Rasmus

"Euro NCAP is glad to announce the five best performing cars of 2010. To be selected as safest cars of their categories, these vehicles achieved a high overall score and attained the coveted five star rating."

Executive category: BMW 5 Series
Small Family category: Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Supermini category: Honda CR-Z
Small off-road 4×4 category: Kia Sportage
Small MPV category: Toyota Verso


http://www.euroncap.com/Content-Web-...s-of-2010.aspx

ProMed

sahiljain22

Ahhh,, any idea at which speed these tests were done?

Glad I have a 5.

Rasmus

The frontal impact tests are carried out at 64 km/h (40 mph). There is a reason for this relative low speed compared to road speed limits. You can read more in the attached link:

http://www.euroncap.com/Content-Web-...g-process.aspx

Richard in NC

Plus I'd assume that in most accidents, some braking is done to reduce the speed below the posted speeds.

Which brings up a seldom advertised safety advantage for BMWs, the brakes. If a typical BMW can brake from 70 mph in 160 ft (or less, even an X5 35i is 157 ft), and an SUV takes 220 ft, that is a HUGE difference. If the obstacle is 160 ft away, the BMW has just avoided any damage or injuries. Given that the SUV can stop from 30 mph in ~40 ft, the 60 ft of stopping it has yet to do in the scenario above, is about 35+ mph!!! That is a near fatal accident for an older Suburban, etc.

Factor in the handling of the BMW, even if the obstacle is in < 160 ft, you would be more likely to swerve around it, than in a big SUV.