Small Cars Trail In Crash Tests - Printable Version +- FocusCanada Forums (//www.focuscanada.net/forum) +-- Forum: Canadian Focus Community (//www.focuscanada.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=3) +--- Forum: From the Street (//www.focuscanada.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=19) +--- Thread: Small Cars Trail In Crash Tests (/showthread.php?tid=7119)

Small Cars Trail In Crash Tests - Frost__2001 - 12-21-2006 Small Cars Trail in Crash Tests The Daily Auto Insider Wednesday, December 20, 2006 Subcompact cars fared poorly in new crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Just one of the eight cars tested received a top rating by scoring well in three tests that rate vehicles' performance in frontal, side and rear collisions. The Nissan Versa received "good" ratings — the institute's highest score — on all three tests. The Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit scored “good” in frontal- and side-impact tests, but in the rear-impact test the Yaris's score was marginal and the Fit's was poor. The Scion xB received a good frontal rating and a poor side rating. Its rear score was marginal. The Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio received poor side ratings despite their side-curtain airbags because their body structure didn't hold up well. Both received acceptable frontal and poor rear ratings. The Chevrolet Aveo received acceptable frontal, marginal side and poor rear ratings while BMW's Mini Cooper scored good, acceptable and marginal. "People traveling in small, light cars are at a disadvantage, especially when they collide with bigger heavier vehicles," institute President Adrian Lund said. "The Versa is bigger than the other cars we tested, so it has size and weight on its side as well as good test results." Vehicles are rated good, acceptable, marginal or poor. How the cars scored: Vehicle Front Side Rear Nissan Versa good good good Toyota Yaris* good good marginal Honda Fit good good poor Chevy Aveo adequate marginal poor Scion xB good poor marginal Toyota Yaris** good poor marginal Hyundai Accent adequate poor poor *with optional airbags; **without airbags Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety