I see the Stilo has finally been tested by EuroNCAP. No real surprises, it got a solid, if unspectacular 4 stars (Safer than the Audi A3 though!)

http://www.euroncap.com/content/safety_ratings/details.php?id1=2&id2=222

Which is roughly comparable to all the cars launched back in 2001 time (shame it took 4 years to test). I note they talk about the 1.4 Stilo potentially being different to the 1.6 in terms of crash test results, but I'd have thought a more relevant issue would be how the 3 door compared as it has a totally different body structure etc to the 5 door. Also surprised at how much better the Stilo is than the Alfa 147, as both were designed in-house at Fiat at the same time and you can see cues of the 147 in the Stilo from certain angles.

Not as bad as it could have been, however, you're wrong about it being safer than the A3, the 1997 A3 got 4 stars in the days of the old test AFAIK. The 2003 A3 beat it in all areas excluding child protection - I may be wrong, I only very quickly checked.

For a "current model" 4 stars in that sector is below average. Hopefully the new stilo will beat it.

Interestingly (very) they tested the RHD car.

mbarratt2 said:

Also surprised at how much better the Stilo is than the Alfa 147, as both were designed in-house at Fiat at the same time and you can see cues of the 147 in the Stilo from certain angles.

Click to expand...

But both are built on entirely different platforms and body structure. To be honest the 147's result was quite poor. 4* for a 3 1/2 year old design seems very good to me. I bet the feet got mashed in that crepe pedal-box on the RHD model...

The Fiat Stilo...

Great if your in the car...

Not so great if your not!!!!


ONE STAR FOR PEDESTRIANS!

Yeah, with the A3 comment I was referring to the overall mark 30 for the Stilo, 29 for the A3 (current generation) Like you say, don't see how the stilo is better overall as its front and side impact scores are lower! but there we go (I thinks its the seatbelt reminder actually thats done it!! as thats +1 for the Stilo)

The Negotiator said:

Not as bad as it could have been, however, you're wrong about it being safer than the A3, the 1997 A3 got 4 stars in the days of the old test AFAIK. The 2003 A3 beat it in all areas excluding child protection - I may be wrong, I only very quickly checked.

For a "current model" 4 stars in that sector is below average. Hopefully the new stilo will beat it.

Interestingly (very) they tested the RHD car.

Click to expand...

How can 4 out of 5 stars be bellow average, whats the average then, 5 out of 5 I don't keep up with all this crash test stuff anyway so please enlighten me

Well yeah, for similar cars the average is now nearer 5 than 4. However, that's for current models, i.e.

BMW 1-series 5 stars
Focus 5 stars
Astra 5 stars
Megane 5 stars
Golf 5 stars

In that sector, they are the main cars on the road, 2003 307 only has 4 stars, 2003 A3 still only has 4 stars, as does the corolla.

It's average for cars of a similar age (it's hard to compare since everybody releases cars at different times obviously!) but below average against say, 2003 cars, however, since it is soon to be replaced, that shouldn't be a problem assuming Fiat step up to the challenge.

On the basis it is the same age as the 307 and older than the Corolla, that seems like a good result to me. Don't forget the manufacturers have 'got clever' in the past few years and engineered their cars for the tests rather than for the real world

lol, that was entirely speculation on my part when I said that! I don't believe there's any evidence. I have said it's fine for cars of the same age but as a current model, it's quite low.

I wonder if NCAP will decide to increase the scoring possibilities adding an extra star etc. soon, in 5 years time 100% of new cars should be 5* at this rate.

Let's hope that none of us have to put it to the test

James Abarth said:

Let's hope that none of us have to put it to the test

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Here here, (and if they do, let's hope it's a 5dr )

JTD Monkey said:

Don't forget the manufacturers have 'got clever' in the past few years and engineered their cars for the tests rather than for the real world

Click to expand...

This is the key point, there are a lot of rumours going around the car industry currently that Renault, Peugeot and Citroen are designing their cars specifically to meet the requirements of the NCAP 40MPH offset crash. People like Ford group (Volvo in particular) and Volkswagen have said they think this is coming at the expense of car safety in terms of how 2 cars "interact" when they collide. They argue the crash at 40mph into an offset, deformable barrier is unrealistic and bears little resembelence to real world collisions.

Having said that, I doubt Ford objected to the good PR associated with the focus getting 100% in the NCAP tests!

4* isn't too bad, is it?!

And it probably won't affect me when I have a crash the way I drive, lol - no chance...

They deffo need to do a test based on the 3-door though, a totally different floorpan based on the Alfa.

paulmacs said:

The Fiat Stilo...

Great if your in the car...

Not so great if your not!!!!


ONE STAR FOR PEDESTRIANS!

Click to expand...

Pedestrians shouldn't get in the way!

Odd that if you compare it to the older scores of the Mk2 Punto (a LHD 8v 3dr) then the Punto would be marginally better. Surely that's not right... But then as JTD Monkey pointed out, they tested the RHD Stilo - perhaps Fiat UK was fed up with not having been tested and sent a few "pre-registered" over for testing!?!

Stilo: Front 11 (69%) Side 15 (83%) Belt Reminder 1 Overall 27 Pedestrian 8 (22%) Child Protection 37 (76%)
Pedestrian
Punto: Front 11 (69%) Side 16 (89%) Overall 26 (76%) Pedestrian 17 (47%)

lol, plenty of Fiats that can't be sold, you would think the stilo would have been tested ages ago

Reading the intro of the results it looks as though the Stilo was tested a while back, but put a dire performance in initially. see quote below;

"The latest Fiat Stilo achieved a four star adult protection rating after Euro NCAP allowed frontal and side impact retests. These followed improvements to the body frame structure, pedal box, fascia beam, energy absorbing element behind the fascia"

These all sound like fairly big improvements, dunno what it means for those of us with unmodified Stilos. Don't crash I guess!

They normally give the manufacturing date or chassis number so you can see which cars are the modified one's.

The new Ulysse got 4* and then 5* when they added the seat belt reminder. In reality as long as you remember to put your seatbelt on, they have the same performance. Seems odd that a seat belt reminder could mean the difference between a 4* or 5* rating.

Stuart DemonD said:

4* isn't too bad, is it?!

And it probably won't affect me when I have a crash the way I drive, lol - no chance...

They deffo need to do a test based on the 3-door though, a totally different floorpan based on the Alfa.

Click to expand...

Are you sure, I thought the 3 door and 5 door stilo where based on the C platform. If its the alfa platform then christ, the Tipo still lives!

There's often not so much difference between 4 and 5 stars though. Like the Ulysse, just down to the seatbelt reminder. I think you also get points for clear reminders/warnings not to use rear facing child seats in front seats etc.
I.e. the actual car is not safer per se, but it's more idiot proof.

It's all still academic if you meet an SUV head on.