We often hear people commenting on the looks of cars especially about the front appearance. The first impression of any vehicle is derived from the shape of the front bumpers, hood and headlamp cluster which is a very important aspect for a buyer. Some say that the bonnet should have been lowered/raised giving it a sportier/muscular look while others say front bumpers could have been sharper/broader. There are things that common people fail to understand the factors considered to design these flashy parts.
Parts like front bumpers, bonnet, vehicle frame, windscreen and headlamp clusters are designed based factors like aesthetics, aerodynamics and safety. The vehicles that have been successfully running on the roads have the proper mixture of designing elements. Neglecting any one the three parameters can lead to product failure. This is one of the main reasons why production version cars look different from the prototypes that are displayed at the automobile shows.
A passenger segment car has to pass through various tests before it is made available to the customers. The most important tests are emission norms and safety tests. Every car in India has to pass through the tests conducted by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). Similarly Europe has European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) which certifies every vehicle sold in the continent.
EuroNCAP has released the results for recently tested vehicles which include the BMW i3 and Ford EcoSport. Both of these cars received a 4-star rating from Euro NCAP.
Ford EcoSport – The Indian made Ford EcoSport scored 93% for adult occupant, 77% for child occupant, 58% for pedestrians and 55% for safety assist. 58% for pedestrians is not a great score as the report revealed that if hit by this car from the front; the pedestrian would suffer more damage on the pelvis area. The bonnet design is good but the windscreen and windscreen frame failed to score points. Safety assist score is fair enough for the Indian market. Overall Ford has provided adequate safety features for the EcoSport. While in Latin NCAP, the EcoSport has managed to score 5-stars.
BMW i3 – The BMW i3 scored 86% for adult occupant, 81% for child occupant, 57% for pedestrians and 55% for safety assist. Oops now that was not expected from a premium segment carmaker. The tests concluded that in severe impact from the side of the car, the chest will be affected the most. The front seats and head restraints didn’t match up to the expectations as they provided marginal protection against whiplash in a rear-end collision. Similar to the EcoSport, the bonnet design is good but the windscreen and windscreen frame failed to score points on the pedestrian issue. Overall protection is marginal and we feel that BMW could have made this family car safer.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKExGqWYlnc 540 375]