2.6 times the number of vehicles secured the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s top safety pick for year 2008 than did in 2007. That’s good. Last year, the IIHS designated just 13 cars as recommended purchases based on their crash tests. This year, 34 cut the mustard.
A car won’t make the list without electronic stability control. This is one method of showcasing active safety as preferential to passive safety. Airbags and stiff structures are only utilized when an emergency situation has clearly occurred. Better had it never happened, and ESC is at your side.
The Good Car Guy always feels a need to add his opinion to any study or survey that occurs in order to prevent one sole characteristic (enviro impact, safety, reliability, performance) from clouding buyers judgement. You’ll find 34 vehicles below and a Safety Importance Quotient. You already know these cars are safe, and you know how important a vehicle’s safety is to you and your’s. GoodCarBadCar’s SIQ tells you just how important a role an individual automobile’s safety will have to play to secure a spot in your driveway.
If a car has nothing to offer you apart from its safety, the SIQ will be 10. If everything is online and ready to fulfill your auto dreams, the SIQ will be 1. No, not zero. Safety ought always to play a role. How strong a selling point is safety? For the cars with higher ratings, it’s gotta be a big selling point, because they don’t have a whole lot else goin’ for ’em.
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Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable: 8
Ford Taurus X: 7
Ford Edge: 7
Lincoln MKX: 8
Volvo S80: 5
Volvo C70: 5
Volvo XC90: 5
Honda Odyssey: 3
Honda Accord: 3
Honda Pilot: 6
Honda CR-V: 6
Honda Element: 4
Subaru Legacy: 3
Subaru Tribeca: 6
Subaru Impreza: 5
Subaru Forester: 5
Hyundai Entourage: 4
Hyundai Santa Fe: 3
Hyundai Veracruz: 4
Kia Sedona: 4
Toyota Tundra: 4
Toyota Highlander: 4
Audi A3: 4
Audi A4: 4
Audi A6: 3
Saab 9-3: 8
Saab 9-3 Convertible: 7
Saturn Vue: 5
