GM's response to the 4 star crash test???

[AZCamaroFan]

4 Stars is good, but i was suprised it wasn't even better , considering the weight of the car.

[DDustiNN]

I am wondering about this too... I thought I kept hearing "5-star rating" from the get-go, so this kind of surprised me.

I got hit pretty hard in the side, and it definitely earns its 5-star rating there. I didn't have single scratch or bump on me. 4-star isn't exactly bad, but this is in the front, which you have much more control over... Not bashing anyone, I'm just saying if you're careful you will be fine. I think it's much more rare to be in a front-impact accident that's not your own fault...

EDIT: On another note... Are car manufacturers usually obligated to provide a response to this issue? Or is this just something you were curious about?

[04ssSilverado]

don't know the whole story,but why would children be driving a camaro? not smart.

[DDustiNN]

Originally Posted by 04ssSilverado

don't know the whole story,but why would children be driving a camaro? not smart.

I'm sure he meant as passengers...

[Mr. Wyndham]

These star ratings were always a secondary issue for me. Some lady at an auto show told me she would never buy the CTS we were looking at because it didn't score 5-stars in every category...I couldn't believe how serious she was...Heck, the Cobalt I drive is rated at threes and 4s or something like that. "average". It could have scored 2s and 1s and I still would have bought it.

In my very humble opinion, you're not playing bumper cars, so the best way to prevent injuries is to accident prevention: pay attention and drive safe. If you do that, you don't need to worry about stars.

Plus -- having "5" stars is not the be-all and end-all of safety. It doesn't tell the whole story, and it doesn't mean anything beyond comparing how car 'A' compares to car 'B' when hitting the same wall @ 40mph (or whatever speed). They don't measure what happens when car 'A' hits car 'B' @ a combined 80mph or more.

For what it is, the car scored pretty darn well. Some 5s and some 4s. Give it another year or two and they'll no doubt tweak some things to get a comprehensive five-star rating...though it won't matter on anything other than paper....

[katman]

I can appreciate your concern regarding 4 stars instead of 5 stars in the head-on crash test. There is a government crash test and a insurance institute crash test which is more stringent. I would bet that the Chevrolet engineers are frantically trying to analyze the data to see what changes are needed to qualify for 5 stars. My bet is that there are small changes, at little or no cost, that will advance their results to 5 stars. The insurance institute's crash test is a very tough offset head-on crash test, which represents the greatest chance of death. Very few deadly crashes are a true head-on, most tend to be offset head-ons.

[katman]

Plus this is a first year model of a projected 4 to 6 year run without major changes. You can be sure that Chevrolet will get their 5 stars, this is their savior product, which will catapult their future vehicles such as the Volt.

[bob2the2nd]

okay someone correct me if im wrong but i thought one of the reasons this car weighed so much is because they were going to make sure it was 5 star all the way around?

dont get me wrong i think this car is a beast and absolutely love it, but if you're going to put everything you have into a car you might as well go all out.

you dont need to try and sell this to the enthusiasts because they have already bought one, you need to sell it to the recently married couple where the husband wants a sports car and the wife says no because it isnt safe/doesnt get good fuel mileage/etc

oh yeah i havent had my car for 2 months and have 7000 miles on it.. i love it. the end, i just want to bring up a point

[dursin]

On the subject of crash safety...this accident involving a Challenger happened last week. Crash was allegedly at 100+ MPH and all occupants of the Challenger walked away.
http://www.courier-journal.com/artic...uto+dealership

...unfortunately the people in the other vehicle weren't so lucky. :( I think the angle the other car was hit at probably negated any crash test rating/safety feature on that car. Sometimes it doesn't matter how safe the car is if you're hit the 'wrong' way.

If you click the photo gallery, you don't get to the Challenger pictures until around picture 15.

[The_Blur]

I've gone over this issue in the past. In summary, a 5-star rating today could very well be a 2-star rating in a couple of decades.

[dursin]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

I've gone over this issue in the past. In summary, a 5-star rating today could very well be a 2-star rating in a couple of decades.

Wouldn't that make a 4 star rating today a 1-star rating in a couple of decades?

[jayson71]

Wife was hit by one of those idiots you mentioned. She was stopped he was going ~70MPH. She walked away fine, PISSED but fine. The car is okay in my book. BTW, we got a 2SS now.

[Super83Z]

So I guess the kids already don't go in the Z06 or the 70 vette, so whats one more car they don't go in?

[trm0002]

Originally Posted by jayson71

Wife was hit by one of those idiots you mentioned. She was stopped he was going ~70MPH. She walked away fine, PISSED but fine. The car is okay in my book. BTW, we got a 2SS now.

Hey- save the GM chicklets. They survived the crash and someday will be a collector's item. See- they get a 5-star rating.

As for the rest of the car, a little Zaino here, a little touch-up paint there...



Damn- glad your wife was ok.