InSure

Traditional Sports Utility Vehicles are famous for their size and spacious cabins. Small makes don’t have as much space but are somewhat easier to control on the road.

No matter how easy a car is to handle, there’s always a risk of an accident. This is why auto manufacturers must ensure that the products they are selling are capable of protecting the driver and maybe even preventing an accident if they detect it.

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Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

The Institute Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is one of the most popular American car-safety rating companies. The IIHS breaks its test into three main categories:

• Crashworthiness that is further divided into:
  • Small Driver and Passenger Overlap Test
  • Moderate Overlap Test
  • Roof’s Strength-to-Weight ratio
  • Side Impact
  • Head and Neck Restraints
• Crash prevention is tested through a 12 and 25-mph real-life scenario
• LATCH or child anchors undergo a simple observation that helps the specialists quantify their strengths and weaknesses

Chevrolet Trax Versus Fiat 500X

Crashworthiness

Starting with the Italian manufacturer, Fiat 500X performed very well in the crash simulations. According to the Institute’s findings, the vehicle’s cabin was constructed well enough to prevail a collision and maintain a reasonable survival space.

The frontal airbag did not do a splendid job of keeping the driver’s head away from the A-pillar, but the side curtain prevented any major injuries.

Unfortunately, the door hinge pillar got cracked enough to cause a moderate risk of injury to the lower limbs.

Overall, Fiat did well and received five good ratings that make for a perfect crashworthiness category. A small passenger-side overlap test was never done on this model as it was rated before this evaluation came out.

Chevrolet Trax was also capable of good safety measures when an accident occurs. The dummy’s position in relation to the door frame once the collision was completed was decent and the survival space was reasonably maintained.

Airbag performance was somewhat better than that of Fiat.

Chevy’s model, however, had an acceptable score for its passenger-side small overlap test which is a great success given the brand was unaware that this will even be tested. The other five scores were all good.

Therefore, there is no clear-cut leader after the crashworthiness gets analyzed.

Crash Prevention & Mitigation

Fiat received four out of six points for the crash prevention category. The loss of two points came from a poor performance in the 25 miles per hour test. Within this assessment, the vehicle only reduced its speed by five mph which was not enough to avoid a collision.

This amount of points equaled to an advanced score that will be enough to keep Fiat 500X in the loop for IIHS-made awards. Chevy, unfortunately, was not so lucky. The American-made vehicle only received one point as it had frontal danger warnings but no auto brake.

Headlight review could be labeled as the low-point of this review. That is because Fiat received a poor rating while Chevy never even got a score.

Ultimately, Fiat won the second category of testing as it gathered more points within the crash prevention evaluations.

Child Seat Anchors (LATCH)

The last area of review included SUVs’ LATCH systems that get used for child seats, most commonly in the back. Fiat came a little short as its marginal score was not enough to match the acceptable anchors of Chevy.

The LATCH issues for the Italian-produced car included a hard to find location, difficulty maneuvering, and location that is too deep in the seat.

The Chevrolet Trax also showed some struggles with other hardware that is easily misunderstood for an anchor as well as anchors being too deep in the seat.

Although Chevy won this battle, both models need to make improvements in this area as their deficiencies are very tangible.

2017 Top Safety Pick and/or 2017 Top Safety Pick+

The requirements for a Top Safety Pick award include a perfect crashworthiness category (which allows an acceptable score for the passenger-side small overlap test) as well as an advanced rating in the crash prevention area at least.

Looking at the described tests, Chevy did not meet the necessary threshold and lost its award.

Fiat, on the other hand, just barely achieved the prevention standard and got its Top Safety Pick recognition.

Undoubtedly, there are clear areas that both of these vehicles could improve upon. Due to a large difference in the crash prevention area, however, Fiat took the victory over its American competitor, Chevrolet.

Besides the many tests described above, there are other things to consider when purchasing one of these two cars.

Insurance is an example of a long-term cost that will be present even after one might pay their vehicle off. State laws require drivers to purchase insurance for their automobiles in order to drive them.

So, how does one find the best coverage in the ocean of offers, premiums, deductibles, state minimum laws, and more?

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Safety Comparisons

03.01.2018 / car safety features / safety comparison / SUV