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Santa Fe Achieves Top Frontal Crash Rating

10 August, 2006

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 Hyundai’s new Santa Fe AWD SUV is the first Korean car to score the top crash safety rating of “Good” in all six injury criteria in the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s rigorous 64 kph frontal offset crash test regime.

The test injury criteria cover the vehicle’s body structure/cabin safety cage and driver’s head/neck, chest, left and right leg/foot separately and restraints/dummy kinematics (its movement path during the crash sequence).

The Santa Fe tested was equipped with standard six airbags including head curtain airbags for all three rows of seats and front seat-mounted torso airbags, as well as ESP (electronic stability program) and anti-lock brakes.

Because the Santa Fe had been rated as “Good” in a prior IIHS frontal crash test, IIHS based its latest rating on a review of Hyundai Motor Company’s own crash test results. After reviewing the data, IIHS said the test “ dummy movement was well controlled. After the dummy moved forward into the airbag, it rebounded into the seat without its head coming close to any stiff structure that could cause injury.” In addition, “ measures taken from the dummy indicate a low risk of any significant injuries in a crash of this severity.”

Hyundai Motor America vice president Mark Barnes said: “ We loaded new Santa Fe with life-saving safety technologies and we’re pleased that its passive safety features performed so effectively in this high-speed test.

“Santa Fe combines the important passive safety features with an extensive list of active safety technologies like electronic stability control and anti-lock brakes, which can help drivers avoid crashes in the first place,” Mr Barnes said.

The Australian specification Santa Fe also has six airbags, ESP and ABS although some of these features have some differences to US models in deference to local market conditions and regulations. The Australian NCAP program’s frontal crash test regime is also conducted as a 64 kph impact into a 40 per cent offset deformable barrier but the data is collated differently, again to reflect local market conditions and regulations.

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