CX-5 Small Offset Crash IIHS

[V8toilet]

Looks to me like the vehicles that did poor were at least partially due to the crash test dummies heads slipping in between the front and curtain air bag and striking the A pillar.

You know the worst vehicle in this test is still way safer than cars were 15+ years age. I was driving behind an old 80's G body GM car today and I had one of those. I'd love to see how one of those would stand up to that test. I remember feeling so safe in that car because it was big and had this huge long hood.

 

[MikeM.]

I dunno how much the wheel would contribute. The Escape wheel is only hanging on by a bolt or so and it did pretty bad.
The Tuscon wheel almost folded under the car as well, but the curtain airbag didn't get the memo.

I'm not sure what you are seeing here. Both the Tuscon and the Escape front wheels become pinched between the barrier while providing a direct blow to the lower part of the occupant cage. And neither wheel shattered like the Forester's wheel did. The fact that the Escape wheel is barely attached after the impact is irrelevant. What is relevant is it's role in transferring force DURING the impact.

 

[MikeM.]

You know the worst vehicle in this test is still way safer than cars were 15+ years age. I was driving behind an old 80's G body GM car today and I had one of those. I'd love to see how one of those would stand up to that test. I remember feeling so safe in that car because it was big and had this huge long hood.

Here's an illuminating frontal overlap crash test between a modern car and a much heavier older Bel Air:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrXViFfMGk

 

[MikeM.]

The Subaru's cage is one strong mother. I'm guessing their cage is strong enough to crush the wheel.

The Subaru wheel shattered because it was brittle, that's a sign of a porous casting typical of the cheapest aluminum wheels. A better quality aluminum wheel would bend, not shatter, when impacted hard enough to cause failure. The mode of failure had nothing to do with the strength of the frame.

 

[V8toilet]

Here's an illuminating frontal overlap crash test between a modern car and a much heavier older Bel Air:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrXViFfMGk

O-man this will make me think twice about riding in an old car like that. That guy basically is a dead man.

 

[jginnane]

The results are finally in:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/summary.aspx?class=58

The CX-5 didn't do so well, only a marginal score. [...]

3. I wonder how much of an impact the few extra pounds of the AWD system in the test car had on the result. (maybe enough to cost it the acceptable rating?)

I would contend that a CX-5 without the extra 150# mass of the AWD, and the slight reaction lag AWD has, would completely MISS a number of these accidents!

It's unknowable to put a percentage on this crash avoidance, but a FWD is much more lively than an AWD. Today I carried a couple new boxed Ikea desks home, 75# each, in the back. That's almost exactly what the weight distribution would be for AWD, though an AWD's center of gravity would be an inch or two lower. (If you're not shopping at Ikea, stick a mother-in-law in the back seat.

Movement axes are roll, pitch, and yaw. A FWD CX-5 can yaw faster whether with or without electronic stabilization kicking in, simply by virtue of its reduced mass. (Electronic stabilization would kick in after, and in reaction to, the first motion.)

Another way to think of it, at least in the CONUS, is in terms of squirrel avoidance: a small animal runs across the road in front of you. With my old GMC Yukon's suspension, any driving reaction would be likely fatal; hence (straight-ahead) roadkill. My 370Z (aka Nissan Fair Lady) would have more than enough time to avoid, and the precision to thread a couple dimes on the centerline immediately after. The CX-5 is closer to the Z than the land barge despite being 8.5 inches off the ground to begin with.

So: let's say a FWD CX-5 is going to miss 10-20% of the crash scenarios the IIHS has prepositioned for this survey. Should that improve its overall score by a similar amount?

 

[Dimcorner]

This is testing crash injury, doesn't matter if you can avoid it or not. The test is IF a pole hits you then how likely are you to walk away with minimal injuries. Most of us hopefully (and probably) will never be in a situation like this to find out.

 

[CX-SV]

This is a crash test, not a accident avoidance test, not about getting rid of 150 pounds of flab on obese in-law in hope of avoiding the crash. Putting 2 75 pound boxes in rear luggage compartment does not duplicate AWD btw, most of the AWD hardware is not mounted high on floor of cargo area and in the rear of vehicle last time I checked.

 

[ALafya]

I think there will be a minor difference between FWD and AWD in this case because the weight increase is only ~5% and because the low extra hardware might even bring the center of gravity of an AWD slightly lower.

 

[jason330i]

The Subaru wheel shattered because it was brittle, that's a sign of a porous casting typical of the cheapest aluminum wheels. A better quality aluminum wheel would bend, not shatter, when impacted hard enough to cause failure. The mode of failure had nothing to do with the strength of the frame.

i don't know if your theory has merit or not, but i'm going to trust the results of the iihs test.

i have been waiting for this test and i'm very disappointed with the results of the cx-5. gotta cross it off my list.

it's been fun, good luck to you all.

 

[CX-SV]

This is not the only test that I review when I buy a vehicle.

 

[jginnane]

This is a crash test, not a accident avoidance test, not about getting rid of 150 pounds of flab on obese in-law in hope of avoiding the crash. Putting 2 75 pound boxes in rear luggage compartment does not duplicate AWD btw, most of the AWD hardware is not mounted high on floor of cargo area and in the rear of vehicle last time I checked.

Sorry -- Ikea desks 60" long definitely do NOT fit in the rear. They're broken down for home assembly, so the box dimensions are 60"x2"x26". Also, as mentioned above -- "almost exactly what the weight distribution would be for AWD, though an AWD's center of gravity would be an inch or two lower." Without my slide rule handy I can't calculate the exact change in CoG from 150# above the rear seats to bolted below the unibody, but the reference to yaw moment would remain the same whether your CoG is 9" off the ground or 12" off the ground.

But you're right that this is just a test to see how the car responds assuming it's in an accident of this type -- not whether FWD might be able to duck a few more of these crashes than an AWD. So then the question is, does the extra 150# mass of the AWD system increase the damage to the car? Asked this way, the AWD weight isn't in any place where it can reduce the effects of the crash, so it's probable that the opposite occurs. (Imagine filling up the back seat of the car with cement bags to the maximum safe weight rating, and then conducting this test.)

BTW, the Volvo solution cited is elegant, but all you really need is mass tangential to the impact point. If you fill up the front fender with water balloons, that kinetic energy transfers to the other car (and reduces the crash effects on your own).

 

[jginnane]

i don't know if your theory has merit or not, but i'm going to trust the results of the iihs test.

i have been waiting for this test and i'm very disappointed with the results of the cx-5. gotta cross it off my list.

it's been fun, good luck to you all.

Mr "330i" --

Too bad you have to cross off the BMW X-1 too -- that got the same score as the CX-5. The only one that did well was the Forester. And when you look at the measurements (in cm) of passenger compartment intrusion, etc., there are different ways to slice it, but I'd call the top 10 PASS and the rest FAIL.

 

[pt00323i]

X1 has a bigger air bag that seems to work better than the others, where the dummy's face hit the side dash. but it score the same as CX5 that is interesting. either way just hope none of us will hit a pole or another car like that. ouch. it is pretty clear Subi has a pretty strong cage.