Hyundai Elantra: Crash Test Ratings

backy

What's the latest on crash test ratings for the Elantra--NHTSA, IIHS, NCAP...? How does its ratings compare to other cars in its class?

backy

"Good" across the board for the new Elantra on the IIHS frontal offset crash test, conducted by Hyundai and reported to the IIHS:

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=739

tenpin288

That's ... Good!

(Sorry, someone had to say it.)

herotakesafall

Alright! Doesn't that mean it's gonna be a gold pick?

Come out with that Elantra hatch already, Hyundai!

backy

It would need to get Good ratings for side and rear impacts to earn a Gold award by the IIHS.

herotakesafall

Duh to me. I didn't bother reading the little boxes, I just saw all the green G's and figured it was a full test.

backy

are in: 4/4. In the class, the Versa (5/5), Civic (4/5), Prius (5/4), and S2000 (5/-) have better overall ratings. The head injury scores (not used for the ratings) were pretty good--especially for the driver. So it will be interesting to see what the IIHS score, which includes head injury, will be.

acura03g

Thanks.

some more comparisons according to edmunds (frontal driver/frontal passenger/side front/side rear):
06 Elantra: 5/5/5/4
07 Corolla: 5/5/4/4
07 Matrix: 5/5/3/4
07 Fit: 5/5/5/3
07 Rabbit: 4/4/5/5
07 Jetta: 4/4/5/5

backy

So if the Elantra can follow up on its "Good" IIHS frontal score with 5's on the less strenuous NHTSA frontal test, that would put it right in the mix on the NHTSA scores.

(Note that the frontal crash scores of cars like the Rabbit and Jetta shouldn't be directly compared to those of the Elantra because of the weight difference.)

backy

Best-in-class double 5 star on the NHTSA frontal crash test:

http://www.safercar.gov/NCAP/Cars/4230.html

From the photo, it appears the passenger compartment maintained its integrity very well.

Overall on the NHTSA tests in this class, only the Civic (5/5/4/5) has better scores than the Elantra (5/5/4/4).

acura03g

It says the car tested had stability control. I thought Elantra doesn't have that feature. I know my Se doesn't have it.

backy

Didn't it say stability control is an option? And it is--but not yet in the U.S. Maybe they put that note there for other countries?

Or maybe HMA has something up its sleeve for the near future, related perhaps to the new rules from the IIHS about what it takes to be a top-rated car in their eyes. One thing is available stability control. Since Elantra already has it outside the U.S., adding it to the U.S. spec cars can be done anytime Hyundai wants to.

backy

The IIHS recently published its low-speed crash tests of small cars, and the Elantra didn't fare very well--3rd from the bottom of the cars tested, only ahead of the Prius and Rabbit in terms of total $ costs from all crashes. The Elantra did particularly poorly in the full-frontal (6 mph) test, with nearly $5000 in damage (highest of those tested), and the front corner test (just over $2000, again highest of those tested). It did relatively better in the rear tests though, on par with many of the other small cars. 2007+ Elantra owners, better keep your collision coverage paid up!

News release:

http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr090408.html