There’s big crash test news from the IIHS today showing that automakers could be doing a better job of protecting rear passengers. Plus, we’ve got a big Ram recall, a medium-sized IPO from Zeekr, and a new small Honda Civic Type R race car.
Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday.
There’s Still A Ways To Go For Rear Passenger Safety
As a parent, I’m constantly shuffling my child into the rear seat of my Subaru Forester. Do I think about her safety when I do so? Absolutely. Ok, some days I’m thinking: “OH MY GOD HOW IS IT ALREADY 8:30 WE ARE GOING TO BE SO LATE NO I DON’T CARE THAT THERE IS A ‘LINE’ IN YOUR SOCK YOU ARE GOING TO BE FINE JUST SIT IN THE CAR PLEASE PLEASE. SURE, YOU CAN HAVE A GUSHER. WHERE DID YOU EVEN FIND A GUSHER? YOU CAN EAT A WHOLE BOX. JUST SIT. OK, A BAG, THEY COME IN A BAG. I WAS WRONG!” But most days, it’s the safety thing. [Ed Note: What I wouldn’t give for a Gusher right now… -DT].
I therefore took a big gulp today when I saw the latest test results from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which assessed rear seat occupant protection in a moderate overlap crash (this is crashing into something head-on at a slight offset — 40 percent of the width of the front-end hits a barrier). You can read the report here and see the test above. Here’s IIHS’s summary:
“The original moderate overlap test was our first evaluation and the lynchpin of the Institute’s crash testing program,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “Thanks to automakers’ improvements, drivers in most vehicles are nearly 50 percent less likely to be killed in a frontal crash today than they were 25 years ago. Our updated test is a challenge to manufacturers to bring those same benefits to the back seat.”
The group tested 15 of the most popular small SUVs (that’s what they call them, most of us would call them crossovers) and just two earned a “good” rating: the Ford Escape and the Volvo XC40. The Toyota RAV4 was “acceptable.” The Audi Q3, Nissan Rogue, and Subaru Forester earned a “marginal” rating. The other nine vehicles tested got a “poor” rating. Those were:
- Buick Encore
- Chevy Equinox
- Honda CR-V
- Honda HR-V
- Hyundai Tuscon
- Jeep Compass
- Jeep Renegade
- Mazda CX-5
- Mitsubishi Eclipse-Cross
One of the issues that comes up a lot with rear seat passengers is “submarining.” This is where the lap belt slides up the individual, causing the belt to pull force into a passenger’s abdomen, potentially causing an abdominal injury.
This is important work and there are two key details I want to highlight. First, all of these vehicles would have earned a “good” rating on the previous, less strict version of this test. Second, all of these problems are solvable and IIHs rightly takes credit for pushing automakers to improve their front passenger crash outcomes. Now it’s time for the little (or big) ones in the rear to get the same attention.
“We’re excited to launch the first frontal crash test in the U.S. to include a rear-occupant dummy,” said IIHS Senior Research Engineer Marcy Edwards, who led the development of the new evaluation. “This is a fantastic opportunity to rapidly deliver big safety benefits by adapting technologies that we already know to be effective.”
A lot of the proposed solutions from IIHS seem to be taking front seat technology (like airbags and seatbelt-tensioners) and making them standard for rear-seat passengers.
Honda Gets A New Civic Type-R Race Car
There’s a lot of great racing you aren’t regularly watching. Personally, on most weekends I think the competitiveness of an IndyCar race outshines the typical F1 parade. For overall fun, though, it’s hard to top IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge. Where else in the United States will you see Supras battling Aston Martins in one class (Grand Sport) with Hyundais racing Alfas in the other (TCR)?
It’s extremely fun. Here are some highlights from last year:
One of the most successful cars over the last few years has been the Civic Type R TCR racer, which is built for Honda by JAS Motorsport in Italy. Though these cars start life as Civic Type Rs but get race suspension, a modified race engine, and are completely stripped down to make a pure track car that costs about a quarter-of-a-million dollars. There’s a new Civic Type R and so they just debuted the new race version (albeit in camo for some reason):
“We are delighted and excited to reveal the all-new Honda Civic Type R TCR, designed and built by JAS Motorsport at our specialist facility in Italy, and send our most sincere thank you to Honda for not only continuing to give us their blessing for this project, but for their renewed commitment to customer racing globally through a TCR program that we are incredibly proud to be at the center of. The new Type R TCR features significant enhancements in chassis, engine, suspension, and braking, while we’ve used the extensive knowledge gained through the NSX GT3 and Civic Type R TCR Customer Racing Programs to create our safest and most driver-friendly cockpit yet.” Mads Fischer, JAS Motorsports TCR Project Leader
It’s a little less boy-racer than the outgoing version, but I’m enjoying the rear treatment. Plus, Ryan Eversley is coming back to drive one. Who doesn’t love Ryan Eversley?
Stellantis Recalling 1.23 Million Rams Over Malfunctioning Tailgate
A tailgate has basically two jobs: Stay open and stay closed. The good news about the 2019-2022 Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 pickups is that they’re great at the first job. The bad news is they may have an issue with that second job. Specifically, all Rams from these model years that have the standard tailgate (excluding the Ram 1500 Classic) and not the multi-function one have an issue where the tailgate might just randomly open while driving.
A routine review of customer service records led to a Stellantis investigation that discovered tailgate striker plates on certain pickup trucks may not be sufficiently aligned to accommodate complete closure. Such a condition, if it occurs, may put unsecured cargo at risk of spilling onto a roadway.
Stellantis is unaware of any potentially related injuries or accidents.
Oops! I once loaded up my then-girlfriend’s 1996 Ram 1500 with all the stuff from her dorm and did a remarkably shit job of securing the load and her stuff almost flew out of it as soon as we got on the road. After a quick readjustment and an emergency cheeseburger it was corrected. This was not fun and it’s kind of a shock she married me, so I’d recommend getting the free service if your truck is recalled. Full details here.
Zeekr Files For US IPO
You know who has two thumbs and non-ironically loves the Zeekr 009? THIS GUY! That shit rules. It’s an EV minivan that looks like a cross between a Kia Carnival, a Rolls-Royce, and a Minecraft waterfall. I have already bragged about my successful procreation so, yeah, my dad parts are excited.
As a matter of practice, I don’t invest directly in automotive securities as this would be a conflict-of-interest. I do have money in copper because, well, all this new EV infrastructure is going to need copper, but that’s fairly indirect. I mention all this because Reuters broke the news that Geely’s sub-brand Zeekr is filing for a U.S. Initial Public Offering so it can sell shares here:
Zeekr filed with U.S regulators last week, without providing any details on the size of its IPO or about its listing date, said Geely, which in October had laid out plans to spin off the subsidiary.
Reuters on Monday exclusively reported that Zeekr was aiming to raise more than $1 billion in its U.S. IPO and seeking a valuation of more than $10 billion. That compares with a valuation of about $9 billion in its maiden external fundraising last year.
You should not take stock advice from me (talk to a professional), but on sheer novelty alone I’d love to tell people I was deep into Zeekr. “Oh, you bought Tesla at $300? I bought Zeekr at $17!” I’d brag to them from the 009 I just bought with my sweet, sweet dividends.
The Flush?
This is a multi-parter: How important is a car’s safety rating to you? Do you have kids? Are there cars you wouldn’t put your kids into? [Editor’s Note: Do you think it’s possible to find a partner who would put their kids in, say, a 1994 diesel manual Chrysler Voyager? -DT].
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Photos: IIHS, Honda, Zeekr, Ram
I have one kid.
There are absolutely cars I won’t let him ride in. There are also cars I will not ride in myself, but that’s mostly on an individual car by car basis.
No DT. Aim higher than that for a partner. Once you’re a father you’ll understand that the kids safety is paramount, and you and you’re partner should call each other out on that shit. Parenting is a team sport.
Forgot to answer the first part. Safety ratings are huge for me.
That being said, the best safety feature in any vehicle (car, truck, motorcycle, bike, sidewalk, etc…) is an attentive driver. YOUR safety is YOUR responsibility. My parents drilled that into my head from a young age, and I’m doing the same.
What the hell? How much higher can one aim than someone who wants to cruise around in a diesel manual Chrysler Voyager?!
That’s the summit!
I would definitely think twice about putting them in an Summit, David. They’re so tiny!
2 kids. Anything modern is already safe enough that they’re only able to differentiate levels of safety by perpetually moving the goal posts, as they did here.
This is basically the trick of showing a huge difference in a bar graph because it only shows the range from 96-100 despite being on a 100 point scale.
It certainly does convince people they’re driving death traps, even if their current deathtrap was a top safety pick before they changed the test. People are gullible.
So true. I think safety standards on even the “least safe” cars available in the U.S. started getting more than acceptable 20 years ago. Even in the safest vehicles ever made, there are crashes that you will not survive.
couldn’t be bothered to test the CR-V, HR-V, and Tucson that are currently on sale?
I drive a 1976 Pinto with a SBC. Does that count as safe?
Hell no. But it does sound fun!
Safety third, burnouts firster
Yes I have small kids, no I don’t look at safety ratings. My simplistic thought process being that enough other people care about safety such that it consistently improves over time. Therefore as long as my vehicles are reasonably new (<5-6 years) they are going to be pretty safe.
Safety was a consideration when we bought our cars. Being 11 and 9 years old our cars aren’t exactly spring chickens anymore. Amazingly I did consider rear seat safety when buying mine. It has curtain and bolster airbags on the rear seats. Not many other compact cars did at the time. The seats themselves do a decent job of holding people in place around corners too.
We recently specifically bought a CX-5 because it was one of the top rated crossovers in its class. IIRC it was the only Top Safety Pick+. Sucks that it did bad in the rear passengers but who cares about em’ anyway.
I’m starting to become more conscious of how safe my personal fun cars are as well. Ditched my NA Miata for safety concerns and now I’m not sure how comfortable I am in my S2000. I might be upgrading to a Boxster/Cayman soon, just so I know that I’m still having my fun without being in something wildly unsafe by modern standards.
RE Zeekr “IPO”.
Reminder to all of those who don’t keep up with tedious financial minutae that any Chinese national company does not in fact list it’s actual shares on US markets. They list what are called American Depository Receipts (ADRs), which are actually shares of a different (usually Caymans-listed) corporate entity that in theory have a profit and price sharing contractual relationship with the parent company, but in practice this relationship is untested and subject to the whims of both international financial regulations and the CCP. It was only in August of this year that the CCP even allowed foreign auditors to inspect the books of listed Chinese companies, and it’s too early to tell if those books are actually honest or works of fiction.
Unless you are a Chinese national, buying shares on a Chinese exchange, you are not buying shares of the actual company. Exercise extreme caution.
First child is on the way! My policy when it comes to cars is that we need at least one newer, safe and reliable vehicle for the family while I will drive pretty much anything with wheels. My dad made this mistake so many times when I was a kid, buying crappy old vans for the family and having my mum stuck places with three children… I have vowed to not have the same thing happen.
I’ve never really considered safety with my car purchases; it’s always been my assumption that any new vehicles currently on the market for sale in the US are reasonably safe.
It’s interesting to me that, when talking about “safety” for cars, the meaning is almost always “crash safety” but I’d really be more interested in all those things that prevent a crash — not just help you to survive one. That includes not just fancy gizmos like automatic braking but also simple things like good visibility… and maybe even things like infotainment/climate controls that can be used without taking your eyes off the road.
I’ve become much more safety-conscious in the past few years. Maybe it’s due to seeing the effects of Covid… maybe it’s just me getting older and becoming more risk-averse… maybe a combination of factors. So it’s possible that I’ll weigh safety more highly when I purchase my next car… but because all car crashes are unique, I don’t think *crash* safety will be something that I pay too much attention to. Rather, I’ll be looking at Human Factors type items like ensuring that I’ll be able to operate the vehicle in a natural, distraction-free way.
I won’t have anything without an airbag and ABS as my daily driver. For occasional use, sure. Similarly, I wouldn’t daily a truck from the era before safety standards applied to them. Then again, I pretty much daily an NA Miata for much of the year, and while it is occasionally terrifying, I keep doing it, so…
I don’t have kids, so the rest of it doesn’t really apply to me. I haven’t experienced that feeling of constant anxiety for the well-being of one’s offspring that I’m told comes with parenthood. I have convinced my sister to let me take her young daughter for around-town joyrides in the Miata on occasion, but even I wouldn’t want her in that thing every day.
Safety is one of my top priorities when buying a car. Yes, I have owned a lot of Volvos. I simply won’t buy a vehicle that scores poorly or even marginally in IIHS or NHSTA safety testing. I’m thankful for the folks who do these safety tests and highlight areas for improvement.
“A routine review of customer service records led to a Stellantis investigation that discovered tailgate striker plates on certain pickup trucks may not be sufficiently aligned to accommodate complete closure. Such a condition, if it occurs, may put unsecured cargo at risk of spilling onto a roadway.”
Oh! That’s what I heard this morning; every Ram dealership tech screaming in agony as the recall hit their inboxes.
Guaranteed the book rate on this recall is 0.15 because it’s “re-align tailgate striker.” It’s two bolts! The guy who did it 150 times on a brand new rust free truck with 4 miles on it took 5 minutes! Easy peasy!
Yeah, let me fucking tell you, re-aligning strikers – much less when it’s not obvious they’re misaligned – is a shitshow. Because every single car and truck with miles on it is just slightly different. Maybe a few millimeters, maybe half an inch. And tailgate strikers? Those bolts are always corroded and always insta-strip Torx and always a bitch to drill out.
“I do have money in copper because, well, all this new EV infrastructure is going to need copper, but that’s fairly indirect.”
Just tell them you have money in copper because of the GPU shortage. Or because of wind power. Or because of solar. Nobody will question it.
“Reuters on Monday exclusively reported that Zeekr was aiming to raise more than $1 billion in its U.S. IPO and seeking a valuation of more than $10 billion.”
I’m just gonna check what the IPOs have looked like this year, aaaaaaaaaaaaaand…
… oh dear.
… oh. Oh my. Oh dear.
Well at least EV stocks are…
… oh no.
… that’s, uh, very unfortunate.
Maybe invest in Powerball tickets instead. You might get $2 back out of it.
“How important is a car’s safety rating to you? Do you have kids? Are there cars you wouldn’t put your kids into?”
I’m single, and that’s virtually certain to not change. Just not interested. That said? Safety ratings matter quite a lot to me. I live in a land where we get snow, and where people can’t drive to begin with, and I damn well have noticed the drastic increase in people who don’t fucking turn on their headlights. At all. In pitch black with no street lights, no less.
And because safety directly – very directly – correlates to insurance rates, I pay attention. “Wait, what? How?” The better the occupant safety, the less insurance has to pay out on obscene medical bills. Less paid out on claims, lower insurance rate. Simple as that. It can also correlate to lower repair costs depending how the chassis handles the damage. If the frontal offset doesn’t pop the door off, that’s a few grand less the insurers are paying out when some idiot playing on their cell phone with headlights off plows into you at 7PM.
No kids, but yes, safety is important to me. That’s why I have a nice simple Chevy truck, whose tailgate has been containing the contents of its bed securely for more than thirty years now, because I care about the safety of the cars behind me.
Seriously. How hard is it to make a decent tailgate latch?
The submarining problem is interesting. Why is that a problem in the back seats and not the front? What is different between the belts in front and those in the back that would make submarining more likely in the back?
(serious question)
I think it has to do with the seating position and seat shape. In the backseat your feet are usually straight down instead of in front of you and the seats have less cushioning/more straight lines to them.
Pretensioners.
Safety is hugely important as a parent. Had the whole family in a 2013 GL450 when a guy lost control in a very slick curve coming at us. As important as CRASH safety was stability. I was able to get our vehicle to the right and over a curb before impact so that all bozo did was shear off the entire drivers quarter (including suspension and wheel). From there I was still able to control well enough to avoid heading straight into a large oak tree. Nothing but bruises from the seat belts. That car saved our lives. And we will probably always own a GL/GLS.
My wife and I have 3 kids and she is currently carrying the 4th, I am fighting the minivan fight everyday. I almost have her convinced, but I’m looking at c5 z06’s and that battle I may not win. Safety is pretty much number 1 for the kid hauler, but I have had the older kids in cars with no seatbelts too.
I have 2 boys, both with a bleeding condition. I have never taken into consideration the safety ratings when purchasing a new vehicle. My wife hasn’t let me buy anything too ratty when it comes to used purchases. Other than that, as I tell my eldest, don’t drive like a jackass and be aware of the jackass’ driving around you.
How important is a car’s safety rating to you? Pretty important. I drove two cars that would survive the crash and then host out what remains of the passengers, and sell it.
Do you have kids? Yes. The Cheezits and Goldfish in the rear seat are proof.
Are there cars you wouldn’t put your kids into? Yes. Regardless of safety ratings, a car held together with Bondo and prayers is a no. Outside of that that, I want something with full shoulder belts (retro fitted or came with it).
Hell yeah. I had a brand new car totaled by some jabroni running a red. Thankfully the little ones weren’t in the car at that time.
We are only as safe as those jabronis around the corner. Jabronis busy texting and on Facebook, I reckon.
No kids, and I rarely haul my nieces or my friends’ kids. Safety ratings are not a priority to me, though I would definitely pay more attention to them if they included visibility ratings beyond the inclusion of specific headlights. Sure, it’s nice to know how well the car will protect you in a crash, but not crashing is the ideal. And there are too many modern vehicles that provide poor visibility.
Unfortunately, it appears that including pedestrian safety is largely going to be about sensors and AEB, which is too bad. Those things help, but they aren’t a substitute for seeing what’s going on around your vehicle.
Ironic that the safest crossover is the one most likely to make you wish for death.
My intense hatred of the Escape is well known.
Honestly I’m pleasantly surprised by that tidbit about the Escape. Expected from the Volvo, sure — and their well-known investments in all-aspect safety are why I bought one — but Ford is not known for, uh, rear passenger safety.
I wonder if there is some leftover safety magic when Ford owned Volvo.
The IIHS information is interesting and important. The wife and I don’t have kiddos yet but the goalie is getting pulled soon so all of this is definitely important to us…and it’s a little concerning to see so many well regarded appliance cars like the CRV, CX5, and Tucson receiving poor ratings. If you’re going to frequently have rear occupants this is vital information.
She currently has a CRV and we plan on driving it until either the wheels fall off or it becomes too small for us (the second is obviously more likely because it’s a damn Honda). At that point we’ll likely go up a size since having multiple kids and a dog in pretty much everything listed except a Forester would be a fairly tight squeeze…although my mother in law just got the new CRV and it’s rather roomy for what it is, but it seems as though it did poorly on this measure.
She’s essentially said she wants an XC60 but will consider one out of the Pilot/Passport, Palisade, and Highlander. Fortunately this is probably 2-3 years in the future at earliest and hopefully the market calms down a bit by then…because spending 50-60k on a family hauler is a tough pill to swallow. But man does that XC60 Recharge with the 40ish miles of EV range sure look appealing….but it would also mean I’d probably have to stick it out with Kona N for a few more years and put my V8 luxury sedan dreams on the back burner. Talk about first world problems…
As a sworn Autopian, it’s my duty to yell and scream and throw projectiles at you until you buy a minivan. A Kia Carnival – Hyundai Kona N ain’t a bad two-car garage.
Tell Stellantis to make the Pacifica Hellcat already and I’ll happily go minivan
If you grew up driving 80’s cars the Pacifica feels pretty quick. No kids but I travel a lot. Cruises nicely, low floor my old dog can still jump into, and has almost the same cargo capacity as a Suburban which is about 20 inches longer.
I have driven multiple Pacificas on multiple race tracks and can confirm. It’s faster than you think!
There was that roadkill episode where they resurrected some old amc rally car and took it to a dirt track and their grand caravan camera car was considerably faster around the track.
Modern V6 minivans have 300 hp and are pretty quick…a lot of older “performance cars” would be embarrassed by my wife’s Sienna
Fun fact: As far as I know, not one single person has died in an XC90.
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/motoring/2022/04/01/no-fatal-crashes-in-volvo-xc90-since-2002-release/
That’s insane.
I don’t have kids and the backseat of my car has only held passengers on three occasions, in nearly three years of ownership. For a daily driver, safety is pretty important to me. I drive a 2014 Sportwagen daily, I know it’s not as safe as something built today, but it’s got all the safety features I want. Multiple airbags, ABS, traction control, and a good safety rating when it was new.
My other car is a rusty 1972 Super Beetle, which is only marginally safer than a motorcycle. There’s a reason I don’t daily it, or even take it on the highway much.
You know what doesn’t have a tailgate requiring a software update? A 10th gen F-150
No, but some of the Superduty tailgates had similar issues. https://fordauthority.com/2019/12/f-series-super-duty-trucks-recalled-for-unintended-tailgate-opening/
Hell yeah.
The Zeeker looks like a giant electric razor at the front.
And I am here for that giant razor. Think of all the terrified kids at school as you pull up in that weapon/vehicle of choice. As your van “honorably ascends and descends via ceremony”(see Zeekr article for that quote), you family knows that their vehicle is much better than those Sienna’s. That massive grill known as the “Fountain of Light” will bring stares and envy from all those BMW drivers out there. Only the Silverado’s will be able to outgrill you now.
Those Sienna’s what??