Details/Full Test Results
From the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety
May 31, 2000
So how safe is that luxury car you'd like to be driving?
Well, after a series of tests, in which expensive cars were rammed into a brick wall, we have a few answers.
The cars tested: Volvo S-80, Cadillac Catera, BMW 328-I, Saab 9-5 and the Audi A-6.
A car, with a dummy inside smashes into a wall or other hard surface.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been doing these tests since 1978.
In a lab, the five mid-sized luxury cars were sent 40 miles per hour, into a wall, with the main impact on the front driver's side.
Okay, so which won?
All passed with flying colors, with the BMW getting the highest marks.
Brian O'Neill/Insurance Inst. for Hwy. Safety:"THE BEST PERFORMING VEHICLE AMOUNG THIS GROUP WAS THE BMW 328-I. DURING THE FRONTAL OFF-SET OF THIS VEHICLE, THE OCCUPANT COMPARTMENT HELD IT'S SHAPE VERY WELL.THE INJURY MEASURES REPORTED ON THE DUMMY WERE LOW."
"EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS A RELATIVELY SMALL GROUP OF ONLY 5 MID-SIZED LUXURY CARS, IT'S VERY ENCOURAGING THAT WE HAD NO CARS RATED AS "MARGINAL" OR 'POOR.'"
This is the first time that "luxury" model cars have been tested.
Usually, the tests are done on the more popular, lower-end models.
