Are people bothered about NCAP tests?
Discussion
I'm not that fussed and have never bothered to find out the star rating of any cars I have owned or considedred owning. However I am a car nut, horsepower, 0 - 60mph, looks, sound, image, price, leather, sat nav etc. These can make or break it for me. Does anyone feel as strongly about NCAP stars?
I have two cars: a performance car for myself and a safe car for the wife (and family when I have one).
So NCAP rating will be an important factor when choosing my family car, but it doesn't feature in my decisions when buying a performance car. I expect a lot of people on here will be the same.
So NCAP rating will be an important factor when choosing my family car, but it doesn't feature in my decisions when buying a performance car. I expect a lot of people on here will be the same.
No personally, but I probably should.
When things go wrong on the road you want as much effort to have gone into the safety of your vehicle as possible. Luck, and lack of it, plays a major factor - any one of us could be wiped out today regardless of the vehicle we are driving. There was a video posted yesterday on the 'concrete barriers' thread that brought this home for me.
It does however make sense to try to reduce the risk of a KSI outcome, and NCAP seems to be aimed at that. There is chatter of some manufacturers designing cars to pass the tests rather than to be as safe as possible. This just means that the tests need to be improved as at least it shows the car designers are taking notice.
People with kids take it seriously, as the literature they read will tell them to. Manufacturers with good records such as Renault also tend to make a big deal of it.
When things go wrong on the road you want as much effort to have gone into the safety of your vehicle as possible. Luck, and lack of it, plays a major factor - any one of us could be wiped out today regardless of the vehicle we are driving. There was a video posted yesterday on the 'concrete barriers' thread that brought this home for me.
It does however make sense to try to reduce the risk of a KSI outcome, and NCAP seems to be aimed at that. There is chatter of some manufacturers designing cars to pass the tests rather than to be as safe as possible. This just means that the tests need to be improved as at least it shows the car designers are taking notice.
People with kids take it seriously, as the literature they read will tell them to. Manufacturers with good records such as Renault also tend to make a big deal of it.
mrmr96 said:
I have two cars: a performance car for myself and a safe car for the wife (and family when I have one).
So NCAP rating will be an important factor when choosing my family car, but it doesn't feature in my decisions when buying a performance car. I expect a lot of people on here will be the same.
Me too, but who takes care of the family when I'm upside down in a ditch with my limbs scattered to the four winds and my balls on fire?!So NCAP rating will be an important factor when choosing my family car, but it doesn't feature in my decisions when buying a performance car. I expect a lot of people on here will be the same.
Interesting to know if there are any safe, fun cars. Seem to cancel each other out most of the times.
Well i doubt it's a high priority of a real PH'er but for your ordinary car buyer looking for a family car, want to keep the kids safe, etc, then yes I guess it will be considered quite important. I know of someone who bought a new Golf, not just because they had bought one new 5 years ago, but they also chose it again because its one of the safest cars of its class.
I crash test child restraints & also cars for a living & it's only when you have an RTC, you realize how important "safe" cars are. I can understand why people do not look at this when buying a car & we were talking about this only yesterday at work & came to the conclusion that hardly anyone takes any notice of the star rating when buying.
Hitch78 said:
Interesting to know if there are any safe, fun cars. Seem to cancel each other out most of the times.
All of the current hot-hatches have a 5* safety rating.The Astra VXR must be pretty good too, this bloke walked away (I think):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdGzy2Lun2I
chriis said:
My plan is dont crash 
Well, it's a plan! Regrettably the statistics seem to show it's not much of a plan since presumably all of us are hoping "it will never happen to me".Some of the crash test footage is fascinating where a small modern car is crashed into a "big and safe" older car. The modern car just rips the older car to pieces. And the catch with driving an older car is that if you're involved in an accident it's very unlikely the vehicle which hits you will be as old and weak as yours.
A guy I know was talking about getting a new car, and said that fuel economy and crash safety were his main priorities. I found it unfathomable. As I pointed out, NCAP ratings are meaningless to me, because I don't intend to crash.
Having said that though, I do notice that I am marginally less reckless when driving the S2000 than the XJ - mainly because there's a very real sense that I am much more exposed, and there feels a much greater likelihood of my head parting company with my body, in the unfortunate event of a major crash. That and it's twitchy as hell.
Having said that though, I do notice that I am marginally less reckless when driving the S2000 than the XJ - mainly because there's a very real sense that I am much more exposed, and there feels a much greater likelihood of my head parting company with my body, in the unfortunate event of a major crash. That and it's twitchy as hell.
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