Does anyone pay attention to Euro Ncap when buying cars?

[davidstone28]

After a few months of faffing around and almost buying a Volvo S60 2.0T, I eventually decided to plump for Alfa 147 2.0 Lusso....until I read its Euro Ncap test which has really put me off:-

Impact Rating:

The 147 did very poorly in the frontal impact, exposing its occupants to serious risks and losing all but three marks available in testing. The car's safety cell became compromised because the screen pillar and door failed along spot weld seams and crimped seams and the beam running behind the fascia was driven rearwards relative to the screen pillars. The safety restraints did not protect the driver adequately and his head struck the fascia. By contrast, it protected well in the side impact, gaining a maximum score for the test. Its head-protecting airbag proved itself highly effective.

Frontal Impact
The driver's head moved past the airbag and struck the fascia, increasing his chances of severe injury. There was also criticism because the steering wheel pushed rearwards and to the right. Hard areas under the fascia put the driver's knees and upper legs in jeopardy. Finally, the centre rear seat was equipped with a static, lap-only belt. This gives less protection than a three-point belt.



http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/crashtest/car/27/

Beautiful car too but......

So does anyone pay attention to Euro Ncap?

[nvening]

I do, i would not go under 4 stars for a new card imo

[XA04]

Just got to make sure you get hit from the side then!


Everybody knows Volvo's are built like tanks

[Howard]

I do, i would not go under 4 stars for a new card imo

Ditto. I don't care what people say about the tests being a load of bollocks or whatever, a four star car is more protective than a two star car.

[Taz]

Nope. Euro ncap doesn't bother me in the slightest. Most of my driving is done during the rush hour when I could actually walk faster!

[herulach]

bollocks to it, 147 is too sexy to not buy. worry about safe cars when youve got kids.

[Rave]

How often do you have a frontal impact that's not avoidable through defensive driving? I reckon: not very often.

Disclaimer: if a massive lorry crosses the white line and wipes you out, I say you should have bought a mobile fortress

[Konan555]

Side impact bars would be an upgrade at the moment

I think I'd rather go after a car that felt sure footed than something I wasn't confident in that had a 5* safety rating.

[5lab]

Disclaimer: if a massive lorry crosses the white line and wipes you out, I say you should have bought a mobile fortress

that aimed at me perchance??

nagh i dont really care. life is too short - if i wanted to travel in safety i'd take the train. that said. i'd think twice about buying a car with a *really* bad score (ie rover 100 et al)

[davidstone28]

How often do you have a frontal impact that's not avoidable through defensive driving? I reckon: not very often.

Once is enough. All you need is some idiot to pull out of a side road.

[Fox]

Nope, becuase my personal view is that it's not worth the paper its silly stars are printed on.

Allow me to explain my somewhat controversial view.

First, a fact to provide context. NCAP state their scores CANNOT be compared between classes, only with cars in the same class. Thats right people, you can't compare a 5 star City Car with a 5 star Executive car. Infact, if anything, a 3-4 star exec is likely to be safer than a 5 star supermini.

Secondly, BMW recently managed to get the X5 Series promoted to 5 stars from 4 stars. Wow, pretty good going, eh? You'd have thought they made some pretty big changes to the cars safety to do that. Well no, actually all they did was fitted a seatbelt warning light to remind you to belt up. Irrelevent crap like this can actually have a dramatic effect on the score.

And thirdly, the score is based on the cars performance when it hits a barrier at 30mph. A barrier a similar size to hitting another car IN THE SAME class.

So, NCAP scores are only useful if you only ever plan to crash, at exactly 30mph, into another car exactly the same as yours.

Meanwhille, in the realworld, it's a load of complete rubbish and is resulting in cars with safety features designed to maximise the NCAP score not the real world safety - something Volvo themselves have pointed out in the past.

My next car has a 4 star Euro NCAP rating, not that I give a damn. What would I rather crash in, a 4 star E39 530i or a 5 star Renault Clio?

Oooh, now thats a hard choice isn't it?

Anyway I can think of better reasons to avoid the Alfa 147 than its poor NCAP rating - try the fact it's chronically unreliable, depreciates like nobodies business and isn't exactly amazing to drive for starters. Still, looks nice on the drive I guess.

[5lab]

doublepost tbh

[5lab]

actually, a 147 depreciates slower than a mondeo..

ncap is done at 40mph, but yeah, it cant compare a 4x4 to a city car. arguably, if a car is safer in any way, it should get a better rating, so maybe if a car bings at you to belt up (and you do), its making it technically safer. does that make any difference to me (i've never driven anywhere without belting up)? no. incidentally, my old 22 year old, escort-sized volvos used to have a seatbelt flasher, but my 6 year old mondie doesnt. progress? i think not..

incidentally, theres a rumour that old volvos had soggy, leany suspension as a device to encourage you to drive slower. sorta makes sence - bodyroll doesnt make *much* of a difference to ultimate grip, but if a cars cornering on its doorhandles, its going to feel much more sketchy than one cornering flat. does it work? yeah, i guess. is it the reason old volvos had crappy handling? who knows.. do ncap test it? no.

one other thing of note, those with high-ish ranked cars all think ncaps awesome, those with low-starred cars think its balls. but i recon this is more to do with people wanting to argue that their car is better, rather than it being what they actually think..

[schmunk]

Take your pill, 5lab, there's a good boy....

[herbert_goon]

Anyway I can think of better reasons to avoid the Alfa 147 than its poor NCAP rating - try the fact it's chronically unreliable, depreciates like nobodies business and isn't exactly amazing to drive for starters

Depends which one you drive I think...the 1.6 may be tame but the 2.0 pulls and sounds great!

[Hobart Paving]

Anyway I can think of better reasons to avoid the Alfa 147 than its poor NCAP rating - try the fact it's chronically unreliable, depreciates like nobodies business and isn't exactly amazing to drive for starters. Still, looks nice on the drive I guess.

You drive an old shape Mondeo, right? With spoilers, sideskirts, fluffy dice and a blue strip along the top of your windscreen with the words, "Fox & Shaz 4ever"?

Explains alot.