"A recent spate of crash tests have cast some big doubts over the safety credentials of small cars made in India, many of which are sold in South Africa.
Crash tests performed by by Global NCAP in the last few years have seen most of these small hatchbacks grabbing headlines with zero-star safety ratings.
What wasn't so widely publicised, however, was that one of South Africa's best selling cars, the Toyota Etios, actually achieved a rather commendable four-star rating when it was tested earlier in 2016.
A recent spate of crash tests have cast some big doubts over the safety credentials of small cars made in India, many of which are sold in South Africa.
Crash tests performed by by Global NCAP in the last few years have seen most of these small hatchbacks grabbing headlines with zero-star safety ratings.
The Etios attained a four-star Global NCAP rating.
What wasn't so widely publicised, however, was that one of South Africa's best selling cars, the Toyota Etios, actually achieved a rather commendable four-star rating when it was tested earlier in 2016.
Global NCAP performed a frontal crash test at 64km/h and rated the Toyota's structure as "stable" and "able to withstand further loadings." The test unit was fitted with dual front airbags, which offered good protection to the heads of both the driver and passenger.
The only downsides were that the lower dashboard structure only provided marginal protection to the occupants' knees and that the child dummy, mimicking a three year old, exceeded the forward excursion limit, resulting in a mere two-star child protection rating, with 20 points out of 49, versus 13 points out of 16 for adult occupant protection.
Why airbags are so important
The recent Global NCAP tests highlight the importance of airbags in protecting occupants in frontal collisions.
To that end, the previous-generation Ford Figo and current Volkswagen Polo both failed to score a single star when tested back in 2014, and Global NCAP put that down to them not being fitted with airbags (a common practice among entry-level cars in India) as the pair were deemed to have strong structures. A Polo fitted with airbags was later tested and achieved four stars.
Lacking such structural integrity was the Datsun Go, which Global NCAP said performed so badly that even the fitment of an airbag would not help matters. The SA-bound Renault Kwid and Hyundai i10 were also found to have "unstable" structures."
http://mini.iol.co.za/motoring/industry-news/so-just-how-safe-is-the-toyota-etios-2025406
https://youtu.be/A6Ug6NfFGHA
Funny! And true, the Aygo has a really nasty interior.
