The new Opel Karl, aka Vauxhall Viva, has been awarded 4 out 5 stars in Euro NCAP safety tests. We figure the General can live with these results given the fact that the Karl’s main competition received similar scoring.
According to this Automotive World report, the European Spark didn’t do so well in the frontal offset test, or side pole impact. In the frontal offset test the head had bottomed out, and in the side impact pole test the chest area was exposed. The report also states that, “chest protection offered to the rear small female passenger dummy in the latest full-width rigid barrier test was also weak while the driver slipped under the seatbelt, resulting in elevated risk at knee and femur injuries.”Â
The Karl was criticized for its lack of Autonomous Emergency Braking, but the point of this car is to offer a rather basic and simple car at an affordable price. The addition of excess technology would hike up the costs, thus mitigating the car’s purpose. Plus, with a car so small, come on.
Not the best safety review we’ve ever seen, but it’s far from the worst. As we mentioned, this is a pretty good rating for the city crawler. A reasonable expectation for such a tiny car with a 1.0 liter three-cylinder engine, wouldn’t you agree?
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