The Volvo S60 has scored the top rating in a new ‘small overlap frontal crash test’ devised by the North American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The crash test is designed to simulate the common front-corner collision with another vehicle or objects like a power pole or tree. In the test, 25 per-cent the car’s front corner (drivers’ side) hits a rigid barrier at 64km/h.
With only minor intrusion into the passenger cell, the Volvo S60 performed best in the test. Volvo says the result is thanks to reinforcement of the upper chassis rails and a steel crossmember below the instrument panel.
In fact the safety-conscious Swedish giant has been performing similar tests at its R&D facility since the 1980s and the results of these tests have influenced the designs of new Volvos for some years.
