8-foot, 8-inch Smart Fortwo 'good' in front, side impacts
Ken Thomas, Associated Press
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Smart Fortwo undergoes a frontal offset crash test, in wh...
(05-14) 04:00 PDT Washington --
The 2008 Smart Fortwo micro car, the smallest car for sale in the U.S. market, has earned top scores in crash tests conducted by the insurance industry.
The 8-foot, 8-inch vehicle received the highest rating of "good" in front-end and side-impact testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, helping address some concerns that consumers may be more vulnerable in the tiny two-seater.
The test results, released today, show how well vehicles stack up against others of similar size and weight. The institute noted that the front-end test scores can't be compared across weight classes, meaning a small car that earns a good rating isn't considered safer than a large car that did not earn the highest rating.
Adrian Lund, the institute's president, said a small car may be more practical in congested urban areas where serious, high-speed crashes are less likely. The institute conducted the crash test to help guide consumers who want a small car that can give them good protection.
"All things being equal in safety, bigger and heavier is always better. But among the smallest cars, the engineers of the Smart did their homework and designed a high level of safety into a very small package," Lund said.
The institute's frontal-crash test simulates a 40 mph crash with a similar vehicle. The side crash simulates what would happen if the vehicle was struck in the side by a sport utility vehicle at 31 mph.
In a test that assessed the vehicle's protection in rear crashes, the Fortwo received the second-highest rating of acceptable.
Smart, a division of Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand, is arriving in U.S. showrooms this year as consumers deal with rising fuel prices. The automaker has received more than 30,000 reservations for the vehicle - which has a base price of more than $12,000 with destination charges included and more than $17,000 for a fully loaded Smart passion convertible. Customers are putting down $99 to reserve a car.
The vehicle, which had sold 6,159 units through the end of April, gets 33 miles per gallon in the city and 41 mpg on the highway. The Fortwo is more than 3 feet shorter and nearly 700 pounds lighter than a Mini Cooper.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/14/BU9U10LJLM.DTL
This article appeared on page C - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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