Autoblog

The 2008 Subaru Tribeca may have gone from unattractive to almost too inoffensive, but the embattled CUV has at least moved to the head of the class with regards to safety. The Tribeca scored a perfect "five stars" on both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's front and side impact crashes for the driver and front passenger. NHTSA gauges crash-worthiness by determining the probability of serious injury at impact speeds of 38.5 MPH for front impacts and 35 MPH for side impacts. Subaru attributes the perfect score to top-notch structural design, plus "advanced active safety technologies, combined with Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and Vehicle Dynamics Control (Stability Control)."

A lot of new products on the market are claiming Five Star crash ratings, but getting all fives for both driver and passenger in front and side impacts is still very impressive. Some of us may not be sold on the looks of Subaru's redesigned crossover, but at least the safety and interior are top notch.

Subaru's press release is posted after the jump.

[Source: Subaru]

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]

New rule: every vehicle sold in the U.S. must have its crash rating displayed on its window sticker by September 1st, 2007. Sponsored by the Republican Senator from Ohio, Mike DeWine, the new law aims to provide consumers with information about the ability of a vehicle to protect its occupants in the event of front or side impact. The crash ratings being used will, of course, be provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and will likely use the star ratings we're all familiar with by now. Pickup trucks, however, have been mysteriously left off the list of vehicles that require crash test ratings to be displayed. Hmm... Ford and GM have already pledged to put the crash test ratings on their trucks anway.

We should assume that dealers are none to happy about this, despite the cooperative nature of their respective automakers thus far. Just imagine you're the guy trying to sell a car that got two stars on its frontal crash test. On account of this, the new requirement may have automakers trying even harder to build their vehicles to NHTSA crash test specs so as not to suffer the shame of a two-star crash test performance for all the world to see.

[Source: Reuters]