[southpawboston]

I knew Ford was bad cuz they actually forced Volvo to withdraw ads citing how strong their roofs were cuz it highlighted how bad Ford (the parent company) was.

when was this? long before ford owned volvo (80s), volvo had an ad campaign that showed about 5 volvos stacked atop one another to demonstrate the purported strength of the volvo. a class-action lawsuit was filed against volvo for false advertising-- the ad used hidden reinforcing scaffolding to keep the cars from caving.

[codex57]

Around the Explorer/Firestone debacle. I'll see if I can dig up some links.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/14/Autos/ford_volvo/

http://www.weldreality.com/Ford%20Roof%20Article.htm

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/nhtsa_ford_roof.html