New Euro NCap Test: Toyota Yaris safety queen

At its debut, the new NCap 2020 protocol (which also evaluates the ADAS and active safety systems) promotes the Japanese economy car with flying colors

Debut for the new Euro NCap 2020 protocol, the international project to assess the safety standards of new cars, of which the Automobile Club of Italy is a partner. At the basis of the new Euro NCap 2020 protocol – which, starting this year, imposes stricter limits – a new frontal impact test against a mobile barrier, a different distribution between the weights of the different tests, with greater importance of the active safety systems and new test scenarios for Adas systems.

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YARIS AL TOP

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The first model tested with these new protocols – the Toyota Yaris – achieves the maximum result. Good scores in all the tests carried out, very few critical points: the protection of the driver’s chest and the driver’s and passenger’s femurs were marginal, the scores were penalized due to the potentially harmful structure of the dashboard. In a test related to the side crash, the excursion of the manikin towards the opposite side was considered marginal, even if the Yaris is equipped with central airbags to protect the interaction of passengers in side impacts. Maximum score for the protection of children on board in the event of a side impact, there are some critical issues only in the assembly instructions for some of their restraint systems. Good pedestrian protection in the event of an overrun, with the exception of the impact of the head with some areas in correspondence with the windscreen pillars.

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THE ADAS

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The automatic emergency brake, standard on the Yaris, showed good function. Adequate protection in all tests carried out with impacts avoided or mitigated both for the protection of vulnerable users (pedestrians and cyclists), and in the interrelationship with other vehicles. Overall, both the Adas equipment and operation are good, to highlight the presence of a camera that monitors the driver’s attention status.

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Renault Clio

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Also in this test session, with the help of two additional tests, the hybrid version Renault Clio E-Tech (5-star rating), is added to the table of variants of the Clio tested last year (Euro NCap 2019 protocol). Similarly for the Audi e-tron (5 stars with the 2019 protocol), the Sportback version will be added to the Audi e-tron variant table.

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