Crash Test Results

 

 

The NHTSA’s "Model Year 2004" Rollover Test Results

 

  Using the New Testing System

 

(February 3, 2004)

 

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On February 3, 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) posted model year 2004 rollover  resistance scores that for the first time use the agency’s enhanced  rating system which now includes results from a dynamic track test.

 

The dynamic part of the test uses the so-called "fishhook" maneuver – a  series of abrupt turns at varying speeds. A computerized steering  system is used in each test vehicle to maintain objectivity.

 

While none of the vehicles achieved the agency’s highest  five-star rating, several earned four-star designations. These were the:

  • Chevrolet Trailblazer 4x4

  • Chevrolet Silverado extended cab (4x4 and  4x2)

  • Ford Focus wagon

  • Subaru Outback wagon

  • Toyota Echo, and 

  • Volvo  XC90 4x4

One vehicle, the Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4x2, scored only two stars, and like the Toyota Tacoma 4x2 extended cab (3 stars), tipped up onto two wheels during the sharp turns of the dynamic testing phase.

 

A five-star rating means the likelihood of rollover during a  single vehicle crash is less than 10 percent; four-star, between 10 and  20 percent; three-star, between 20 and 30 percent; two-star, between 30  and 40 percent; and one-star, greater than 40 percent.

 

Other vehicles in the tests were the Chevrolet Trailblazer 4x2, Jeep Liberty 4x4 and 4x2, and the Toyota 4Runner 4x4 and 4x2.  Tests for four other  vehicles are under review and will be released at a later date.  These  are the Ford Explorer 4x4 and 4x2, Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4x4, and  Toyota Tacoma extended cab 4x2.

 

NHTSA previously based its rollover ratings on a vehicle’s static stability factor, which is an engineering calculation based on  the track width and the height of the center of gravity.  Beginning with the 2004 model year, the rollover risk predictions are based on both the static stability factor scores and the vehicle’s performance in a  dynamic track test.

 

A table showing the full test results is on the Internet at  www.nhtsa.dot.gov.  (Click on "Press Releases" under "Popular  Information" in the column on the left.)

 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the NHTSA doesn't expect to test all cars since the track tests are expensive and researchers wouldn't expect a change in [their previous, estimated] rollover ratings. Previously, rollover ratings based [only] on the measurements cost the agency $2,200 per vehicle, whereas the new ratings, using both testing methods, cost $30,000 per vehicle.

 

It is unlikely that any SUV or pick-up will ever achieve the top, five-star rating as their inherently high ride-height and center of gravity will always affect their proclivity to roll over in a crash scenario.

 

 

Sources:  DOT Press Release: "NHTSA 3-04", and The Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2004.