Subaru Legacy Earns Top Rating in High Speed Crash Tests
12 April 2000
Subaru Legacy Earns Top Rating in Latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety High Speed Crash TestsCHERRY HILL, N.J., April 12 Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA), a pioneer of crossover all-wheel drive vehicles designed for the active lifestyle, announced today that the 2000 Subaru Legacy has earned the highest rating among seven midsize four-door cars subjected to 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. The tests were conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Legacy received the highest possible rating - "good" overall evaluation for crashworthiness -- as well as a "best pick" designation from the Institute. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashworthiness ratings -- good, acceptable, marginal, or poor -- are based primarily on performance in the 40 mph frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier. Designed to measure the amount of intrusion in a driver-to-driver front-end collision, the frontal offset test is especially demanding of the vehicle structure. The test enables the driver's side of the front-end of vehicle to hit a barrier, forcing a relatively small area of the front-end structure to manage the crash energy. Therefore, there is a greater likelihood of intrusion into the occupant compartment than in a full width test. "Good structural design is the key to good performance in the offset test," says Institute president Brian O'Neil. "The occupant compartment, or safety cage, of the Legacy held together extremely well, and most injury measures recorded on the crash test dummy were low. Lower intrusion measurements indicate a vehicle's safety cage and crumple zones are doing their jobs." An innovative new Ring-Shaped Reinforcement body structure provides the 2000 Subaru Legacy models with outstanding protection in a wide variety of collisions, including frontal offset, side and rear. Additionally, Subaru has engineered Legacy models with a high level of side impact protection, equipping each door with two safety beams, reinforcing the shoulder area of the front doors and incorporating one beam in rear doors plus a stronger wheel arch. "Safety, performance, confidence and control are characteristics associated with every Subaru we build including Outback, which is based on the Legacy platform," says Subaru of America, Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer, George T. Muller. "The offset test is an important factor in the development of all Subaru vehicles, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety test results reinforce our commitment to providing occupants with a great level of protection in the advent of a collision." The 2000 Subaru Legacy earned the highest rating among other cars tested including the Pontiac GrandAm/Oldsmobile Alero, Nissan Altima, Mazda 626, Saturn LS, Chevrolet Malibu and Daewoo Leganza. Full results of the tests are available on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Web site at http://www.highwaysafety.org. The 2000 Subaru Legacy sedan lineup includes the well-equipped L, with a base suggested retail price of $19,125; the responsive GT for $22,795 and the luxurious GT Limited at $24,295. The stylish and practical Legacy wagon line includes the value-driven Brighton, the enhanced-equipment L and the GT. About the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety For over 30 years the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been a leader in finding out what works and doesn't work to prevent motor vehicle crashes in the first place and reduce injuries in the crashes that still occur. The Institute's research focuses on countermeasures aimed at all three factors in motor vehicle crashes (human, vehicular and environmental) and on interventions that can occur before, during and after crashes to reduce losses. In 1992 the Vehicle Research Center (VRC) was opened. This center, which includes a state-of-the-art crash test facility, is the focus of most of the Institute's vehicle-related research. The Institute's affiliate organization, the Highway Loss Data Institute, gathers, processes and publishes data on the ways in which insurance vehicles. About Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered near Philadelphia, the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of nearly 590 franchised dealers across the United States. All Legacy and Outback models sold in the U.S. are produced at the company's American manufacturing plant, Subaru-Isuzu Automotive, Inc., near Lafayette, Ind. Over the past six years, the company has nearly tripled its revenues and seen its sales increase by nearly 50 percent thanks to its popular line of car-based sport utility vehicles. The company is among the fastest growing brands in the automobile industry and was recently named "Most Improved Car Company in the World" by the London-based Financial Times Automotive World Magazine. CONTACT: Richard Marshall of Subaru of America, Inc., 856-488-3327, rmarshall@subaru.com; or Rob Moran of Ruder-Finn, Inc., 212-593-6444, moranr@ruderfinn.com, for . Subaru of America, Inc.