Tiny Toyota iQ registers 5 Star NCAP performance
Click above for high-res gallery of the Toyota iQ's NCAP test
We still wouldn't want to crack the tiny Toyota iQ into anything, but the little rollerskate has earned itself 5 stars in Euro NCAP safety testing. It's not a perfect correlation to hitting real objects, but the performance will undoubtedly help make a sales case. Results for the iQ are nearly as good as its larger sibling, the Avensis. The iQ will bust up your neck with whiplash, and the pole test also showed marginal chest protection, deflecting the ribs quite a bit.
The iQ's small size also leads to a C- for rear seat protection, and there's upgrades and revisions for the ISOFIX anchors and Britax seats to keep bambinos and bambinas secure. Despite any caveats, however, the iQ's rating trumps the four stars for Ford's new Ka, which will undoubtedly be strategically mentioned. We'd still drive anything in this segment with a modicum of care and heightened awareness. It's much safer, no matter what you drive, to avoid incidents all together.
Gallery: Toyota iQ Euro NCAP tests
[Source: EuroNCAP via GreenMotor]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
futurama 6:04PM (2/19/2009)
impressive
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ASEVENSEE4 7:40PM (2/19/2009)
Yeah! It looks better than it did before the crash test.
C.W. 9:23AM (2/20/2009)
i wonder how it does in the "Getting run-over by a truck/Suv" Test.
i think that one is guaranteed death.
but hey, you got good fuel mileage for a few days.... that's got to count for something right?
Luis 1:59PM (2/20/2009)
Because I get run over by SUVs every day. Dumb post. I've never been hit by an SUV. I think most people can say that.
CarbonBlack 6:04PM (2/19/2009)
I wonder how their testing/standards compare to ours?
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John 6:23PM (2/19/2009)
The difference between EuroNCAP and US NCAP is night and day. Different barrier, strike position, dummy injury measurements and criteria, structure rating, on and on. The only similarity is they both use a HYIII AM50% dummy.
PercyPricksworth 6:28PM (2/19/2009)
Main differences so far I know are:
-crash speed a bit slower (US 56km/h instead of EURO 64km/h)
-contrete barrier (US) instead of deformable object (EURO)
-likelyhood of "Head Injury Criterion" (US) vs. bodypart injuries (EURO)
The Chevy Aveo got only 1 Star in EURO-NCAP vs. 4 Stars in US-NCAP
CarbonBlack 6:29PM (2/19/2009)
Thanks!
(I suppose I could have gotten off my lazy ass, and used google) ;-)
John 6:31PM (2/19/2009)
There are many more injury measurements in EuroNCAP than USNCAP.
Actually the IIHS ODB test is more comparable to EuroNCAP. There is only a minor difference in dummy positioning.
tekd 3:49AM (2/20/2009)
Generally speaking, the EuroNCAP is a "harder" test to do well on since it's more modern and tests a lot more stuff.
When I say harder, I mean that a lot of cars that do well on the US tests look terrible on the EuroNCAP.
So countries that are making their own new crash standards generally base them off of the EuroNCAP (like China).
They really need to update the NHTSA standards, although I'm sure if they tried you'd never hear the end of it. Hence the IIHS going and doing their own ratings.
Mr_Pie 6:06PM (2/19/2009)
witchcraft
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zapperdude60 6:07PM (2/19/2009)
still ugly as sin
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Torrent 6:09PM (2/19/2009)
It's because the ugliness barrier shielded most of it from impact.
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Conundrum 6:20PM (2/19/2009)
So it is relatively safe as long as you are struck by a similar diminutive car like a Fiat 500 or another iQ. These tests cannot do not replicate the same force absorption as a 5,400 pound Audi Q7. The iQ only weighs about 2,000 lbs.
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Temple 6:44PM (2/19/2009)
No, NCAP rating is conducted on offset deformable barrier, side-impact, and pedestrian safety. The misconception that people have is that safety is relevant to weight, when in reality its relative to the the integrity of the passenger cabin.
The iQ is a lot safer then SUVs ten years ago that weight thrice its weight. The iQ even has knee-airbags, to protect the occupant from jutting forward.
ASEVENSEE4 7:44PM (2/19/2009)
Weight has everything to do with crashing against another vehicle. An SUV from ten years ago can hit the iQ and come out on top, because it weighs nearly twice as much or more than the iQ. There is more energy with the extra weight hitting the much lighter iQ and thus more energy impacting inside the cabin.
Not to mention, this iQ has no more space left up front for absorbing a crash at this test speed so 5km/h more and there would have been some cabin intrusion and A-pillar deformation.
Conundrum 7:52PM (2/19/2009)
@Temple...
Unless the NCAP test applies a net force into the vehicle while striking the barrier, the chassis of the iQ is absorbing the force resulting by stopping the mass of the iQ. The Audi Q7 chassis is absorbing the force needed to stop the mass of the Q7 which weighs 2 1/2 times as much. Thus the Q7 chassis has a much greater ability to absorb an impact from another moving object than the iQ. Unfortunately physics is still physics!
akboss302 8:26AM (2/20/2009)
Temple is right. People that blindly support heavy vehicles' assumed safety in crash testing are forgetting that there are people in the car, and how they react in a collision is the key to a safe vehicle, not how your Q7 looks after an impact - you may find a 5000lb SUV that collides at 10mph but because the restrain system didn't do its job, the drivers' head hits the window and they sustain injury. Of course, this is all relative. If you have a poorly designed small car colliding with a well-designed heavy vehicle, surely the occupants of the larger vehicle will be safer - for instance, when a transport truck drives over a Q7. The fact is the iQ gets a high safety rating, and that's good for everybody.
Conundrum 6:24PM (2/19/2009)
Delete your choice of "cannot" or "do not" and it may be more understandable... yet equally irritating to small car proponents.
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JDMlover 6:28PM (2/19/2009)
TOYOTA DOES IT AGAIN.
=)
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