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The Incredible New MINI is not only the most exciting, but now also
independently judged as one of the safest cars in its segment.
Engineered to the highest safety levels it is little surprise that the new
MINI’s highly effective passive safety system has now been confirmed by the
highest possible score in the Euro NCAP Crash Test.
The new MINI Cooper has earned five stars for its superior safety, clearly
proving that this small premium car offers typical BMW Group high safety
standards in the area of occupant safety and guarantees maximum safety all round
despite its compact dimensions.
In the Euro NCAP Crash Test the new MINI Cooper achieved outstanding results
in both the head-on and the side-on/pillar crash, the risk of injury to
occupants of the new MINI Cooper being deemed very small indeed in all cases.
The testers gave the new MINI Cooper 13 out of 16 points for the car’s
deformation behaviour in a head-on collision, and 16 out of 18 points in the
side-on and pillar collision, which are both rated together as one category.
In the offset frontal crash test, the structure of the passenger cell was
maintained. 4,000 individual welding points in the body shell optimise the MINI
Cooper’s structural safety.
Child safety in the new MINI Cooper also showed an above-average result, and
is therefore likewise regarded as exemplary.
This outstanding overall result is attributable to the MINI’s superior
all-round safety concept extending from the structure of the body with its
carefully defined deformation zones and the extremely stiff passenger cell all
the way to the restraint systems masterminded by electronic control units.
Like all other variants of the new MINI generation, the new MINI Cooper comes
as standard with six airbags, three-point inertia-reel seat belts on all four
seats, and ISOFIX child seat fastening systems at the rear.
All MINI Cooper hardtops come with six airbags as standard.
Both the driver and front passenger are protected by frontal airbags as well
as airbags at the side. The side airbags are integrated in the side supports on
the front seats and offer effective protection from thorax injury.
The standard extra-large curtain head airbags inflating out of the roof
lining whenever required offer both the front and rear passengers protection
from head injury. Front seat belts are equipped with belt latch tensioners and
belt force limiters.
These active restraint elements (belt latch tensioners, airbags) are
masterminded by a central electronic safety system. The direction of an impact
and its severity are determined by crash sensors housed in the B-pillars and at
a central point in the underfloor of the car. Data management ensures that only
the appropriate restraint and safety systems are activated with an optimum
effect tailored to specific crash conditions.
The Incredible New MINI is also equipped with belt telltales on all seats
indicating whether the belts are in use. Another optical signal comes on as soon
as the front passenger’s airbag has been deactivated, for example when fitting a
child seat at the front next to the driver.
Receiving the best possible result of five stars in the Euro NCAP Crash Test,
the new MINI Cooper once again confirms the high standard of safety in the
development of BMW Group cars.
The NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) testing procedure is acknowledged as
one of the most demanding tests required of new cars the world over. The Euro
NCAP Test is indeed a benchmark for crash safety acknowledged throughout Europe
by governments, car clubs and consumer protection organisations. Comparable NCAP
Crash Tests are carried out in the USA and Japan and Australia.
The most important highlights of the Euro NCAP Crash Test are the frontal and
side-on collision under exactly defined conditions. In the so-called offset
frontal crash the vehicle hits a deformable barrier at a speed of 64 km/h with
40 per cent of its frontal width. Under such conditions the collision forces act
on only part of the car’s frontal area, while impact energy must be spread out
and absorbed as completely as possible throughout the entire width of the car.
The Incredible New MINI ensures precisely this effect by diverting and
absorbing the forces acting on the car along load paths defined in advance. To
make this possible, the load-bearing structures on the floorpan, side walls,
bulkhead, frontal section, rear section and the roof, as well as the dimensions
and positions of the car’s crash boxes, have been exactly coordinated and
harmonised as one complete system. The most important objective in providing
this configuration is to maintain the full shape and dimensions of the passenger
cell as a survival area also in a severe collision.
This also applies to the requirements in a side-on collision simulated in the
Euro NCAP Crash Test by impacting a deformable barrier at a speed of 50 km/h. As
an additional test scenario, this specific test includes a side impact by the
car against a steel post at a speed of 29 km/h, the post measuring 25 cm in
diameter at the level of the occupant’s head centrepoint. Again, the new MINI
Cooper masters this challenge with exemplary results in terms of uncritical
deformation and minimum risk of injury.
In order to reduce the risk of collision, active safety was given particular
significance from the start in developing the new MINI, over and above passive
safety. The highly effective brake system complete with anti-lock brakes,
on-demand traction control (ASC+T), Brake Assistant, Cornering Brake Control
(CBC), and Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBFD) may be supplemented as an
option by Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) complete with uphill start-off
assistance.
All variants of the new MINI are furthermore equipped with a Tyre Defect
Indicator permanently measuring tyre pressure by comparing the speed of the
car’s wheels. The driver is then warned automatically by an optical signal once
air pressure in a specific tyre deviates from the normal pressure by more than
30 per cent, thus being made aware in good time of any sudden, excessive loss of
pressure. Clearly, this significantly reduces the risk of an accident resulting
from a flat or defective tyre.
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