The Hyundai Santa Fe SUV has topped the influential crash test survey carried out by the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety in the United States.
In crash tests the Santa Fe outperformed all its rivals including the Jeep Wrangler and Cherokee, the Toyota RAV 4, the
Honda CRV and the Ford Escape. Only the Subaru Forrester came close to the Santa Fe performance, with four compared to
Hyundai’s five good measurement ratings.
In the 40 miles per hour (62kph) front offset collision test, the Santa Fe earned an overall good rating with top marks
for its structural safety cage, head restraints, other restraints and injury measurements to occupants’ chest and legs.
Santa Fe is good
IIHS President Brian O’Neill said: “The Hyundai Santa Fe held up very well in the 40 mph crash test. There wasn’t much
intrusion into the occupant compartment so the space around the driver dummy was maintained well. As it is the
crashworthiness of the Santa Fe is good”.
The ratings from the offset crash test depend on how well the safety cage protects the occupants, the risk of injury
measured for an average sized male and how well the restraint system controls occupant movement.
The performance echoes Hyundai Motor Company’s own crash test programme that predicted a good performance for Santa Fe
in official tests. Hyundai conducts extensive computer-simulation and actual crash tests on all its vehicles before they
go on sale.
The full results of the crash test can be viewed at the IIHS’s web-site at www.hwysafety.org