by Robert Lewis (26 Jun 03)

Six more cars have been awarded the maximum five stars for occupant protection in the latest Euro NCAP crash tests, and two cars in the latest phase have been awarded a three star rating for pedestrian protection.

In the 12th phase of Euro NCAP testing - and how seriously even manufacturers who were at first rather sniffy about the value of these tests now take them - it was a full-size MPV which didn't just come out on top of the current group, but scored the highest number of points seen so far within the star rating system.

How fortunate for CARkeys that it was the Renault Espace - we have one on test right now, and will be reporting on it soon. As well as being awarded five stars for occupant protection and two for pedestrian protection, it scored 35.11 out of 37 on the more rarely publicised individual points system.

That's the first time since Euro NCAP testing began that any vehicle has scored higher than 35 points. The Espace managed 15.11 points out of 16 on the frontal impact test, 18 our of 18 for side impact protection, and was given the extra two points now awarded to every car with a satisfactory seat belt reminder alarm.

A total of eighteen cars were tested, in eight different categories. All but one went through the full test procedure; it's curious that, while the Saab 9-5 in the executive class gained five stars for occupant protection, it hasn't been tested according to the new pedestrian protection protocol.

More Work Needed For Some

The other class results show that, while manufacturers are generally getting better at occupant protection, they aren’t all improving so well for pedestrian protection.

In the family car class, the Toyota Avensis (pictured) was rated at five stars for occupant and one star for pedestrian protection. The Honda Accord managed four plus two, and the Vauxhall Signum four plus one. The Peugeot 307 CC was the only candidate in the small family cars class and ended up with a rating of four plus two.

Among the superminis, the Citroen C3 Pluriel was given four plus two, and so was the Nissan Micra, while the Renault Twingo (not on sale in the UK, of course) came out with three plus two.

Two of the large 4x4s earned five stars, the BMW X5 with five plus one, the Volvo XC90 with five plus two, and the Kia Sorento with four plus two.

The Renault Espace, of course, was the large MPV winner with five plus two. Five plus one was the result for the Peugeot 807, three plus one for the Hyundai Trajet, and two plus one for the Kia Sedona.

Among the small MPVs, the Volkswagen Touran was rated at four stars for occupant protection and that very good three for pedestrian protection, while the Ford Fusion managed four plus two.

Final category in the latest results was for roadsters, where the MG TF scored four plus three.

Overall Reaction

Commenting on the results, Transport Minister David Jamieson said: "I am pleased that more and more cars now achieve four or five stars for occupant protection. Progress on improving pedestrian protection scores has been slow, with very few vehicles achieving three stars to date. Euro NCAP pedestrian scores will have to improve before the proposed European Directive on pedestrian protection begins to take effect in 2005."

Wilfried Klanner, testing and technical manager for the ADAC in Germany, said the results again point out huge differences in car safety: "Six models reached today's maximum of five stars, among them the Toyota Avensis, the first car with knee airbags to prevent leg injuries. The Kia Sedona only scores two stars by significantly failing today's standard in frontal impact performance."

Commenting on the Sedona results, Guido Adriaenssens of International Consumer Research and Testing pointed out: "It is one of the very few cars tested by Euro NCAP that was developed primarily for the US market, and these cars appear to have performed significantly worse than their European and Japanese counterparts."

However, Axel Honish, general manager for vehicle evaluation at the Hyundai/Kia Europe engineering centre, said: "The Sedona's rating in this particular crash test is directly affected by a change in the Euro NCAP regulations introduced this year. The rule change means that unless a car scores five points for frontal impact, it cannot rate more than two stars overall. The Sedona frontal impact rating by Euro NCAP is four points and so, if it had been tested early last year it would have been given a three star rating." He also noted that the Sedona earned a five star rating in the US NCAP tests.

Moving on to the 4x4 category, Adriaenssens congratulated Volvo on combining a five star rating with good protection for children travelling in the back.

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