Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Ford Flex.

Ford has made safety one of its top priorities, and its efforts have paid off. Not only does the Blue Oval have more five-star crash rated vehicles than any other automaker, but it's added another notch to its safety belt with NHTSA giving the Flex five stars for both front and side impact tests. A front crash impact score of five stars means that there is a 10% or less chance of serious injury at 35 mph, and the five star side impact score indicates a 5% chance of serious injury at 38.5 mph. The Flex comes standard with dual front air bags, headliner mounted side curtain air bags, traction and stability control, and tire pressure monitoring, which helps with NHTSA scoring. The Flex also received four stars for rollover protection, tying the CUV for best in class in the crossover segment.

With a Volvo-derived platform and plenty of heft, we're not surprised the Flex achieved a five-star score in NHTSA testing. Then again, it doesn't hurt that just about every automaker engineers all new cars and trucks specifically to score well on the Fed's tests. Hit the jump to view Ford's press release.


[Source: Ford]

Crash safety ratings are a big selling point – who's going to buy a car with just two stars? In pursuit of salable collision performance, automakers have turned to stronger metals and better construction, and consumers can reap the benefit by choosing from a panoply of highly rated vehicles. A problem arises, however, if that safety design is ever called upon to perform. Lots of vehicles now sport high strength steel in critical areas like roof pillars, and while it certainly helps protect occupants, it could hinder rescue crews. Tools that once made quick work of crashed vehicles are now having trouble shearing through modern cars. Not only that, modern cars have lots of airbags around the cabin, and there are also worries about cutting high-voltage electrical cabling in hybrid or electric vehicles. Rescuers need to know where all the potentially hazardous equipment lies within a vehicle so that they can safely retrieve human cargo without creating a further tragedy.

What was once a simple matter of cutting a roof off to get passengers out can now become a sawblade-eating saga that takes double or triple the time. Taking more time at an accident scene has repercussions that put recovery or even survival at risk by delaying treatment. Automakers are aware of this, and they're working with public safety entities to provide training and information. Schematics and build details of vehicles are being made available to first responders by the non-profit group COMCARE Emergency Response Alliance. The ability to research where and how a car should be taken apart in an emergency could buy injured people critical minutes, so Ford, for instance, is asking for a dialogue with rescue crews and the makers of their tools by offering a look at the construction of the 2009 F-150. Upgrades to rescue tools are also necessary, but the flip side of the harder rescue is that the death rate from passenger car accidents is historically low. So buy that five-star vehicle and try not to hit anything. Thanks for the tip, Juan!

[Source: Houston Chronicle]

Sales of new Chrysler vehicles are down between 1 and 8 percent, depending on which brand you're looking at, but sales of the Pentastar rides referred to as Brand Spankin' Used are the best ever. Five-Star Chrysler dealers moved 10,204 Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles in August, a 5 percent increase over 2006. Particularly popular choices are the Chrysler Pacifica and the Dodge Magnum, those models seeing increases of 24 and 26 percent, respectively. CPO cars from any manufacturer are often a good bet, as they're typically a maximum of 5 years old and must undergo a more rigorous inspection than they might at another sales outlet. Chrysler's comprehensive 8 year, 80,000 mile warranty doesn't hurt, either. How could you deny the allure of a 300C that's delivered its depreciation hit to someone else, comes in cherry condition (Five-Star dealers typically wholesale anything that's not approaching pristine), and has a better warranty than many new cars? Now all Chrysler has to do is build more compelling cars that people will be clamoring for, even used.

Press release after the jump

[Source: Chrysler, LLC]

It should come as no surprise that the Taurus and its siblings perform well on crash tests. The platform was developed from the Volvo P2 architecture that provides the basis for the original S80, as well as the S60 and outgoing V70. The Taurus has just earned itself five-star ratings in all of the NHTSA's tests, and the IIHS recommends the Taurus as a Top Pick. Seeking to capitalize on that success, the advertising boffins have whipped up a new tagline: "Rated Safest Car In America." Our spines tingle with delight. Our write-in suggestion of "Saves Your Arse" apparently has gone unheeded.

The Ford Five Hundred was so under-promoted by Ford that we don't recall any tag line. No matter. Seeking a return on its investment, Ford has given the revamped Five Hundred the Taurus moniker and a raft of upgrades. The hope is that the Taurus name isn't totally bankrupt, even though the DN101-based last generation was allowed to die on the vine. The new 3.5 liter V6 helps out by not only bumping power, but the horrid NVH of the 3.0 liter has been replaced by a hearty growl, instantly making the car feel better. It's a roomy, well put together car that drives well, for a reasonable price, so perhaps buyers will find the safety scores a persuasive argument.

[Source: Auto News - sub. req'd]

Toyota is a little confused as to how its new full-size Tundra pickup only achieved a score of four stars in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's test for frontal crash performance. Mike Levine at Pickuptruck.com, who is fast becoming Autoblog's unofficial expert on all things with a bed, spoke with Bill Kwong, a representative from Toyota, this morning. Kwong revealed that Toyota performed its own internal crash testing of the Tundra according to the NHTSA's criteria and the truck repeatedly scored five stars. This no doubt gave Toyota the confidence to predict that the Tundra would receive five stars across the board from the NHTSA, a move that definitely has the Japanese juggernaut wiping a little egg off its face now. Kwong said it will take a few weeks to sort out what contributed to the truck's four-star score, but that they'll determine what it is and fix it as soon as possible.

What's more curious about this whole situation is that the NHTSA reported frontal crash test scores for both the Tundra regular cab and the Double Cab, or what the NHTSA calls the Extended Cab in its results. Toyota claims, however, that the NHTSA hasn't tested the Double Cab yet and therefore its four-star result should be immediately removed from the organization's results website, safecar.gov. While we can't verify if Toyota's claim is true, both the pictures and video released by the NHTSA of the crash tests only show the regular cab model. Based on that, it does appear that the Double Cab, as well as the four-door Crew Max, have yet to be tested. Still, the four-star score for the Double Cab model remains on safecar.gov.



Check out the video of the Tundra regular cab being crash tested after the jump.

[Source: Pickuptruck.com]

Toyota's not having an easy time with the Tundra so far. It's been criticized for lacking a fully-boxed frame, the internet is alight with Tundra-hate, and now along comes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Both Regular and Double Cab variants of Toyota's intended domestic-fighter were crashed by the agency, and both only managed four stars.

While a four star crash test rating isn't horrible, the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado / GMC Sierra and Dodge Ram all have the strength to ring the 5-star bell and win the stuffed bunny. The likelihood of injuries in a Tundra could be up to 10-percent greater than the domestic brands because of its one-star deficit. The difference could also be as small as one-percent, however, so this news may not be as significant as it sounds at first blush. All we can really say with certainty is that the Tundra performs worse when crashed into a concrete barrier at 35mph than its competition.

No doubt the Tundra's performance in this test will again focus scrutiny on the truck's frame, which is not fully boxed like its competition. According to Mike Levine from Pickuptruck.com, the Tundra's frame is split into three parts and the front piece actually is boxed. However, the frame under the cab and bed are C-channel, and they are also affected by a frontal crash. As Levine told us, the rest of the Tundra's competition now has some ammo to aim back at the Tundra in their marketing efforts.

We expect that acceptance of the brawny fullsizer from Toyota will take a little while, and it may not come until the current generation Tundra is dead and buried, but when Toyota wants something, they don't mess around. They were up front in expecting the Tundra to receive five stars and a Best Pick from the IIHS, so don't expect this 4-star rating to last long.

[Source: Pickuptruck.com]

Getting a five-star crash test rating will get a whole lot tougher with a new proposal from the Bush Administration that would put into effect a requirement for side-impact testing.

Grade inflation is one of the reasons behind the change, and with 87% of all vehicles earning a four- or five-star rating, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) admits that its rating system lacks influence in the car-buying decision (and we all know how much a government agency hates not having sufficient influence).

In addition to a side-impact test that might replicate a broadslide slide into a pole or tree, NHTSA is considering adding weight to the barriers to simulate impacts with heavier vehicles, increasing the speed used in crash tests, and modifying crash-test dummies to better represent smaller female occupants.

[Source: Detroit News]

The CX-7 is Mazda's new zoom-zoom CUV with the supposed soul of a sports car thanks to its taut handling and a powerful yet fuel efficient 244-hp, 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. After crashing the CX-7 into a fixed barrier at 35 mph and ramming it on the side with another barrier going 38.5 mph, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is giving the CUV a five-star rating for both frontal and side-impact crash tests. This means the NHTSA estimates that there's a 10 percent or less chance a front seat occupant will be injured in a head on crash at or below 35 mph and a 5 percent or less chance occupants will be injured in a side-impact crash.

Thanks tintin for the tiptip!

[Source: Safecar.gov via CanadianDriver]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released results for its latest battery of crash tests involving the Jeep Commander. The NHTSA has awarded Jeeps largest model with a five star frontal crash rating, its highest accolade. The SUV has yet to be slammed from the side and managed to obtain three stars for its rollover rating in 4WD guise. The IIHS has yet to test the Commander.

[Source: The Chrysler Group]