SantaFe, Equinox, E-Series tip in rollover testing

[ifcar]

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa...me=PressRelease

[R33 GT-R]

Somethings Fishy Here.  

[ifcar]

Of course.

[mazda6er]

Apparently extending the VUE's wheelbase wasn't the greatest idea ever.

[ifcar]

The Vue itself tipped in an earlier round of rollover testing.

[R33 GT-R]

Of course.

 

[R33 GT-R]

The Vue itself tipped in an earlier round of rollover testing.

What kind of shoes was it sporting when it rolled, don't say Firestone.

[ifcar]

Whatever were the standard tires equipped on it, I suppose. NHTSA didn't say.

[TBR]

No reason to trust this, inaccurate testing is useless. Unless they actually took these vehicles to a skid pad and ran them through an emergency lane change manuever rather than using their little turn table I wouldn't even bother looking at this data before buying a suv.  

[ifcar]

No reason to trust this, inaccurate testing is useless. Unless they actually took these vehicles to a skid pad and ran them through an emergency lane change manuever rather than using their little turn table I wouldn't even bother looking at this data before buying a suv.

That's not what the dynamic test is. Look into it, then let us know what you find.

[TBR]

Excellent, they have changed their testing procedure:
"The new dynamic maneuvering test used by NHTSA to help evaluate rollover risk utilizes a heavily loaded vehicle (to represent a five-occupant load), and a full tank of gas. Using a fishhook pattern, the vehicle simulates a high-speed collision avoidance maneuver?steering sharply in one direction, then sharply in the other direction?within about one second. Test instruments on the vehicle measure if the vehicle?s inside tires lift off the pavement during the maneuver ("inside" meaning the left wheels if turning left, and the right wheels if turning right). The vehicle is considered to have tipped up in the maneuver if both inside tires lift at least two inches off the pavement simultaneously. The tip-up/no tip-up results are then used with the SSF measurement as inputs in a statistical model that estimates the vehicle?s overall risk of rollover in a single-vehicle crash.13"

Much more useful than before, these numbers are worth a look I guess.  

[ifcar]

Unfortunately, their star ratings are still flawed, as they put more emphasis on  the static measurements than the dynamic test, and the test itself doesn't represent many real-life circumstances. You'd be better off just looking at tip vs. no-tip than at the actual computed "rollover risk."
One of the C/D editors had a great column about the test and its flaws, "Good Enough For Government Work". I doubt it's on the web anymore, do you get C/D?

[TBR]

Unfortunately, their star ratings are still flawed, as they put more emphasis on  the static measurements than the dynamic test, and the test itself doesn't represent many real-life circumstances. You'd be better off just looking at tip vs. no-tip than at the actual computed "rollover risk."
One of the C/D editors had a great column about the test and its flaws, "Good Enough For Government Work". I doubt it's on the web anymore, do you get C/D?

Yeah, I do. That column was the basis for my original post, for some reason I was thinking that the rating took into account the static measurements only.  

[SargeMonkey]

I don't like the roll over tests, they are not very "real life", when most SUV's roll in this area it when its icy and the soccer moms are about.

[TBR]

I just now noticed that the E-series was listed. That van needs some serious safety improvement, from what I understand there is no rollover or side impact protection from the B-pillar back, just sheetmetal, cardboard, and plastic. There aren't many vehicles still on the market that are just plain unsafe, but the E-series is definitely one of them.