[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to The Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[RSR]

Thank you very much, TheLizardKing, for putting in so much effort to compile this list from the manufacturers' websites. This would surely be of great help to those who are looking to buy a new car. I hope buyers choose the safest car they can buy, even if that means opting for a lower segment car with more safety kit, or stretching their budget to buy a variant that comes equipped with safety features.

A couple of suggestions from my end. I think it would be better to club things like EBD & BA with ABS, as they are all a part of the braking system. Things like TC can be clubbed together with ESP in the "advanced safety feature" column. It would also be useful to have the total number of airbags on each variant - as the more airbags there are, the better it generally is from a safety point of view.

This is not meant to take anything away from a wonderful thread that was put together with care and hard work. I truly appreciate your the effort put in to create a thread like this and make people aware of the importance of safety features. Kudos!

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by RSR

A couple of suggestions from my end. I think it would be better to club things like EBD & BA with ABS, as they are all a part of the braking system. Things like TC can be clubbed together with ESP in the "advanced safety feature" column. It would also be useful to have the total number of airbags on each variant - as the more airbags there are, the better it generally is from a safety point of view.

I disagree. ABS is different to EBD and Traction control (TC) is different to Electronic Stability Control (ESC).

Some cars only have ABS and some cars have EBD along with it. I am not fully sure which are the cars that only have ABS but I remember seeing them in the spec list.

Similarly TC is to help the car grip while acceleration while ESC is mostly into play when you are about to skid or lose control. Polo doesn't have TC but Ecosport has both in the Automatic version.

I apologize if I am wrong but this is what I have read.

Thank you for the thread, OP. It will be useful for many car buyers.

On a separate note, I keep hearing that you can order the Scorpio with ABS/Airbags starting from S4 version. Is it true and has someone done that here. There seems to be no indication of it in their website.

[TheLizardKing]

Originally Posted by RSR

A couple of suggestions from my end. I think it would be better to club things like EBD & BA with ABS, as they are all a part of the braking system.

This is not meant to take anything away from a wonderful thread that was put together with care and hard work.

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Thank you for the thread, OP. It will be useful for many car buyers.

Thanks guys. It did take a lot of time and effort to put this thread up, and I do hope it will serve as a useful reference.

RSR, I started out with a lot more columns than you see here, but I realized that it would make it more confusing, simply because there are so many safety features and so many different names that manufacturers give to them. I have tried to keep a balance between simplicity and completeness.

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

On a separate note, I keep hearing that you can order the Scorpio with ABS/Airbags starting from S4 version. Is it true and has someone done that here. There seems to be no indication of it in their website.

From what I saw on their brochure, there is a S6+ version which offers ABS and driver's airbag. I do hope these manufacturers update their websites regularly.

the Mahindra guys have made a big mess when it comes to their website. They have dedicated pages for each model, making it super painful for someone who wants to have a look at the entire portfolio.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

I disagree. ABS is different to EBD and Traction control (TC) is different to Electronic Stability Control (ESC).

Some cars only have ABS and some cars have EBD along with it. I am not fully sure which are the cars that only have ABS but I remember seeing them in the spec list.

Similarly TC is to help the car grip while acceleration while ESC is mostly into play when you are about to skid or lose control. Polo doesn't have TC but Ecosport has both in the Automatic version.

I apologize if I am wrong but this is what I have read.

No, you're not wrong - they are indeed different things just as you mentioned.

However, that's not what I meant. I believe it would be have been better to club Electronic Brake force Distribution and Brake Assist with the Anti-lock Braking System, as they are meant to come into play when the brakes are applied (or in some cases, about to be applied) by the driver.

On the other hand, technology like Electronic Stability Control and Traction Control systems, although they may be associated with the ABS, can actually apply brake force (& do other things as well) of their own volition whenever the system detects loss of traction.

While they all help in maintaining stability and control in emergency and panic situations, ABS, EBD & BA require driver input to get activated, but ESC, TC etc. can even act on their own (if necessary) without driver input.

That's what I meant to say.

Originally Posted by TheLizardKing

RSR, I started out with a lot more columns than you see here, but I realized that it would make it more confusing, simply because there are so many safety features and so many different names that manufacturers give to them. I have tried to keep a balance between simplicity and completeness.

Agreed! Too many alphabet soup systems can indeed be confusing. You've done a great job by letting the buyer become aware of what manufacturers offer on their cars.

I hope threads like this make people demand safety systems on lower variants. Once the demand arises from customers, manufacturers will be forced to provide them. Otherwise, they'll shamelessly wait for regulations to do so.

[slamnos]

Hi Lizard King , really appreciate your efforts to present this. I think we are missing on one point here, safety features mentioned here i.e Airbags/ABS+EBD/ESP are not the primary factors to substantiate how safe the vehicle is.

Technically even after having all these features it might fail safety tests measured by NCAP and the likes.

The primary factor is the structural rigidity of the chassis and also incorporation of impact beams, which needs to be given highest importance before judging how safe a car is.

[trek]

Thanks a ton Lizard King for putting in efforts in creating the most important thread that all of us should be reviewing before purchasing any new car.

We are currently on the look out for a new hatch / sedan and its really frustrating to find that leading manufacturers like Hyundai & Maruti simply do not offer safety features on the lower and even mid versions. Customers have to stretch their budgets to the highest variants to get safety features.

What pissed me off even more was that a hot seller like Grande i10, the safety features are offered as 'optional' even on the highest Asta variant!

I never liked the bare bone and plain jane looks of the Liva and its funny how things turn out but its the only option left for us now since it offers ABS & airbags in mid versions (petrol)! There is the Zest then but my family ain't going anywhere near a Tata car after suffering through the innumerable breakdown of our Indigo.

So in the current scenario, anyone on a budget will either have to compromise on their choices or then pay though the nose for fancy features which are not needed just to get the basic safety features!

Anyways, thanks again for this useful thread.

[bbhavan]

Appreciable effort in compiling this report.
I think we can also consider other aspects like

1. Structural integrity of the frame, chassis
2. Positioning of the Pillars
3. Drive-ability of the car, driver's position
4. Body roll
5. Positioning of the body C.G
6. Design of the bonnet etc...

[Thilak29]

Does Micra/Sunny offer other airbags than Driver/Passenger one?

[Arkesh]

Great post there. I would like to mention that the New Linea has ABS with EBD, and for that matter all Fiats with ABS have EBD too as per the company website. It has been marked as a question mark in the tables, please update.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Does Micra/Sunny offer other airbags than Driver/Passenger one?

Yes, they do!

Both the Micra {dCi XV Premium variant} and Sunny {dCi XV Premium (Safety) variant} are equipped with front side airbags, in addition to driver & passenger airbags (a total of 4).

[karzzexped]

TheLizardKing I have no words!

One of the best ever threads that I have read ever since I knew this forum.

Adding your own views marrying awareness and tongue-in-cheek attitude was a stellar touch.

Hope you bring many such insights as this. 5 stars my man

[Masda]

TheLizardKing, All I wish to say is a BIG big Thank you. Especially appreciate the fact that you have shared the excel sheet as well. Thank you, sir.

[void_001]

Wonderful effort Lizard King! Really useful thread. Gives a good perspective of which are (and more importantly which aren't) safe cars. Rated thread a very well deserved 5 stars.

At a summary glance, it's very clear that Maruti, Tata, Hyundai and Mahindra are the top scorers in the FAIL category. But, just for the statistically inclined, did a small exercise to depict the percentages (compliance %, so to speak )

Cheers!
Void

[HeavyFuelRun]

This would have taken a lot of time an effort, thanks a lot! This is literally a one stop source, however utility will diminish once manufactureres start churning their models - wish there was a way to keep this updating itself dynamically