VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating

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Wed 3 Aug 2016 09:46
VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating - Steveieb

The Despatches programme highlighted the problem of manufacturers cheating or delaying fixing potential safety defects.

VW were criticised for failing to NCAP test the latest Polo. Jeep for allowing a model to continue to be sold wih a fuel tank exposed to rear end shunts.

But above all the failure of euro ncap to simulate what happens in real accidents where drivers attempt to avoid collisions and end up hitting just one side of the car. The tests simulate a head on crash where the force is spread over the whole of the frontal area.

Also the cars are tested in normally left hand drive form so no tests are carried out on UK spec cars which have a lesser crash protection on the passenger side of the car on european and north american cars.

The manufacturers obviously check the spec of the tests and make the cars to perform best in these tests which do not represent real life crashes.

So which car manufacturers can we trust to produce cars which will protect us in a real live crash?

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Wed 3 Aug 2016 10:37
VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating - Auristocrat

There is no legal requirement for vehicle manufacturers to put their cars through the Euro NCAP testing regime. This was highlighted back in 2014 when Audi was found not to have had the A5, A7, A8 and R8 models tested.

As there is no legal requirement for Euro NCAP testing, the same follows for addressing potential issues highlighted by the testing regime.

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Wed 3 Aug 2016 11:58
VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating - galileo

But above all the failure of euro ncap to simulate what happens in real accidents where drivers attempt to avoid collisions and end up hitting just one side of the car. The tests simulate a head on crash where the force is spread over the whole of the frontal area.

Search 'crash tests' on YouTube and you will see that the 2015 Euro test also includes an 'offset deformable barrier' test where the inpact is only on half the width of the car front.

Usual reporting for sensation rather than full facts.

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Wed 3 Aug 2016 12:12
VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating - Auristocrat

Cannot see that VW will do anything about the expired Euro NCAP rating for the current Polo as a new, replacement Polo will be introduced in 2017.

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Thu 4 Aug 2016 12:14
VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating - Steveieb

What really surprised me was that most cars are designed to protect the driver of left hand drive cars.

The RAV was shown to have a strengthed part fitted to the left hand side of the car and not the right until it was pointed out by the US authorities.

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Thu 4 Aug 2016 14:00
VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating - Auristocrat

"The RAV was shown to have a strengthed part fitted to the left hand side of the car and not the right until it was pointed out by the US authorities."

Of course that would have been a left hand drive vehicle - presumably right hand drive vehicles for markets such as Japan, Australia and the UK would have the strengthening on the driver's side.

We also don't know which generation the Rav4 was that was featured.

Going by the programme comparing the safety of the 2006-2011 Yaris, rather than the current one, one could assume that the same applied to the Rav. The current Rav was intrioduced in December 2015.

Also the programme didn't take into account that the testing regime was updated in 2009 and again in 2016, and that testing done in 2006 isn't directly comparable with testing done in 2016.

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Thu 4 Aug 2016 14:50
VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating - galileo

Bear in mind that Japan drives on the left just as we do. Some Swindon produced Hondas have been exported to Japan, it seems unlikely they would build two differently reinforced R/H drive cars on the same line.

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Thu 4 Aug 2016 21:13
VW and others - Euro Ncap Safety Cheating - Wackyracer

Bear in mind that Japan drives on the left just as we do. Some Swindon produced Hondas have been exported to Japan, it seems unlikely they would build two differently reinforced R/H drive cars on the same line.

Not as unlikely as you might think. The Japanese home market cars are quite different to ours, even for the same model.

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