Gs Mki Crash Safety?

greve · April 15, 2004

After watching a recent airing of Fifth Gear (I think it was) involving some crash test of a new Renault Espace vs. an old Renault Espace, my wife has asked me to change my '96 GS 300 for something newer...

So, before I go and buy a Renault Megane (5 star NCAP), can someone give any info as to the crash safety of a GS MkI. I know they haven't been NCAP tested, but has any crash testing ever been performed on these or has anyone reliable results of any kind, it would be appreciated.

jamesholden · April 15, 2004

The FIA crash test everything for insurance purposes in the US so there website might have information about it.

Basically, Toyota have always been above average for crash test performance so look around on the euroncap website for cars of a similar size of a similar vintage (early 90's) etc.

I am very keen on car safety, particularly since my sisters boyfriend got killed as a passenger in a car accident about 10 years ago and seeing what effect it had on her.

As regards the euro-ncap tests I am in favour of them, but I don't like the star rating system.

Basically, other than stars they also give percentage figures for a front and side impact which a star rating is then made up of. The trouble with this, is that they give misleading figures.

For example, the Alfa 147 for 3 stars, which although rather poor is reasonable. However, the 147 got 100% in the side which is excellent, but only got 18% in the front which is apalling.

Now, a car that say gets 63% in the front and 75% in the side might also only get 3 stars because they average roughly the same even though I would much rather have a car that does fairly well in both types of crash, than really well in one and deadly in another.

The point of all this is, when looking, check the percentages rather than the star ratings.

Now, I would expect a MKII GS300 to fare slightly better than the old shape Camry which did quite well for its time by getting 63% in the side.

So depending on your budget, I would suggest changing your MKI for either something like a Camry or MKII GS300, or an LS400 MKIII-MKIV.

If you want something more conventional but still a good car then have a look at a top-spec old shape Honda Accord, they did superbly in the crash tests considering they came out 98- about 75% in the front.

Sorry for the long post, but I think it's an important subject.

ColinBarber · April 15, 2004

You have to remember that NCAP ratings cannot be compared between different groups. e.g. 5 stars in a super mini is not the same as 5 stars in a large executive (GS300).

They do not give any method of comparing the two which I think is very stupid. If you test a megane in the GS300 category will it get 1 star or 5 or probably something in between????

jamesholden · April 15, 2004

You have to remember that NCAP ratings cannot be compared between different groups. e.g. 5 stars in a super mini is not the same as 5 stars in a large executive (GS300).
They do not give any method of comparing the two which I think is very stupid. If you test a megane in the GS300 category will it get 1 star or 5 or probably something in between????

The crash tests are all performed in the same way though at the same speeds with the same crash barrier composition, so I would have assumed you could compare them.

ColinBarber · April 15, 2004

From the euroncap website:

21. Are large cars safer than small cars?

From the laws of physics, all other things being equal, heavy cars do better than light cars when they are involved in a frontal impact. To avoid mass effects, Euro NCAP tests and compares cars within size categories. The safety of cars in a size category is not a function of mass, but it is dependent upon good design.

22. Can results be compared between groups?

Results should only be compared within the same group. The frontal testing method mirrors a crash between two similar sized cars. Clearly a bigger car has an advantage if it hits a smaller car and Euro NCAP results can’t be used to predict the outcome of such crashes.

mudzs · April 15, 2004

i always go for bigger cars as i used to repair crash damaged cars and the bigger cars always do far better than the smaller type cars .the way i see it the further away you are from the impact the better chance you stand of walking away .saying that give me a volvo any day they are built very strongly .Best car i ever repaired was an audi 80 with pro-con-ten safty system they did away with it within a few years due to the amount it cost to put right ,even a small impact moved the steering wheel down into the dashboard and the seats etc ,cables running everywere under the car and around the gearbox .i would think the gs300 mk1 would do quite well in a impact due to its shear size although the position of the fuel tank was a worry when i bought mine