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Jul 21, 2009 9:45 AM
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IIHS Crash Tests Five Budget Coupes: Ford, Volvo Earn Top Safety Picks
New crash tests released by the IIHS for five economy-sized two-doors -- the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Scion tC and Volvo C30 -- indicate good or acceptable ratings in frontal and side tests. See, size doesn't matter!
Emphasizing vehicles for family use, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety normally crash tests four-door vehicles. However, to evaluate the extent automakers are extending new crashworthiness improvements to two-door vehicles -- you know, for kids -- they've recently conducted front, side and rear tests of 2009 model year two-doors. First up -- the 2009 Chevy Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Scion tC along with the more-of-a-mid-size Volvo C30.
The results? The big winners were the Ford Focus and the Volvo C30, but "overall the results for 2-door cars are good news," David Zuby, Institute senior vice president for vehicle research says. "All but one earn good ratings in our frontal offset test. Only two of the 5 earn this rating for protection in side crashes, but none of the 5 earns anything less than an acceptable rating. This is pretty good, considering how demanding the side test is. It simulates being struck by a pickup or SUV."
See the rest of the results in the gallery by clicking the next button to the right.
[Images/Data via IIHS]
Send an email to Matt Hardigree, the author of this post, at matt@jalopnik.com.read more: #crashtests, #2009fordfocus, #fordfocus, #focus, #ford, #2009focus, #fordfocuscoupe, #2009focuscoupe, #top, #volvoc30, #volvo, #c30, #2009volvoc30, #2009sciontc, #scion, #tc, #2009tc, #2009chevycobaltcoupe, #2009chevycobalt
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