Honda’s 2005 Acura RL Gets Top Grades on Safety Tests
Honda Motor Co.’s 2005 Acura RL sedan won the top grade of five stars on all five crash and rollover tests conducted by U.S. auto safety regulators, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday.
It was the third vehicle to earn the highest ratings in such tests. Ford Motor Co.’s Volvo S80 and Lincoln Town Car/Ford Crown Victoria from 2003 through 2005 received five top grades in previous tests.
In the latest tests, Ford’s new Five Hundred sedan and the similar Mercury Montego received five stars on four tests.
The agency tests new models and redesigned vehicles. Crashing a car into a fixed object gauges effects on drivers and passengers. A side crash test, using a sled that strikes a vehicle, assesses injuries to passengers in the front and rear seats. A rollover rank is calculated using test track performance and a formula based on vehicle width and height.
The agency did 13 crash tests and issued 29 rollover ratings. General Motors Corp.’s new Pontiac G6 won five stars in the front test for driver and side crash for rear passengers, four stars for front passenger and three stars for the driver side test. Toyota Motor Corp.’s new Scion tC had a single five-star grade and three with four stars. The only other five-star grades in the rollover rankings went to Ford’s redesigned Mustang and DaimlerChrysler’s new Crossfire coupe.
None of the vehicles in any test received fewer than three stars, the average grade on a scale of one to five stars. The Five Hundred’s grade on the rollover test was four stars, the same as 20 other models in that test.
The agency gave five-star ratings to the Ford Freestyle minivan for both side tests. The Volvo V70 and similar XC70 station wagons won five stars on both front impact tests. Their side test ranking is under review and wasn’t released.
