Top Safety Picks+; FCA’s New Name; What’s Alcantara?
The sounds that follow an accident reverberated through a rural neighborhood just off Mountain Road in Somers, Connecticut, two days after Christmas. It was just before 9 p.m. when the cacophony of sirens began.
Police cars raced up the narrow, twisting road, followed by ambulances, and then a Lifestar helicopter.
We wondered what had happened on that dark piece of road until the following morning when we saw tire tracks leading off the road and directly into a big tree.
News reports didn’t mention the type of vehicle involved, but they did mention head injuries and broken bones and speculated that the car involved had tried unsuccessfully to pass another vehicle.
My mind went immediately to the 2015 IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) crash test ratings that had been announced four days earlier. The thought: How would a new vehicle’s safety systems have mitigated those injuries?
The number of automobiles and SUVs achieving the institute’s top two awards—Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+—almost doubled, rising from 39 to 71 for 2015.
“This is the third year in a row that we’ve given automakers a tougher challenge to meet,’’ says IIHS president Adrian Lund. “The quest for these awards is driving improvement in the small overlap front crash test and getting manufacturers to offer automatic braking technology on more and more vehicles.’’
The small overlap test replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle hits another vehicle or an object such as a telephone pole, tree, or wall.
Meeting those standards challenged automakers to improve the front end and door frame structure to reduce intrusion into the passenger cabin and keep occupants’ heads from bouncing off the airbag into the door.
To get the IIHS top award, cars also must have the ability to stop or slow down without driver intervention before hitting a target barrier at 12 or 25 mph.
Subaru and Volvo are two manufacturers that stood out in the testing. All seven 2015 Subaru models—Legacy, Outback, Forester, BRZ, WRX/STI, Impreza, and XV Crosstrek—earned Top Safety Pick awards for the sixth straight year.
In addition, the Forester, Legacy, Outback, Impreza, and XV Crosstrek earned Top Safety Pick+ status when equipped with Subaru’s optional EyeSight driver assist technology.
Subaru says it’s “an extra set of eyes on the road and an extra foot on the brake, if needed.’’ The system includes adaptive cruise control, pre-collision braking and throttle management, and lane-departure warning. Subaru uses stereo camera technology to detect vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Volvo has staked its reputation on Vision 2020, which states that no one will be killed or seriously injured in or by a new Volvo car. Its City Safety system will be standard on all new cars, beginning with the XC90, which was introduced too late for this year’s testing.
The Volvo S60, V60, S80, and XC60 were tested and all earned the Top Safety Pick+ designation.
Lexus had two new models, the NX small crossover and RC coupe, on the Top Safety Pick+ list along with its hybrid CT 200h.
The other vehicles in the 33 earning the Top Safety Pick+ designation: Acura: MDX, RLX, TLX; Audi: A3; BMW 2 Series; Chrysler: 200; Honda: CRV; Hyundai: Genesis; Infiniti: Q50, Q70; Mazda: 3, 6, CX-5; Mitsubishi: Outlander; Mercedes-Benz: E-Class, M-Class; Toyota: Camry, Highlander, Prius, Prius V, Sienna.
Name Game: FCA
FCA is the new name of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now actually FCA US LLC. The FCA parent company is Netherlands-based, meaning two iconic brands disappear as separate companies—Chrysler in the United States and Fiat in Italy. Fiat’s history in Turin, Italy, dates back to 1899. Chrysler, named after Walter Chrysler, dates back to 1925 in Detroit. Chrysler will continue to sell the 200, 300, and Town & Country minivan. Also, the Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Fiat brands will continue.
Alcantara?
Older readers will remember Ricardo Montalban as the celebrity spokesman pitching the “rich, Corinthian leather’’ in the mid-70’s Chrysler Cordoba.
These days, the interior material of choice is becoming Alcantara, an Italian-made carbon-neutral material that was on display at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show.
Alcantara was featured In luxury brands Lamborghini, Porsche, and Audi as well as Dodge and Lincoln domestic brands.
“No other material today is able to preserve its intrinsic qualities of beauty, softness, and resistance, and, at the same time, take on the characteristics required by each single customer’s customization preferences and needs,’’ says Andrea Boragno, chairman of Alcantara, which is headquartered in Milan.
The material, which is light and durable, is increasingly also being used in marine and aircraft applications.
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