Opel Insignia Euro NCAP rating

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General Motors announced today the Opel Insignia Euro NCAP rating and the fact that it has received almost a perfect score: 35 points out of a maximum 37. The Opel Insignia Euro NCAP rating is five stars for the adult occupant protection, four stars for child protection and two stars for pedestrian protection. The Opel Insignia also received a good rating for its head rests for protection against whiplash.

Some of the safety systems featured by the Opel Insignia include two-stage front airbags, Thorax-Pelvis-Side airbags, Side air bags in the back and Head-curtain airbags.

Opel Press Release:

With an exemplary result of 35 points out of a maximum 37 and five stars for the adults occupant rating, the European traffic institution Euro NCAP confirms the safety of the Opel Insignia concept. The Insignia also is awarded four stars for child protection and two stars for pedestrian protection; the best ratings given so far in the large family car segment. The independent institute has earlier confirmed the high quality of the Insignia’s head rests for protection against whiplash.



“We designed, engineered and build the Insignia to be one of the safest cars on the road and the way it performed in the Euro NCAP tests confirms the relevance of our technical solutions,” says Hans Demant, Managing Director of Opel and Vice President of Engineering for General Motors Europe. A safety concept praised by the 59 European journalists who elected the Insignia “Car of the Year 2009”.

The design of the body structure and occupant restraint systems of the new Opel/Vauxhall midsize is intended to meet all current and anticipated crash safety standards in Europe but

all around the world. The car thus offers optimal protection in all “real life” situations.

Beside a strong body structure, the safety equipment of the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia includes up to 8 airbags, new active head restraints in the front and double belt tensioners front the front passengers. Looking at the active safety equipment, the OpelVauxhall Insignia offers ABS with numerous assistance functions, traction control (TCPlus), new generation ESPPlus as well as Adaptive Brake lights. Furthermore, a selection of optional equipments can enhance stability and

assist the driver like Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL+), Adaptive 4x4 or the Opel Eye camera system.

An extremely strong passenger safety cell

The basis of passive safety in the Insignia is a rigid passenger cell mainly fabricated from high strength steel. To absorb the impact energy in case of a crash, the front, side and rear of the passenger compartment are surrounded by crumple zones that deform and protect in a controlled manner. At the front, three distinct loads paths are designed to absorb and channel impact forces: the front sub-frame, the longitudinal members carrying it and the upper rails leading into the lower A-pillars. At the rear, two more

longitudinal members are linked by the aluminum bumper beam. In the event of a heavy rear-end impact, these are designed to buckle and deform in a progressive manner, channeling crash energy towards the lower C-pillars, wheel arches and floor. For side impact protection, where there is little scope to engineer a substantial crumple zone, the side body structure is designed to spread loadings. The doors have steel reinforcing beams that are now mounted diagonally. This layout proves to be more effective in engaging the B-pillar, side sill and the floor and roof cross-members as a single network to bear the load bearing task.

Measures for pedestrian head impact protection included providing adequate clearance for all hard points under the hood, and also the adoption of a “soft” hood design, with wide openings in the inner skin to provide flexibility as well as stiffness.

High level of passive safety

With its six airbags standard and the optional rear side airbags, the Opel/Vauxhall insignia offers optimal protection.

Two-stage front airbags: Together with the seat-belts pre-tensionners, the dual deployment of the front airbags ensure optimal protection in case of an accident: During a relatively mild impact of about 30 km/hour only the first phase of the airbags are released. The second phase with full deployment will occur in case of a more severe frontal impact.

Thorax-Pelvis-Side airbags: These airbags are so positioned that passenger hips during side impact are well protected – a situation which through the relatively deep collision point were not simulated by standardized Euro NCAP side impact tests.

Side air bags in the back seats are available in the Insignia.

Head-curtain airbags on the roof rails covering the entire glass surface. The contour of the airbags moves so far inwardly that it also protects small passengers like children 12 years and older.

Numerous restraints systems

Seat belts tensioners and head rests of the new generation contribute to the high level of safety offered by the Insignia.

New front active head rests have been developed for the insignia. Whiplash is the most common occupant injury suffered when the car is hit from behind.
Three height-adjustable head rests in the rear
Seatbelt warning signals in front and optional for rear seats (in combination with rear side airbags)
Three-point safety belts all around
ISOFIX child seat fixtures on all three rear seats
Doubled belt tensioners in the front seats: Load limiters and two pre-tensioners are fitted to each front seat belt, providing effective tightening of the belt over the shoulder and the occupant's lap.
Specially-developed child seats: The Opel Child Seats offer particularly good protection in the case of side impact. It is especially important for the engineers that the seats are easy to operate so that they really will be used. Next to the legally required ISOFIX lock, Opel Child Seats come with an extra top tether, with which the seat can be anchored to the back site of the Insignia’s back seats in order to prevent an unnecessary fall forward. Opel safety experts recommend only using Opel Child Seats in Opel cars, because they have been made especially for these cars.
Pedal Release System (PRS); in case of a serious frontal collision, the brake and clutch pedals are released from their fixed position, thereby reducing the danger of injuries in the legroom area.
In case of severe collision (with airbags deployment) the hazard warning lights automatically switch on and the doors automatically unlock for easy access to the vehicle.

Active safety equipments of the new generation

The purpose of all the previously mentioned items is to prevent or to reduce the risk of injury in case of an accident. But before this happens, an array of equipments aims at reducing the risk of an accident, those are part of the active safety equipment:

Anti-lock braking system (ABS) with electronic brake force distribution, cornering brake control, comprehensive brake assistance system, comprised of an emergency brake assistance, hydraulic brake fade assistance, brake disk “cleaning” (in wet conditions, short brake impulses “clean” the brake disk to improve rapid brake power availability) and hill start assistance.
Electronic Stability Program (ESPPlus) intervening on up to three wheels.
Traction control (TCPlus) with engine and brake intervention.
Adaptive brake lights that warn vehicles driving behind the car if it brakes suddenly or if ABS intervenes at speeds above 30 km/h. All three brake lights then flash at a frequency of five hertz and continue flashing for three seconds after the car comes to a stop
The Opel Insignia able to see potential dangerous situations and warn its driver

In addition, a number of options can enhance stability and assist drivers. They include:
Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL+) cornering light system, in which the car’s headlamp beam automatically adjusts to prevailing road and weather conditions. The AFL+ now has a total of nine light functions so drivers can see the road better while, for example, turning a curve or driving on a country road at night. In addition, daytime running lights, including automatic light switching, are standard, improving the car’s visibility during the day.
The Opel Eye camera system has two jobs: It can warn drivers when they unintentionally veer off the road and it can detect and recognize traffic signs. In this way, drivers are given added assistance without interference.
FlexRide. Opel’s mechatronic chassis system with its Adaptive Stability Technology helps the car adjust automatically to prevailing driving conditions.
Adaptive 4x4 improves the traction on take-off as well as on slippery surfaces. Equally important, it was designed to make the Insignia move more dynamically as well as optimize handling and stability in all driving conditions. In combination with the Sport trim, the SWD system is enhanced by an electronically controlled Limited Slip Differential (eLSD), which further enhances the traction and improves vehicle stability.
The Tire pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) warns the driver if pressure in any of the tires drops below the recommended level. A warning message then illuminates in the main instrument display.
Trailer Stability Assist. When equipped with the foldable trailer hitch, the Insignia comes with the Trailer Stability function offering optimal stability to the trailer.

More on the Opel Insignia Euro NCAP rating

About the Opel Insignia:


2008 Opel Insignia
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Source: Opel