The IIHS tests the roofs of six city cars

The body in charge of vehicle safety in the United States, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the American equivalent of Europe’s Euro NCAP, has tested the roof of six city cars to see how they would hold up in a rollover, for example.

The models tested were quite varied: Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, MINI Cooper, Smart ForTwo, Toyota Yaris and Chevrolet Aveo. The results were surprising, especially in the case of the Smart, which passed the test with flying colours and held its ground, withstanding a force of 5.4 times its weight before giving way.

The system for evaluating the vehicles was simple: to obtain a good rating, the roofs had to withstand a force of 3.25 times their weight without giving way by 12.7 cm. If they withstood less than 2.5 times their weight, the result was marginal or poor. The Smart, with a chassis designed to withstand strong impacts, withstood a force of 5.4 times its weight. Toyota Yaris, Hyundai Accent, MINI, and Honda Fit achieved an acceptable rating.

The worst results went to the Chevrolet Aveo, which withstood less than 2.5 times its weight. Therefore, these results can be dangerous in an accident in which the car rolls over several times. Tests of this kind should be incorporated into traditional crash tests, since they provide us with data on how the car’s structure behaves in a rollover situation, something that unfortunately can happen in an accident.

Source | Autoblog en español