[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

In spite of all the problems, we still love India and choose to live here. We owe it to ourselves, our loved ones and the future generations to try and make a better India in the future.
Coming back to automotive safety, we will not rest until we get world class automobiles in India which are in no way flimsier or unsafe than the same models sold in the developed world.
We will effect the change one day, sooner or later.

Yes, in the longer run we shall probably be able to change the deeply ingrained attitudes & values, but I'm still pessimistic about the route-map. Yes I too love this maddening country of ours - the only one I know where, despite the mind-boggling isues at stake, we still have a thriving, healthy and lively free press! But I still believe in my grandfather's dictum - "Uttam madhyam latthaoo shadham". Roughly translated it would mean "Don't spare the rod and spoil the child". Netas are not children, sure, but I think you get my point.

And to get back to the main issue - yes, this debate must not be allowed to die down, something which the automotive lobby and the powers that be, are both fervently hoping & praying for.

[abhishek46]

It looks like Indian Duster is the latest entry to the zero Club!

http://auto.ndtv.com/news/zero-stars...-lateststories

Some more sad news from the article:

"After the results were shared with Renault, the French manufacturer requested Global NCAP to also crash test a mid-variant that has a driver-side airbag fitted on. This second test has yielded the car a 3 star rating which is much better of course. The rear child occupant rating remains 2 stars in this case to of course. But this is where Global NCAP noticed something different about the car. The same model Duster made in Colombia for the Latin American region had previously received a 4 star rating for its driver-side only variant too in the Latin NCAP crash test from September 2015. A quick investigation revealed the reason – the LatAm market Duster gets a bigger sized airbag than the Indian car does."

Saving money by proving smaller size Airbags!

[wilful]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

It looks like Indian Duster is the latest entry to the zero Club!

http://auto.ndtv.com/news/zero-stars...-lateststories

Some more sad news from the article:

"After the results were shared with Renault, the French manufacturer requested Global NCAP to also crash test a mid-variant that has a driver-side airbag fitted on. This second test has yielded the car a 3 star rating which is much better of course. The rear child occupant rating remains 2 stars in this case to of course. But this is where Global NCAP noticed something different about the car. The same model Duster made in Colombia for the Latin American region had previously received a 4 star rating for its driver-side only variant too in the Latin NCAP crash test from September 2015. A quick investigation revealed the reason – the LatAm market Duster gets a bigger sized airbag than the Indian car does."

Saving money by proving smaller size Airbags!

Unfortunate but unsurprising.
Exactly what some of us are coming to expect from the big carmakers when it comes to the Indian market. Anything goes.
Many structural changes are made to save on costs, safety equipment is reduced or removed. Now inferior/smaller airbags.
What next - toy balloons instead of airbags?
(Sorry- just my way of venting my grievances)

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

It looks like Indian Duster is the latest entry to the zero Club!.....Saving money by proving smaller size Airbags!

Hello Abhishek46,

Very pertinent observation indeed! Also, going by the growing number of cases of air-bags failures in accidents - how useful are airbags that do not inflate? The customer is just paying for a white elephant, while the vested interest parties (the car makers, the airbag makers & dare one add - the certifying agencies!) are all playing innocent.

Air-bag failures ring a bell because of similar problems with inflatable life-rafts on board ships. These work on a similar principle – the trigger here being hydrostatic pressure below the sea surface, instead of an impact g-force triggering the air-bag inflator in a car accident – and I’ve had the experience of life-rafts failing (more than once) to inflate during a mock drill at sea.

There’s nothing like the failure of safety equipment to drive home one’s insignificance when faced with large commercial interests.

[ron178]

ADAC EcoTest results from the 2013 round of Global NCAP Safer Cars for India tests:

(EcoTest later evolved into the test protocol for Euro NCAP's partner programme Green NCAP).

Results:
Tata Nano: 4 stars
Hyundai i10 1.1L iRDE: 3 stars
Suzuki Alto K10: 3 stars
Volkswagen Polo 1.2L MPI: 3 stars
Ford Figo 1.2L (*) Duratec: 1 star

(*) They say 1.0L but AFAIK the Indian car was never available with a 1-litre engine









Source - GFEI

[rpm]

Originally Posted by ron178

ADAC EcoTest results from the 2013 round of Global NCAP Safer Cars for India tests:

(EcoTest later evolved into the test protocol for Euro NCAP's partner programme Green NCAP).

Results:
Tata Nano: 4 stars
Hyundai i10 1.1L iRDE: 3 stars
Suzuki Alto K10: 3 stars
Volkswagen Polo 1.2L MPI: 3 stars
Ford Figo 1.2L (*) Duratec: 1 star

It’s great to see some numbers (as always). I wish we had similar data for other Indian cars tested by GNCAP. Other than being interesting to see, it could potentially help put into perspective the ‘5-star GNCAP, 0-star engine’ narrative that seems to be gaining some traction nowadays. Ah, but then again, who am I kidding? Not testing enough parameters will have to foot the blame, if not the corrupt and biased third party GNCAP itself.