SUBARU’S LATEST Liberty and Outback  family cars have passed ANCAP’s rigorous crash testing program with flying colours, each scoring a full 5-Star safety rating.

Both Liberty and Outback received 34.8 points out of a possible 37 for occupant protection, and also scored three out of four stars in pedestrian impact testing.

Both cars scored highly thanks [...]

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THE MERCEDES-BENZ VITO has been declared the safest commercial vehicle on sale in Australia, after scoring a full 5-Stars in the Australian New Car Assessment Program’s rigorous crash safety test.

This puts the Vito (and its passenger-hauling sister, the Viano) ahead of the Hyundai iLoad, Volkswagen Caddy and Volkswagen Transporter, all of which have 4-Star ANCAP [...]

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Structural improvements and the addition of side-impact airbags as standard across the updated 2009 Barina hatchback range, introduced in August, are paying dividends for Holden. The recent announcement that the Daewoo based small-car has achieved a commendable four-star ANCAP crash rating is the result of Holden’s efforts to improve the safety credentials for its smallest [...]

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Many of you will know that commercial vehicles often come with a range of compromises between price, comfort, performance, practicality, and, unfortunately, sometimes safety as well. Volkswagen however has recently pulled a double in that two of its commercial vehicles have achieved solid four-star ANCAP ratings. First it was the Transporter, and now it’s the [...]

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While the FG Falcon may be facing an uncertain future - what with flagging sales, the axing of its evergreen 4-litre six and the prospect that it may become a front-driver - for now, at least, it’s still proving its worth as one of Australia’s best-built cars.

At the recent Automotive Engineering Excellence Awards conducted [...]

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It might be facing trouble in the form of declining big-sedan sales, but Ford’s latest iteration of the perennial Falcon sedan has carried out a major coup by attaining the first ever 5-star ANCAP rating for an Australian-built car.

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Ford’s FG Falcon is officially the first Australian-built car to score a five-star Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) safety rating. The home-grown Falcon achieved the score in the latest round of ANCAP testing.

A five-star rating is as good as it gets and puts the Falcon ahead of its local rivals, including the VE Commodore [...]

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More power but still not enough gears

The Holden Astra range is receiving a handy horsepower boost as part of its recent mid-cycle makeover. The new engine is Euro IV compliant and although capacity is unchanged at 1.8-litre power is up from 92kw to 103kw while torque has increased by 5Nm to 175Nm.

The more powerful engine [...]

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The Subaru Tribeca has an ANCAP rating of 5 and if you watch the video you will see why. A sudden stop from 64km/h is impressively shrugged off with virtually no change to the structure of the passenger cell. Click on the links to see videos of the TK Barina and Toyota Yaris being crashed [...]

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Compare this crash test to that of the TK Barina. Notice how the roof of the Yaris holds its shape and the passenger cell is largly unaffected. Always a good sign. The Yaris has a 5 star ANCAP rating.

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Watch the video to see why the Korean sourced (Daewoo) TK Barina is cheaper than its rivals and only has a 2 star ANCAP rating. Then compare the damage to that seen in the Toyota Yaris and Subaru Tribeca videos. Ouch…

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