SUVs safer than sedans? Edit: evironmental impact discussions too

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by AWD

Eg. say a Head on between a Storm & a safe sedan like Civic, Occupants in a Civic would be the lucky ones.

Really? I think Civic will be pulverised. It will travel in the direction of Storme and hence will be crushed. I don't think occupants of Civic will fare better than those of Storme.

I agree with Jay, Duster / XUV do not stack up against Storme. Duster is too tiny in comparison and XUV is just a big car. Does not look an SUV from any angle. In fact, I like Scorpio better than XUV, despite all the shortcomings.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Civic will be pulverised. It will travel in the direction of Storme and hence will be crushed. I don't think occupants of Civic will fare better than those of Storme.

See no one can really comprehend the outcome of an accident, I was speaking generally, that is mostly a safer built car will fare better than a vehicle thats just built with safety as an afterthought maybe. The Civic if I may speak, would be hugely deformed/mangled in the event but the interior compartment containing the occupants which matters the most will bear least brunt & the vehicle will try its best to save the occupants. This may not be the case with a Storm which will mostly transfer all the inertia to the occupants inside. If you check the front seats of Storm, it gives a feel as if in case of a head on crash, the occupants would be thrown out of the front windscreen, its a weird seating position to begin with. A safe car is designed from the word go, from the scratch to be one, if you just manage to build a car & then add airbags, ABS, etc. it may appear to be safe but when tested, it will fail miserably. I think we may have overtaken the content of the thread, will discuss further on this on some other relevant thread, till then drive safe & be safe, spread the word.

[sumithb]

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

Does xuv, Duster and other wannable suvs have NCAP raitings. As far as I know the Scorpio didnt fare well at the NCAP. Please correct me if im wrong.

ANCAP rated XUV at 4 stars. The ANCAP site is currently down, however you can read about it at motoring.com.au here.

ANCAP site is now up. You can find the details here.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by AWD

Well im not entirely sure whether there are NCAP ratings for Dusty & XUV, will try to find the same, but I do think that Dusty being a global vehicle & selling across Continents, must be tested for occupants safety. As we all know its a Renault/Dacia which is based in Europe, they have some stringent ......

Hi,

The Duster is rated 3 star. Oh and that is the Euro spec one..

Originally Posted by sumithb

ANCAP rated XUV at 4 stars. The ANCAP site is currently down, however you can read about it at motoring.com.au here.

ANCAP site is now up. You can find the details here.

Hi,

I believe this is the Xuv 500 out on sale in Australia. Not wanting to highjack this thread, but we have seen in the past that manufacturers have different standards when it comes to manufacturing cars in India and the ones meant for sale elsewhere. Case in point how India spec swift fares much poorly in Ncap tests as compared to the Euro spec one. Or how Ecosport needed more than 100 changes to be exported.

Let us compare the crash worthyness of these models when we have crash test results of India spec variants. Till then we are just shooting in dark.

I believe Tata has an in house crash test facility. Not that it proves anything in favour of Storme. But still..

[ebonho]

Well, I did go to the website and search for Tata. Only the Xenon is listed (twin cab version) and that is rated 4 stars.

If what is essentially their pickup is rated 4 stars, I don't see their passenger UVs Aria and Storme being inferior. If anything, they would be at least as safe if not safer.

The Aria and Storme are made by a global giant that owns brands like Land Rover.

To speculate that they put layer on layer of sheet metal and know nothing of crumple zones or anti-submarining seats and other allied technology is being a bit blinkered in my humble opinion.

[aptiwa]

Originally Posted by sumithb

ANCAP rated XUV at 4 stars. The ANCAP site is currently down, however you can read about it at motoring.com.au here.

ANCAP site is now up. You can find the details here.

Originally Posted by ebonho

Well, I did go to the website and search for Tata. Only the Xenon is listed (twin cab version) and that is rated 4 stars.

If what is essentially their pickup is rated 4 stars, I don't see their passenger UVs Aria and Storme being inferior. If anything, they would be at least as safe if not safer.

The Aria and Storme are made by a global giant that owns brands like Land Rover.

To speculate that they put layer on layer of sheet metal and know nothing of crumple zones or anti-submarining seats and other allied technology is being a bit blinkered in my humble opinion.

This is interesting. The XUV tested had all kinds of airbags - front, side curtain - while the Xenon had only the front. And both of them received 4-stars. There must be some merit in the structural strength of the Tata vehicle.

Didn't Tata actually build their own testing facility because there was none in India before the launch of Indica?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by aptiwa

This is interesting. The XUV tested had all kinds of airbags - front, side curtain - while the Xenon had only the front. And both of them received 4-stars. There must be some merit in the structural strength of the Tata vehicle.

Good point there buddy.

I've seen the remains of big high powered sedans when they sadly go up against UVs on our highways. Its not a pretty sight. And seldom if ever does anyone from the front section (which is now full of steering and dashboard and engine) walk away alive.

On the other hand I have seen Safari's towed and parked at National which have hit bridge culverts head-on and somersaulted and rolled many many times. And everyone walked out alive. Pune guys are free to verify details of the case.

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Well the two SUV's are very different. The Scorpio is very suited to urban landscape where you drive at low speeds, accelerate, brake and then accelerate again. The Storme is most comfortable on the long highway stretches where it has almost no peers. Its heavier weight and comparatively less responsive engine (at lower rpm) makes it slower then Scorpio in the Urban jungle.

Agreed. But which brave soul is going to be dicing with 2 ton beasts on Pune roads and traffic? I have now over 2 years developed this Zen like state to office and back in my Storme. Lucknowi style, pehle aap, pehle aap ....

[sumithb]

University of Buffalo had conducted a study on SUV vs Car safety. The report was presented on May 2013 at the annual meeting of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine in Atlanta. Details can be found here.

Highlights:

• Crash ratings are a lot less relevant than vehicle type.
• In head-on collisions between passenger cars and SUVs, the UB researchers found that drivers in passenger cars were nearly 10 times more likely to die if the SUV involved had a better crash rating
• Drivers of passenger cars were more than four times more likely to die even if the passenger car had a better crash rating than the SUV.
• When crash ratings were not considered, the odds of death for drivers in passenger cars were more than seven times higher than SUV drivers in all head-on crashes

Source: buffalo.edu