11 New Cars Join Top Safety Ranks
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a new set of crash tests, and 11 new cars, SUVs and trucks earned the group’s Top Safety Pick award.
Nine out of the 11 earn the score with their standard equipment, while both the 2009 Honda Civic and 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer only get the nod when optional stability control is in place. Only the top Civic trim, the EX-L, comes with standard stability control; it is not offered even as an option on other trims. For the Lancer, the option is only offered on the top-of-the-line GTS model in a $1,000 Touring package.
The other nine Top Safety Picks are listed below.
Small cars
- 2008-09 Scion xB
- 2009 Volkswagen Rabbit
Midsize cars
- 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
- 2009 Volkswagen Passat
Large luxury cars
- 2009 Lincoln MKS
Midsize SUVs
- 2009 Ford Flex
- 2009 Honda Pilot
Small pickups
- 2009 Toyota Tacoma
Midsize convertibles
- 2009 Volkswagen Eos
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good job VW
What are the details of the NEW tests that are being conducted?
Only cars that have stability control can get top picks. Just another way for insurance companies to manupulate the market to make cars needlessly complex. All these electronic nannies do more harm than good and cost a fortune to fix. They encourage people to drive more recklessly because they think the computer will bail them out. I believe ABS causes more accidents, especially in the wet or snow/ice, due to longer stopping distances. I really wish there was some way to make these electronic nannies go away, but it seems they are here to stay.