New Beetle Out In Front On IIHS Bumper Tests

The recent findings of four Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash tests on small cars suggests there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the new Volkswagen Beetle. Widely recognized for its shape and size, the Beetle it seems, also needs to be complimented on its safety features.

After a series of four crash tests, conducted at 5 mph to assess bumper performance, the IIHS concluded that both front and rear bumpers on the new Beetle will prevent much of the damage that can occur in low-speed collisions, the kind of crash that frequently occurs in congested urban traffic.

"This is way below what we typically see," said Brian O'Neill, Institute president. "There was much less damage than to any other 1997 or '98 small car we tested. In fact, the Beetle is the only car the Institute has tested that begins to compare with the 1981 Ford Escort, which sustained no damage in any of the four tests at 5 mph."

In all four low-speed tests, damage to the Beetle totaled only $134. In comparison, the second best performer among 1997-98 small cars was the Saturn SL, which sustained more than $600 damage in the same four tests. All other small cars except the Toyota Corolla sustained more than $1,000 damage. The worst performer, the Hyundai Elantra, sustained more than $3,000 damage.

The Institute's low-speed crash test series includes front and rear flat-barrier impacts plus two localized impacts, front-into-angle-barrier and rear-into-pole. All tests are conducted at 5 mph, little more than walking speed. In the most demanding of the four tests, rear-into-pole, the Beetle sustained no damage at all. Only the Saturn matched this performance. In contrast, the Elantra sustained more than $1,700 damage in the same test.

O'Neill pointed out that the Beetle's superior bumpers "show what can be accomplished when a manufacturer decides to make damage resistance a priority." He added that the inferior bumpers on competing models "mean lots of unnecessary damage in minor impacts, higher insurance bills, deductibles paid out of consumers' pockets, and the major inconvenience of doing without a car while it's in the shop to repair damage that likely wouldn't have occurred to the Beetle in the same low-speed collision."

Next week, the Institute will release results of the Beetle's high-speed crash test performance.