Prius V Earns Poor Rating in IIHS Overlap Crash Test

[darrelld]

Toyota falls short

 

Shoppers looking for a midprice family car will recognize some perennial bestsellers on the TOP

SAFETY PICK+ winners' list, including the Accord, Altima and Fusion.

 

One nameplate they won't find is Toyota. The Camry, which is the top-selling midsize car in the United States, and the Prius v, a 4-door hybrid wagon, earn poor ratings for small overlap protection and are the worst performers of the midsize group. The Camry was redesigned for 2012, and the Prius v was an all-new model for 2012.

 

The Camry and Prius v illustrate what can go wrong in a small overlap crash, despite good ratings in IIHS tests that qualify the cars for TOP SAFETY PICK.

 

http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr122012.html

 

Edited December 20, 2012 by darrelld

[AgentCMAX]

Yeah, heard this on the radio today on way to work.  No mention of C-Max however.  Wonder how the C-Max did.

[RedLdr1]

 No mention of C-Max however.  Wonder how the C-Max did.

 

It still has not been tested either by the IIHS or NHSTA's "SafeCar" Five Star Ratings....I looked this morning.  The new Focus that the C-Max shares a lot of DNA with passed...

[Jus-A-CMax]

C'mon, bring on the steaks please - t-bone, rare. Do they ever test for this? 

[darrelld]

What will be funny is when Consumer Reports publishes how they have been unable to duplicate IIHS and Fords claim of beating Prius crash tests.

 

Could get expensive for them. :)

[kam]

So true darrelld!

[Maximus]

The Prius and Camry don't look very structurally strong compared to the other vehicles tested.

[CNCGeek]

Ugh, I was cringing when I saw that video.  Sad to see the Prius V did not do well, hopefully these impacts are rare because it does not seem survivable for the driver.  It has to be a challenging test for any car - I hope the C-max does better.

[darrelld]

Ugh, I was cringing when I saw that video.  Sad to see the Prius V did not do well, hopefully these impacts are rare because it does not seem survivable for the driver.  It has to be a challenging test for any car - I hope the C-max does better.

Unfortunately for Prius V and Camry drivers;

The test simulates a front-corner collision with a tree, a pole or another vehicle, a scenario that is responsible for almost 25% of front crashes that seriously injure or kill someone in front, IIHS says.

 

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2012/08/iihs.html

We don't know the C-Max ratings yet but it shares a platform with the 2013 Focus and Escape who perform well;

 

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=328

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=322

[JohnTrigger]

We don't know the C-Max ratings yet but it shares a platform with the 2013 Focus and Escape who perform well;

 

While I agree that the later Focus and Escape perform well on the OTHER tests, they haven't tested the Focus nor Escape in the SMALL overlap frontal crash tests either, so we don't know how these two perform on that test, do we?  Or am I reading something wrong?

[darrelld]

While I agree that the later Focus and Escape perform well on the OTHER tests, they haven't tested the Focus nor Escape in the SMALL overlap frontal crash tests either, so we don't know how these two perform on that test, do we?  Or am I reading something wrong?

There have been no Fords tested for small overlap except the Fusion and it earned the new top rating, it's competitor the Toyota Camry failed with a poor rating.

[From Speed6ing 2 C-Maxing]

There have been no Fords tested for small overlap except the Fusion and it earned the new top rating, it's competitor the Toyota Camry failed with a poor rating.

 

Actually, the 2013 Fusion received an "Acceptable" for the small overlap, which is the 2nd highest rating.  The highest rating is a "Good" which was scored by the 2013 Honda Accord, and 2013 Suziki Kizashi, the only 2 vehicles to do so in the "Midsize moderately priced car" category.

 

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/summary.aspx?class=30

Edited January 3, 2013 by From Speed6ing 2 C-Maxing

[darrelld]

Actually, the 2013 Fusion received an "Acceptable" for the small overlap, which is the 2nd highest rating.  The highest rating is a "Good" which was scored by the 2013 Honda Accord, and 2013 Suziki Kizashi, the only 2 vehicles to do so in the "Midsize moderately priced car" category.

 

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/summary.aspx?class=30

The Fusion got an acceptable rating in the small overlap which qualifies it for the new top rating of TSP+.

 

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=561

 

The Camry along with all Toyotas tested so far failed;

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/12/20/iihs-subjects-midsizers-to-tough-new-impact-test-finds-fault-wi/

 

Interestingly enough, the IIHS has gone out of its way to highlight the poor performances by the Toyota automobiles it tested. The Camry and Prius V were both called out for poor performances in the small overlap, deeming them "the worst performers of the midsize group." This, despite the fact that both models were new for 2012. Interestingly, both vehicles previously earned Top Safety Pick status, showing just how tough the new small overlap test really is.

 

Edited January 3, 2013 by darrelld