2013 Model Year IIHS Ratings
- Thread starter mubs
- Start date
Nice to see that the cars I've chosen were on there for the model year I bought them (and still are), but I'm curious about the Tesla Model S.
Things will start to get interesting with the small overlap frontal testing. It's devastating. Most cars are not designed to handle it and perform poorly. Most of the ones I have seen do OK do so based on luck, except Volvo. That'll be changing of course.
Stereodude
Not really a
In other news the insurance companies cooked up a new test cars do poorly on so they can justify further raising your insurance rates.
I consider the small offset load case, while extreme and difficult to do well in, representative of a lot of accidents where car approaching each other cross over the dividing line and partially collide. It's a test I would want my car to do well in. Pretty soon just about every car on the road today will be obsolete, with respect to this test. Too bad they aren't cheap to upgrade like computers. Glad I'm leasing!
Even my 2009 compact car gets the maximum rating on that test. It can't be that hard.
I assume that's based on your extensive knowledge of body design and the single rating letter you from one vehicle? As I stated, If the car is designed to be able to deflect the energy it's easier, but most vehicles aren't designed to do that for such a shallow test as this. At this time, if cars do well on this test, it's probably luck (unless they are a brand new design as of this year). There's no other need to have so much structure so outboard on a vehicle besides this test. Volvo is the exception. The design for things IIHS doesn't even test for.
On the post test photos of a variety of makes/models I have seen, this test basically rips off the front corner of the car and causes damage to the front door hinge pillar and a-pillar. On some cars, it even rips off the outer skin of the door because there isn't sufficient structure far enough outboard on the vehicle to deflect the vehicle from the barrier rather than allow it to continue plowing through. Being very small/light does help though....
On the post test photos of a variety of makes/models I have seen, this test basically rips off the front corner of the car and causes damage to the front door hinge pillar and a-pillar. On some cars, it even rips off the outer skin of the door because there isn't sufficient structure far enough outboard on the vehicle to deflect the vehicle from the barrier rather than allow it to continue plowing through. Being very small/light does help though....
No test is that hard to pass when designed for up front. It just so happens that this is a load case that drives vehicle structure that isn't used for much else. Soon all cars will do well on it, when a re-designed model comes out. But the current ones that do well on it are just lucky except for a few of the newest models that were able to take this load case into account or if they happen to be designed by Volvo.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Did GM designed the new Cadillac ATS to perform well on that test? I've seen the results from the latest test of the NHTSA on the ATS and it was flawless. If I had the money, that's the car I would get these days. My wallet prefers the Buick Verano though.
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We strive to perform well on all safety tests while at the same time balancing cost, mass, performance, styling and fuel efficiency. We have been talking about this test at work for quite a while now so I would not be surprised if ATS does well, since it's brand new. From what I've heard, it's a test where it was hard to nail IIHS down on what their requirements (both subjective and quantitative) would be in the end, and ATS was being developed during that time. So I would not be surprised if there were some room for improvement. Only the rating will tell and I have not seen it!
I was not involved with the ATS and I really should not comment on any GM products, anyway, since I work for the company. I will say it's a little small for me but I find it to be a blast to drive. If I say anything more, most of you guys would probably just see it as biased and one sided so I'll just leave it at that.
Your opinion can be informative, accurate, biased, one-sided, and appreciated all at the same time 
mubs
0
+1 !Your opinion can be informative, accurate, biased, one-sided, and appreciated all at the same time