No More Weak American Cars: The Buick Regal Earns the IIHS's Top Safety Rating

At the very least, it carries the Buick badge along with the Regal name, because this car is nothing more and nothing less than an Americanized Opel Insignia, and as such it shares everything the Insignia achieved in Euro NCAP. The Buick Regal was put through the IIHS’s crash walls and torture rigs and earned the top rating.

This earned it a place on the IIHS’s list of the year’s best (Top Safety Picks). In Europe that list may look like a copy of something else, but in the US it is a significant milestone for both domestic and foreign brands. In this way, it sits alongside cars such as the Audi A4, Lincoln MKZ, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Genesis.

One of the tests the Regal passed with flying colours was the roof strength test in the event of a rollover. The Regal’s roof withstood five times the weight of the car with acceptable deformation.

But it is not enough to simply survive all of the IIHS’s impacts. Besides earning a good rating, the members of the list of selected cars must be equipped with electronic stability control, an essential feature for accident prevention, which the Regal has as standard.

Source | Autoguide