[Frost__2001]

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