A spectacular crash test has proved that, despite its five-star EuroNCAP crash test performance, the Fiat 500 is far from indestructible.
Frightening footage of an offset collision between the tiny hatch and Audi’s monsterous Q7 will leave many viewers cold. The crash test was conducted by a German magazine, and was designed to prove that – despite only having a four star NCAP rating – the big Audi is far better at protecting its occupants in a collision with a smaller, lighter car.
The footage certainly makes for alarming viewing for anyone who owns a supermini.
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Re: Fiat 500 vs Audi Q7
Really? You'll be telling me that tanks are safer than either next! And what about 44 tonne artics? And buses? They are hardly forgiving if you crash into one, and yet no-one suggests we should all be driving round in buses for self-defence. And lorries and buses aren't going to disappear in a hurry, so going down the road of driving ever bigger vehicles from a point of view of self-preservation is a blind alley. We need to be making vehicles lighter, not heavier (I wouldn't exactly call the 500 a tiddler - have you ever looked at one alongside one of the originals??).
Anyway, with the current petrol and tax costs, it won't be long before the Q7s are all dead, so that only leaves the artics and buses. And then we can lobby the government to do what any sensible government (not our lot then) would do, and build a separate network of roads, or lanes alongside roads, for HGVs, thus improving the quality of the roads that the cars drive on (it's the lorries and buses that cause all the damage), as well as public safety.
Re: Fiat 500 vs Audi Q7
Don't have to read the test to know that it's completely stupid. Of course the Q7 is gonna make meatloaf from the Fiat 500.... like the 80 metric tons Abrams tank will do with the Q7. It's the German industry again that wants to protect its interests. It is particularly making a lot of money from selling X5's, X6's, Cayennes and Touaregs, etc. So, what is it suggesting... That automakers should up the ante as far as car solidity and, subsequently, weight?
Re: Fiat 500 vs Audi Q7
Surely Q7 vs Q7 would be far more interesting - how good is a 4x4 when its inherent advantage over the other vehicle has been removed?