The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has given its Top Pick award to 6 more SUVs after a brilliant performance in the crash test evaluations. The winning six are, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Kia Sorento, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Venza, GMC Terrain, and the Chevrolet Equinox.
In order to gain this prestigious award, the six had to be tested on their front, side, and rear impact ability, as well as a roof strength test to simulate a roll over, something SUVs can be prone to do. Despite the IIHS giving these six strong ratings, they did warn that other popular SUVs lack the proper roof strength.
The highest rating went to the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, followed closely by the Kia Sorento and the Toyota Highlander. The GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox did well, but only models made after March of 2010 got the Top Pick award. This is due to a number of modifications made during the production run.
Some other SUVs that were tested include the Ford Edge, which had an acceptable roof test, the Honda Accord Crosstour, Honda Pilot, Mazda CX-7, Mitsubishi Endeavor, and the Nissan Murano. All five of those vehicles showed enough flex to be rated marginal, the second lowest score.
The Jeep Liberty and the Dodge Nitro did well in the rollover test, but only received a marginal rating in the side impact category. As a result, they failed to win the Top Pick award.
The Grand Cherokee, Equinox, Terrain, Highlander and Venza join the Dodge Journey, Lexus RX, Subaru Tribeca and Volvo’s XC60, and XC90 as Top Pick winners.
The IIHS said that it has more SUVs to test so the list might get a little longer.
Posted on
02.27.2011 @ 23:16