Euro NCAP rating for large saloon (BMW 7-Series, XJ, A8 etc)

[turbo tim]

Does anyone know why there is no listing of a rating for an E38 7-Series on the Euro NCAP site? (nor an S-Class, A8 or Jag XJ for that matter)

http://www.euroncap.com/

Can't be anything to do with age, as E38 was on sale up to 2001 and there is a rating for a 1999 Merc A-Class.

Is it that they don't test large saloons for some reason?

[Road_Terrorist]

I guess they aren't high enough volume to bother testing?

[iain_cam]

As said above, euroNCAP only test high-volume (as in mega selling) cars - which is why we don't see any large saloons or sports cars tested.

[turbo tim]

Didn't know that - thanks guys.

[Polarbert]

I don't think it matters, NCAPs just a load of twoddle anyway to make mums feel good that there car has the maximum.

They give points for a car having a beep when you haven't got a seatbelt on for s sake.

[turbo tim]

iain_cam said:

As said above, euroNCAP only test high-volume (as in mega selling) cars - which is why we don't see any large saloons or sports cars tested.

What's the threshold? (i.e how many cars before they would bother?)

[MK4 Slowride]

BMW don't submit their car's to the N-CAP testing as that's conducted at 30 MPH, they do submit them to the 40MPH testing where they get 5*. It annoys me when people go on about safety being a priority when buying a car, we go out on a test drive & they can't drive for toffee, some are really bad I actually fear for my safety and can't wait to take the wheel myself or get back to the dealership. It's obvious then they regard safety as no1 requirement because they're going to have a nasty smash at some point/again, probably soon.

[Parrot of Doom]

^this

The safest car is the one with the safest driver, although its probably not a good idea to compare a 1950's family car with a modern family car in that respect

[Plymouth Prowler]

Based on the fact that the E39 5-series scored a strong 4 stars, it's fairly reasonable to assume that the bigger, heavier 7-series is a safe car.

Euro NCAP tests are probably pretty academic at this level. I'm sure the A8, 7-series and S-class are all immensely safe, and most cars of this class are used as chauffered executive cars, and execs care more about the bonnet badge and the number of arse-massaging motors in the seats than the E-NCAP score.

[speedy_thrills]

Polarbert said:

I don't think it matters, NCAPs just a load of twoddle anyway to make mums feel good that there car has the maximum.

I don’t know, they could be useful if you where ever plodding down the motorway at 60mph (maybe the engine in your 5 star safety rated Renault was in limp home mode) and came across a concrete block in the middle of the road...