The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released rankings of a number of 2008 and 2009 model-year small SUVs and crossovers yesterday. Four models, the Ford Escape, Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan Rogue and Volkswagen Tiguan all received “top safety pick” rankings.
The IIHS also says that the Escape’s twins, the Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute earned the “top safety pick” label despite the fact that only Escapes were used in testing. The top ranking also applies to Hybrid versions of the small SUVs.
All four of the top vehicles featured standard side-impact airbags and electronic stability control. The IIHS ranks cars based on five possible places: Top safety pick, good, average, marginal, poor. Not ranking quite as well were the Suzuki Grand Vitara (good), Jeep Patriot (good with side airbags, marginal without), Chevrolet Equinox/Pontiac Torrent (marginal) and Jeep Wrangler (poor). The IIHS tested the Patriot both with and without the optional seat-mounted side airbags (curtain airbags deploying from the headliner are standard) and, not surprisingly, found that the airbag-equipped model provided for significantly better side-impact protection.
The Wrangler was notable because, according to IIHS President Adrian Lund, “We’ve rarely seen a vehicle go in the wrong direction and get a worse rating after it has been redesigned.”
The previous model Jeep Wrangler (1997-2006) scored a marginal in the side impact protection. The redesigned 2008 model scored a poor, the lowest ranking, in the same test. That said, the previous Wrangler did not offer side impact airbags and the new one does – though the model tested was not so equipped.
The top-rated models join the Honda CR-V and Element and the Subaru Forester as “top safety picks” in the small SUV class.
Detailed results are available on the IIHS site.
08/20, 9:43 AM
posted by:
56oval
I’m going to go crash my old man’s RAV4 just to see how it does!
08/20, 9:44 AM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Make sure you take a video and post it. We’d all like to see it.
08/20, 9:47 AM
posted by:
HemiRoadRunner
I once wrecked a 1995 Caprice Classic 9C1 police car.
08/20, 9:54 AM
posted by:
beatusmongous
The only thing I’ve wrecked so far is a Ford Aerostar. Good riddance.
08/20, 10:43 AM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
My brother-in-law wrote off his ‘92 Cadillac this year after rear ending someone. The airbag went off, but with the way his arm was positioned as he braced for the impact the airbag blew his fist straight into his face and it knocked him out. I keep kidding him that only he could lose a fight with a pillow.
08/20, 10:48 AM
posted by:
bigp
well and the best is out front the ford escape, and now has the fuel economy to prove it
08/20, 12:51 PM
posted by:
fuk-u-asshole
ford escape sucks big time. time to get the kuga
08/20, 1:25 PM
posted by:
brassmonkey
Ever roll a car? That’s always fun. I rolled a 1985 Civic. Totaled it, of course. Hey, LLN! Am I still on topic?
08/20, 2:23 PM
posted by:
crackerhemi
No surprise here that gm/ford/chrysler have poor ratings. They should just make it a sticky thread, and only post news about them when they are out of the ordinary – as in actually good.
08/20, 3:28 PM
posted by:
C6Racer
cracker, in case you didn’t notice, a Ford got the top rating.
johnny, those darn pillows, man. haha
08/20, 3:54 PM
posted by:
jumpoffit
when i was younger i rear ended my moms cadillac into a security pole in a fast food drive through place, caved in the whole trunk- no air bags went off though, took it to a body shop and they said they were surpised the gas tank didn’t explode… oh wait what’s the topic on again?
08/20, 4:04 PM
posted by:
crackerhemi
Wow, jumpoffit. You can drive at all. You should lose your license.
08/20, 4:07 PM
posted by:
HemiRoadRunner
^^^ Why doesn’t this guy get edited like I did LLN? Oh, he must be wacking you off.
08/20, 11:14 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
I’ve never rolled a car, but my sister’s “friend” rolled his Mach II Mustang 6 times off a canyon road into a river – with her and two other friends in it. The driver was doing 85mph in a 45mph zone way up in a canyon in Northern Utah. The driver/owner died, so did my sister’s best friend, and my sister broke her neck and a rod from the seat punctured her lung. The other guy only broke his leg. Now, my sister is paralyzed from the chest-down to her feet. But she’s still pressing on, and now she’s married, and she trains dogs to be helpers for other handicapped people. I’ll have to dig through some old photos to see if I can find the picture of the car. It’s really hard to tell what kind of car it is because it’s so twisted and mangled. But it’s a testament that speed kills. It’s best to save the racing for the track. They weren’t racing, just showing off, but still…
08/21, 11:59 PM
posted by:
A4
yeah wheres all the VW haters today? the tiguan is the perfect “crossroader” for the times.