southpawboston
New member
some of you probably already know of the european union's crash test program (european new car assessment program, or euroNCAP), but i thought i'd mention it here, and talk about why i really like NCAP.
http://www.euroncap.com/
it's useful when looking at new cars and for comparing the data with data from NHTSA and IIHS. there are some cars tested by NCAP that haven't been tested by NHTSA or IIHS. what's nice about NCAP is that they test cars in 40% offset frontal crashes (like IIHS), but at 40 mph. they also test cars for side impact, but only at 30 mph (unlike IIHS's 38 mph). but they also rate the cars for child protection using two different car seats and two different dummies: an "18-month old" dummy RF, and a "3 year old toddler" FF. they specify which models of car seats they use in each test, it's usually a britax romer duo for the FF and a britax baby safe RF, but it's not always those. lastly, they rate the cars for how well pedestrians fare when hit by the front of the cars at 25 mph (which would be very relevant for urban dwellers like myself). i also like that all of their test procedures are explained and illustrated very well on their website, and the reports for each car are summarized very clearly, with a lot more information presented to the consumer that you will find from NHTSA or IIHS. most recently tested cars get summarized in a nice pdf format which can be printed out for convenience. in fact, you can even print out pdf versions of their entire set of protocols, so you know EXACTLY how the tests were conducted. they also have a very nice FAQ section.
but i should also mention that there are a lot of caveats to using NCAP in your research on cars sold in the US:
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)
what i found particularly interesting from looking at the results of lots of cars is that some cars that do great by NHTSA or IIHS don't do great by NCAP, and vice versa. whether these are consequences of testing method, equipment level, or other, i don't know...
given those restrictions, i still found this site really useful when i was researching new cars this past summer, because the cars i was considering (mazda5 and mazda3) either hadn't been tested in the US, or hadn't been tested with the same safety options i wanted. basically, consider it just another research tool at your disposal when checking out new cars. the fact that they are the only crash test program that i know of that does any kind of in-car testing on carseats/child dummies makes it noteworthy (and the other big caveat here is that they test car seats that are european-specfic and therefore likely not to be made to US standards, so exercize caution in interpreting their data).
looking over all the cars tested by NCAP, i put together a list of late-model (2002-2007) cars sold in the US that have been tested by NCAP (i think i got them all but i may have missed some):
Audi A3
Audi A4
Audi A6
Audi Q7
Audi TT
BMW 3-series
BMW 5-series
BMW X5
BMW Z4
Chevy Aveo
Chrysler PT Cruiser
Honda CRV
Honda Fit (Honda Jazz in Europe)
Honda S2000
Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Sonata
Hyundai Tucson
Jaguar X-type
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Jeep Liberty (Jeep Cherokee in Europe)
Kia Rio
Kia Sedona
Kia Sorento
Land Rover Discovery
Land Rover Freelander
Lexus GS
Lexus IS
Mazda 3
Mazda 5
Mazda 6
Mazda MX-5
Mercedes Benz C-class
Mercedes Benz E-class
Mercedes Benz S-class
Merceds Benz SLK
MINI Cooper
Nissan Pathfinder
Range Rover
Saab 9-3
Saab 9-3 convertible
Subaru Legacy Outback
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Yaris
Volvo S40
Volvo S60
Volvo S70
Volvo S80
Volvo XC90
VW Beetle
VW Golf
VW Passat
http://www.euroncap.com/
it's useful when looking at new cars and for comparing the data with data from NHTSA and IIHS. there are some cars tested by NCAP that haven't been tested by NHTSA or IIHS. what's nice about NCAP is that they test cars in 40% offset frontal crashes (like IIHS), but at 40 mph. they also test cars for side impact, but only at 30 mph (unlike IIHS's 38 mph). but they also rate the cars for child protection using two different car seats and two different dummies: an "18-month old" dummy RF, and a "3 year old toddler" FF. they specify which models of car seats they use in each test, it's usually a britax romer duo for the FF and a britax baby safe RF, but it's not always those. lastly, they rate the cars for how well pedestrians fare when hit by the front of the cars at 25 mph (which would be very relevant for urban dwellers like myself). i also like that all of their test procedures are explained and illustrated very well on their website, and the reports for each car are summarized very clearly, with a lot more information presented to the consumer that you will find from NHTSA or IIHS. most recently tested cars get summarized in a nice pdf format which can be printed out for convenience. in fact, you can even print out pdf versions of their entire set of protocols, so you know EXACTLY how the tests were conducted. they also have a very nice FAQ section.
but i should also mention that there are a lot of caveats to using NCAP in your research on cars sold in the US:
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)
what i found particularly interesting from looking at the results of lots of cars is that some cars that do great by NHTSA or IIHS don't do great by NCAP, and vice versa. whether these are consequences of testing method, equipment level, or other, i don't know...
given those restrictions, i still found this site really useful when i was researching new cars this past summer, because the cars i was considering (mazda5 and mazda3) either hadn't been tested in the US, or hadn't been tested with the same safety options i wanted. basically, consider it just another research tool at your disposal when checking out new cars. the fact that they are the only crash test program that i know of that does any kind of in-car testing on carseats/child dummies makes it noteworthy (and the other big caveat here is that they test car seats that are european-specfic and therefore likely not to be made to US standards, so exercize caution in interpreting their data).
looking over all the cars tested by NCAP, i put together a list of late-model (2002-2007) cars sold in the US that have been tested by NCAP (i think i got them all but i may have missed some):
Audi A3
Audi A4
Audi A6
Audi Q7
Audi TT
BMW 3-series
BMW 5-series
BMW X5
BMW Z4
Chevy Aveo
Chrysler PT Cruiser
Honda CRV
Honda Fit (Honda Jazz in Europe)
Honda S2000
Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Sonata
Hyundai Tucson
Jaguar X-type
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Jeep Liberty (Jeep Cherokee in Europe)
Kia Rio
Kia Sedona
Kia Sorento
Land Rover Discovery
Land Rover Freelander
Lexus GS
Lexus IS
Mazda 3
Mazda 5
Mazda 6
Mazda MX-5
Mercedes Benz C-class
Mercedes Benz E-class
Mercedes Benz S-class
Merceds Benz SLK
MINI Cooper
Nissan Pathfinder
Range Rover
Saab 9-3
Saab 9-3 convertible
Subaru Legacy Outback
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Yaris
Volvo S40
Volvo S60
Volvo S70
Volvo S80
Volvo XC90
VW Beetle
VW Golf
VW Passat
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