Euro NCAP has just released the safety rating for the new Volkswagen Golf Sportsvan, a compact MPV that replaces the Golf Plus. Out of the six cars which were recently crash-tested by the safety body, only this one received a full 5-star rating, as Renault's 2014 Megane has been downgraded to a 3-star rating. This should be comforting for VW's potential customers, the majority of which will have large families.
The Golf SV scored well for adult occupant protection – 87%. The only visible chink in the armor was a "marginal" rating for chest protection in the severe side pole test. Scores for child protection were also very high at –85%, just 3% lower than the all-time high achieved by a Citroen C4 Picasso last year.
"Based on dummy readings in the dynamic tests, the Golf Sportsvan scored maximum points for its protection of the 1½ year infant. In the frontal test, forward movement of the head of the 3 year dummy, sat in a forward-facing restraint, was not excessive although neck forces indicated only fair protection for that part of the body,"Euro NCAP says.
While the Golf SV performed well in all crash tests, it's not the only MPV with a 5-star rating. Both the new Citroen C4 Picasso and the Kia Carens were tested last year under the same conditions by Euro NCAP and received good scores. What's more, the Korean car has a slightly higher score of 94% for adult occupant protection.
But the true strength of the VW-badged MPV is in intelligent engineering. Like the Golf, the Sportsvan is offered with active safety systems that can prevent a crash from happening altogether. A radar system installed in the lower front bumper can significantly reduce the speed of the car before a crash or avoid it altogether. In all but one of Euro NCAP's tests, the car stopped before the collision and in the one that it didn't, speed was reduced to only 11 km/h, which would mean only minimal damage to the front bumper.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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