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Get a Volvo if you want to learn about cars trying to not kill you, says Steve Notwosniak. The Volvo Cars Safety Centre crash lab opened in 2000 and contains t
by this_steve_j 3y ago
Get a Volvo if you want to learn about cars trying to not kill you, says Steve Notwosniak.
The Volvo Cars Safety Centre crash lab opened in 2000 and contains two test tracks of 108 and 154 metres long respectively. The shorter of the two is moveable and can be positioned at an angle between 0 and 90 degrees, allowing for crash test at different angles and speeds, or to simulate a crash between two moving cars. Cars are crashed at speeds up to 120 km/h.
Outside, there is room for performing tests like roll-over crashes and run-off road scenarios, whereby cars are launched into a ditch at high speeds. Here, Volvo Cars also offers rescue services opportunities to hone their life-saving skills, as it did earlier this year when it dropped new Volvos from a height of 30 metres to simulate the heavy damage found in extreme crash scenarios.
https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/275423/two-decades-in-the-service-of-saving-lives-volvo-cars-safety-centre-celebrates-20-years https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressrele...
- badwolf 3y agoVolvo really is impressive with how much they put into safety and testing. As for self-driving, I've had great driving experiences with their Pilot Assist.
- testfrequency 3y agoIf Volvos are supposed to be the safest cars, why are they often not given top performance marks by the IIHS? I get that Volvo’s whole image is their safety, but real world data does not back that up entirely
- digdugdirk 3y agoI would be interested to see actual "real world" data vs "standard crash test" data. It's much easier to design something for excellent performance on a small subset of rigorously defined tests, vs designing for any/every possible outcome.
- nickvanw 3y agoThey do generally receive favorable marks by the IIHS: https://jalopnik.com/volvo-is-the-first-carmaker-to-receive-the-highest-iihs-1846801481 https://jalopnik.com/volvo-is-the-first-carmaker-to-receive-.... Even updated tests (released post-launch of the car) tend to treat them pretty favorably: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-small-suvs-fail-insurance-industrys-revamped-frontal-crash-tests/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-small-suvs-fail-insurance-... I think of the IIHS as a sort of benchmarking organization - not representative of the real world like any microbenchmark, but also correlated with production performance on some level. They seem to do quite well in their microbenchmarks.