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Subaru Legacy rates best in latest midsize crash tests

crash test
Pictured above is the Subaru Legacy, top, and Daewoo Leganza  

4/11/00
Web posted at: 12:58 PM

DETROIT(CNN) -- The latest round of midsize car crash tests was very good news for the Subaru Legacy and very bad news for the Daewoo Leganza, with mixed reviews in between.

The 40 mph crash tests were performed on seven inexpensive midsize cars by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at its facility in Arlington, Virginia.

 VIDEO
VideoCNN's Ed Garsten shows the crash tests.
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The insurance institute is an independent, nonprofit organization funded by auto insurers. It periodically conducts crash tests to determine the structural performance of cars.

Institute President Brian O'Neill characterized the difference in the test performance between the Legacy and the Leganza "as dramatic."

"The occupant compartment, or safety cage, of the Legacy held together extremely well, and most injury measures recorded on the crash test dummy were low," O'Neill said of the 2000 Legacy, which garnered a "best pick" designation from the institute.

"But in the (1999) Leganza, the occupant compartment suffered a major collapse, and there were some high injury measures," he said. "Plus the dummy in the Leganza's driver's seat flailed around out of control during the offset crash test. The steering column also moved excessively."

The institute's crash ratings -- good, acceptable, marginal and poor -- are based primarily on how the vehicle performs when the driver's side crashes at 40 mph into a barrier, with the impact especially demanding on the vehicle's structure.

Among the other five cars tested, the Mazda 626, Saturn LS and Chevrolet Malibu received acceptable ratings, the Nissan Altima received a marginal rating, and the Pontiac Grand Am/Oldsmobile Alero was rated poor.

The Saturn, Chevrolet and Pontiac/Oldsmobile cars are all General Motors vehicles.

Brian O'Neill of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety explains the safety differences between the Subaru Legacy and Daewoo Leganza ALT: Brian O'Neill  

In a written statement to CNN, GM said: "This test does not reflect the wide variety of crash modes that GM considers in the design, engineering and testing of our vehicles, nor can it account for all of a vehicle's crash avoidance."

A Daewoo spokesman told CNN that the company "abides by the test results of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the only federally authorized tests," and that Daewoo cars meet all government requirements.

The federal government began conducting 35 mph crash tests on new vehicles in 1978.

The insurance institute cautions that in serious crashes even the best restraint system may not prevent significant injuries but that a combination of restraints and solid structural design could help minimize them.



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RELATED SITES:
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
NHTSA - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Subaru Of America
Daewoo Home Page
Nissan Main Menu
General Motors
Pontiac Home Page
Welcome to Oldsmobile
Welcome to Saturn


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