There are numerous facilities around the world that specialize in crash-testing cars and sharing the information gleaned from those tests with consumers and regulators. The gold standard of testing is the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, which is known for its rigorous standards and engineering expertise. In China, there’s the DCAR Institute of Collision Safety, which produces similar tests but with a lot more YouTube-fueled fanfare.
DCAR’s most recent test, just published with English subtitles, pits 30 different cars from global brands against an 18-wheeler. Specifically, the cars are crashed directly into the back of a tractor-trailer equipped with a set of underride guards or Mansfield bars at about 34 mph. The bars are so named for the actress Jane Mansfield, who people think was decapitated in a crash with a tractor-trailer lacking such a device. In reality, Mansfield wasn’t decapitated, though she was killed and did suffer a serious head injury.
Chinese highways, like pretty much everywhere else, are dominated by these large trucks and, according to a study cited by DCAR, contribute to a death rate that’s four times higher than that of collisions between two cars. This makes sense as trucks have a much larger mass and, even with the bars so equipped, do not generally shed force in the same way that another car with modern safety equipment might.
DCAR bought two of every model they tested, from something as cheap as a $7,000 Chinese EV to as expensive as a $240,000 Range Rover, in order to perform both a traditional offset test and a more truck-specific test that guides the passenger-side a-pillar and glass right into the underside guards.
Chinese car companies and journalists have a bit of a chip on their shoulder due to years of European and American counterparts showing videos of China’s early cars failing at these tests like the one below:
Cars from China have since improved dramatically in terms of safety over the last decade and models from brands like BYD, which sell in Europe, tend to do as well as cars from European, American, and Japanese counterparts in EURO NCAP crash tests. DCAR isn’t exactly like EURO NCAP or the IIHS in that the company is more like a Cars.com if Cars.com was created by the same people who also gave us TikTok. This is why DCAR content is slightly more sensationalistic and, frankly, better produced.
It’s also why they can do a test as wild as this one, which starts with a Range Rover that costs as much as $240,000 in China.
While the Range Rover performs well on the traditional offset test, it gets absolutely hammered in the truck test, with the A-,B-, and even the C-Pillar failing. It’s so bad the sunroof comes off completely:
It’s not great, though it’s also important to realize that this isn’t a test automakers generally have to face. Safety is a moving target and both the IIHS and DCAR are always trying to push automakers to consider different scenarios. Ultimately, DCAR determined that the crash beam was too small for the car’s width and the body’s aluminum and steel sections failed at the places where the two different materials met.
This is an extremely difficult test and they seem to be picking on the Range Rover not because it’s British, but because it’s expensive. The video goes on to show similar failures from other large SUVs from Chinese automakers including the LiAuto L6, the Aito M7, and Haval Big Dog.
Those models are meant to compete with bigger luxury SUVs from Audi and Mercedes.
What about electric cars? The first one tested is the Zeekr 001, which is a Geely brand and thus benefits from being connected to Volvo. It’s almost a cliche to say that Volvos are safe and it’s always worth it to interrogate those claims. In our experience, Volvos earn that reputation through extensive testing and clever engineering.
Even with the help from Volvo and a stout A-pillar, the Zeekr suffers catastrophic damage. The testers noted that the car was “too heavy” right before it crashed and the car ended up hitting the truck with so much force it blew the truck’s tire.
What’s also interesting is that many of these cars are equipped with emergency call features similar to OnStar and, yet, when the car crashes the cars are so damaged that the operators can’t hear them.
The testers were also critical of the full glass moonroof designs on many of the cars due to the loss in structural rigidity during the crash.
Not only did the tests show massive failures in this specific test, but these failures were consistent across cars from different automakers, countries, and at all different price points. This includes, of course, a Mercedes-Maybach:
Amazingly, even though the A-pillar does deform, it does so in a way that absorbs a lot of kinetic energy. Between that and various other parts of the car shearing off, the B- and C-pillars remain completely intact (and if you’re in a Maybach, you’re probably in the backseat or the driver’s seat). The passenger in the front seat, however, didn’t fare quite as well.
Not done with Mercedes, the testers then try a G-Class, which is a big body-on-frame truck. It performs reasonably well due to a lot of the active safety systems and impresses the testers, with one noting that domestic Chinese automakers could learn from the German design.
Small crossovers, in particular, had issues with the test. The Honda CR-V that I own didn’t do so well, with the passengers being hurt so badly that survivability would be “basically non-existent.” I’m not sure how different the Chinese joint-venture CR-V is from my CR-V, but it’s not encouraging. One crossover from Geely and the Toyota RAV4 from the joint venture there was acceptable.
Does anyone do better than just acceptable?
Surprisingly, one of the newest cars from a brand-new manufacturer performed somewhat well. The Xioami X7 is one of the most fascinating and interesting cars in the world, and DCAR’s testers found that its ability to direct the force upwards away from the passenger component was helpful in reducing the impact on the dummies in the car, although the big glass roof likely reduced the car’s effectiveness.
Less surprisingly, both the Tesla Model 3 sedan and the Volvo S60 had higher survivability in these incidents, but cheaper sedans like the Geely Emgrand and Hyundai Elantra both did well.
What did the testers ultimately learn? Lighter and smaller sedans seemed to counterintuitively perform better than larger SUVs, in large part due to the ability of the vehicles to use the frontal energy absorption zones to push the car down and away from the truck therefore shedding a lot of the force of the collision. Larger vehicles can also perform adequately, but many of these cars and SUVs were dinged for the extra weight or the construction of the A-pillar.
Again, this test isn’t one commonly done or required, which means that automakers aren’t necessarily considering a test that specifically targets the A-pillar like this. In most crashes, it’s assumed that something else (a door, the motor, the rear) will get hit first and therefore the airbags and safety restraint systems can deploy in advance of passenger cabin intrusion. As you can see in many of these tests, the airbags simply don’t have enough time to fully deploy before part of the truck is already inside the vehicle.
The testers acknowledge this and point out that the most expensive cars didn’t necessarily perform the best and that they hope automakers consider situations like this when designing updates to these vehicles.
Enjoy the full video because there’s a lot to be learned here:
(Hat tip to Dogapult in the Discord server)
That chinese car in the old crash test video is a barely updated version of the first gen SEAT Toledo sold in Europe between 1991-1999 and built on the platform of the VW Golf II. It was the first SEAT entirely designed under VW ownership.
Here’s a frontal crash test video of the Toledo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyZCFzk90WU
My main concern about buying a Chinese car would’ve been the crash worthiness. As that improves, the next hurdle are bs protectionist tariffs intended to protect executives and shareholders…
For a more cinematic treatment, the very underrated thriller the Seven Ups (a sorta alternate universe French Connection) features an amazing chase scene that ends when Roy Scheider crashes his Pontiac Ventura into the back of a pre-Mansfield bar truck. Peels it open like a can opener.
ICC Bar?
“If you’re in a Maybach, you’re probably in the backseat”
Meh. My driver is expendable.
Just spitballing here, but, in my blue-collar world, I’m thinking you could sell an SUV called the Big Dog like crazy stateside—even if it was electric
The GT performance trim could be the Mad Dog.
The track oriented high performance trim could be the Pit Bull.
The economy version would be the Chihauhau; it may be small, but it thinks it’s a Great Dane.
Small tankers could be Dachshunds
If they made the Buick Roadmaster again it could be the Border Collie*
What dog is a Jeep?
*apologies to those who actually exercise their working-dog breeds
My ex-wife owned a Border Collie/Beagle mix when we first got together. We called it a Borgle. I can only assume that the high energy usually associated with both breeds cancelled each other out because he was the most laid back, lazy dog I have ever seen. The kind who lays in front of the fridge door and allows himself to be slid out of the way when the door is opened while giving you the side eye for having the audacity to disturb him.
Sounds like a BossHoss trim package.
It’s got that dog in it
A couple years ago, I saw a pickup towing a trailer hit the back of a stopped semi at about 70 mph. That pickup folded up like a rag and the trailer bounced off the median divider. Notably, the pickup did not go under the back of the semi trailer. This test was done at 34 mph. Imagine what would have happened to that pick-up if it had hit at an offset… Not that the result would have been any different.
I’ll be honest when I saw 30 car crash test I thought they were being crashed all at once in some sort of highway pileup scenario. Slightly disappointed that they were done one at a time…
I do have to give the team behind the video kudos for the production value.
When I was in my single digit childhood, there were Mutual of Omaha ads on whatever my dad was watching on the TV, that re-enacted crashes and I would always flee the room when they came on. I guess early me didn’t want/need any more nightmare fuel.
The problem here isn’t the cars; it’s the underride bars on the trucks. Many are inadequate and will collapse with any significant impact, allowing the vehicle to go under the trailer. It is possible, and much easier, to make the underride bars stronger than to build vehicles that can withstand this sort of crash.
Beat me to it. I think you’re dead on here. If most vehicles don’t pass is it a problem with the vehicle or with the test?
Frontline took a look at this a while back. Surprise, surprise, the trucking industry has resisted any meaningful change to current designs or crash standards. https://youtu.be/1LyaWzOesXk?si=09rQNJtYFpYd2of0
Can the underride bars be lowered to match a car bumper height?
The problem is even if they do they frequently just fold in on themselves so quickly that they might as well not be there.
Say what you will about Tesla/Elon, but it appears that the Model 3 is actually a tank.
Especially vs firefighters trying to free a child locked in, or objects the self driving doesn’t see
There’s just something cathartic about watching expensive cars get crunched.
This is a mistake. Always make fun of the Range Rover because it’s British.
As British as MINI, or Rolls Royce, or Bentley, or (etc.)
“…the ability of the vehicles to use the frontal energy absorption zones to push the car down and away from the truck therefore shedding a lot of the force of the collision.”
This sounds like the way to do it, rather than beef up the A-pillars to make them even thicker and compromise outward visibility even more, since that’s already a huge risk factor for other kinds of collisions.
I recalled reading about “invisible” A-pillars years ago. I went and found the article I read, linked below. It appears there are manufacturers working on their own solutions as well. But the one I linked was a from a middle schooler and homebrewed in the best Autopian manner.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/broadcom-masters-alaina-gassler-teen-inventor-invisible-a-pillar-stem/
That’s freakin awesome. And she’s only 14. Ok; the kids are alright.
Volvo had a concept car 25 years ago that a truss type structure for the A-pillars with windows in the triangles so you could look through it. It never went anywhere though.
https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/5273?preview=true&t=001bf6a1-1c59-4b62-8df6-c55d4c6fb69f
https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/5273/photos
Stop tailgating people! It ain’t worth it!
My friend’s dad has a horrible habit of drafting semis on the highway to save on gas, like 4 feet behind
Actually, tailgating in this case would be safer. You’d hit the semi at a far lower speed differential. Granted your chance of hitting it at all would be much higher, but the damage would be lower.
But you forget the idiot tailgating you. I’ve seen what happens there.
“Lighter and smaller sedans seemed to counterintuitively perform better than larger SUVs …”
I’m no physicist but this makes perfect sense. It would seem to me that a car with less mass is going to plow less far into an obstacle than something with more mass. In other words, everything that follows is less likely to get there. Inertia and stuff.
Your big “safe” SUV is just gonna keep moving once it hits something until it eventually slows completely down. Better hope it does that before the accident gets to you.
It always bugs me when people say “Mass wins.” Physics dictate that force is the product of mass and the square of velocity, so really, speed wins.
Because it’s November 7th and I’m a giant nerd, in going to say this is due to mass effect.
This. They tend to do worse against things like trees, too, but they do well against smaller vehicles because they selfishly outsource that safety to the other person they crash into.
This. If you hit another car (that’s smaller than you), you’re in great shape. If you hit an immovable object you now have to absorb a lot more energy than you would in a smaller vehicle.
Selfish?! ThEy’rE pRoTeCtiNg ThEiR CHILDREN!!
(By screwing you and yours)
While probably texting and driving.
I have it on good authority from the widow of a NASA rocket scientist in Florida that the Dale could ace all those tests without sustaining any damage
One of the funny things about it all is that modern cars have gotten very close to those metrics that were seen as so dazzlingly fantastical in the 1970s, and nobody cares
I mean the Hyundai Ioniq got 60mpg and cost $24,000, and they sold less than 1,700 in its last year on the market here (and didn’t exactly set the world on fire the other years). Granted, that is 10mpg less than the Dale, and it was about twice as expensive inflation adjusted, but it also had 1 more wheel and 3 more seats and actually existed physically, in the real world. And demand was almost nonexistent
Unfortunately it didn’t project “I AM HERE TO KILL YOU” to other people on the road, so Americans weren’t interested.
I mean, what if the VW XL1 was designed for affordability?
They would have sold too many of them? Which appears to be a thing that Volkswagen is actually afraid of doing, based on recent product planning decisions
Even as a VW hater, I would have bought one.
Pandemic shortages?
Nah, runout year, dealers weren’t even marking them up anywhere and some were still discounting off MSRP, the absolute best year had been less than 20,000 units
That’s strange since cars of any kind were so hard to find. Folks had so much money to burn cars were the leader of inflation yet these low priced fuel efficient cars didn’t sell?
Here’s a few theories – The cars REALLY suck, Hyundai dealers REALLY suck and/or Hyundai advertising REALLY sucks.
(pretty sure its not the cars)
Well, the car isn’t great, very poor ride quality, uncomfortable seats, numb handling, gutless acceleration, and it has excessive body roll while simultaneously having a rough/bouncy ride, also the turning circle is surprisingly large for a small car. But, I bought it because my company requires employees to buy a new car every 4 years, reimburses at less than IRS rates per mile, the dealer wasn’t marking up, and I figured it would be cheap to run. Which it has been, although it’s a 2022 with barely 97,000 miles and the shocks are already blown