IIHS - Small SUV Roof Strength Results

[pow]

Given the reputation of the manufacturers and the relative ages of the SUVs, not really a surprise here... apart from maybe the CR-V.

Volkswagen Tiguan - Good

Subaru Forester - Good

Honda Element - Good

Jeep Patriot - Good

Suzuki Grand Vitara - Acceptable

Chevrolet Equinox/Torrent - Acceptable

Toyota RAV4 - Acceptable

Nissan Rogue - Acceptable

Mitsubishi Outlander - Acceptable

Honda CR-V - Marginal

Ford Escape/Mariner/Tribute - Marginal

Kia Sportage/Hyundai Tucson - Poor

http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr032409.html

Quite a difference... a one-year old German car:

And a four-year old Korean car:

[CSpec]

Wow, the Tiguan barely looks touched. Car safety is certainly advancing at a rapid pace.

[Intrepidation]

Holy crap, it looks like a small dent and a ew scratches. the will buff right out.

That's cool that you could roll your car over and it wouldn't get totaled. Kudos to VW.

[Intrepidation]

empowah, where did you find the photos? I can't find them. Their site blows ass for easy of navigation.

[longtooth]

Should result in a sales up-tick for KIA (appropriately named) since their just announced 'burial/life support assurance' will doubtless be a winner for parent Hyundai.

[pow]

empowah, where did you find the photos? I can't find them. Their site blows ass for easy of navigation.

They were released by IIHS to media outlets - I got them from Autoblog.

Photos won't be helpful, because they crushed the roofs on all cars by 5 inches. What varies is the amount of pressure needed to crush the roof by 5 inches.

The Tiguan and Sportage were used for demonstration purposes. In those pics, both were subjected to 15,000 lbs.

The Tiguan needs 22,000 lbs of pressure to lower the roof by 5 inches (strength-to-weight ratio of 6), while the Sportage needs only 9,250 lbs (SWR of 2.5).