To be reminded why their job is so necessary, the engineers who crash test cars at Thatcham Research need only glance at the Rover 100 stored at the organisation's Berkshire-based site. Its front end has concertinaed in the 40mph frontal offset crash test (other examples were subject to side and pedestrian impacts), but more shocking is how the impact energy has travelled to the cabin, buckling the car's windscreen pillars. Inside, the occupant survival space has been severely reduced, while the steering wheel has been forced up towards the dummy driver's head.
The Rover was among the first vehicles to be crash-tested by the then new vehicle safety organisation Euro NCAP (the letters stand for New Car Assessment Programme) in 1997, or 25 years ago this month. In 2012, Thatcham Research became one of its accredited test facilities; today, Euro NCAP is based in Belgium, but it was actually a UK initiative conceived by the Transport Research Laboratory. The UK government quickly got behind the new programme, as, shortly afterwards, did the EU.
Worryingly for owners of the model, Euro NCAP awarded the Rover 100 just one star out of the four then available (today, the maximum is five). Even the best performers in the inaugural round of tests, the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo, earned just three stars. The results sent shock waves through an industry that had grown used to crash testing its new cars against only basic legislative requirements, keeping the results to itself and its customers in the dark. The fallout was quick and dramatic. Euro NCAP was and remains a voluntary scheme, but just five months later the Volvo S40 became the first four-star car for occupant protection.
Denne historien er fra February 16, 2022-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 16, 2022-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
MG 4
An EV changes your driving style - but not to the detriment of pleasure
PEUGEOT E-208
Time with our French hatch is up. Is it good riddance or au revoir?
In the hot seat
Is the best automotive job in the world actually in miniature scale? Hot Wheels' design boss assures STEPHEN DOBIE it is
Correcting the record
Autocar invented the road test back in 1928 - or did we? KEITH JONES trawls the past to find the true starting point
Road test rebooted
As the Autocar road test forges into its second century, its brief is expanding and it's returning to a familiar place. MATT SAUNDERS explains
Cyber attack
MG is back on the international stage and now trying to return to its sports car roots. MATT SAUNDERS sees if the Cyberster EV can match up to a rival from the present and a relation from the past
KIA PICANTO
As rivals fall by the wayside, Kia's popular city car gets a makeover
MASERATI GRANTURISMO
Latest coupé in a long line of Maserati GT cars hits the UK with V6 power
PORSCHE CAYENNE GTS COUPE
New V8 model gets all the goodies
TOYOTA PRIUS
Back by popular demand with a cool new look and greater driver appeal