In the latest round of crash testing performed by the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ coupe twins, Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatchback and Range Rover luxury SUV have been awarded a maximum five star rating.
With dual front, side and driver’s knee airbags, the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ received 34.4 points out of a maximum 37. The frontal offset test was rated 14.97 out of 16, the side impact test 15.43 out of 16, and the pole test a perfect two. ‘Good’ whiplash protection and points for seatbelt reminders were offset by only an ‘acceptable’ rating for pedestrian safety. The 86 and BRZ were just edged out overall by the Honda CR-Z (35.56) and Hyundai Veloster (35.47).
The Mercedes-Benz A-Class, despite featuring an ‘active’ bonnet, was also rated ‘acceptable’ for pedestrian protection, while scoring 14.80 out of 16 for the frontal impact test, a perfect 16 for the side impact test, and another perfect two for the pole test for a total 35.80 out of 37. Overall, the A-Class couldn’t quite match the top scores in the small car class, including the Honda Insight (36.39), BMW 1 Series (36.33) and Alfa Romeo MiTo (36.1).
While the A-Class scored maximum points for head/neck, chest and upper leg protection in the frontal crash, it receieved 2.80 out of four for lower leg protection; the Toyota 86 managed 3.16, but dipped slightly for chest protection where it was rated 3.81 out of four.
The Range Rover almost managed a perfect score in the frontal offset crash test, but was rated 3.19 for chest protection. It also scored an ‘acceptable’ rating for pedestrian safety, 15.19 out of 16 overall for the front test, and a perfect score for side impact and pole tests, for a total 36.19 out of 37. The Range Rover does not feature knee airbags, however. Its overall score is 0.15 points behind the Mercedes-Benz ML-Class, the top-scoring SUV.
“It doesn’t matter what type of car consumers are looking to buy. There’s now a multitude of makes, models and car types which have achieved the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating,” said ANCAP Chairman, Mr Lauchlan McIntosh.
“The range of cars we’ve released ratings for today exemplifies this,” Mr McIntosh added.
