How Safe Is The Lingo

[hertsnminds]

As shown on ITV's This Morning programme today

http://www.itv-thismorning.co.uk/NewsAndFe...x?fid=734&tid=2

 

Which Magazine rated the Lingo as the worst small MPV for safety...

SMALL MPVs - WORST - Citroen Berlingo Multispace- score 7.5, **** stars

- In the front crash, the driver's chest contacted the steering wheel, for which the car was penalised

- Structures within the dashboard represented a potential hazard to the knees and femurs of both driver and passenger.

- The leading edge of the bonnet is very unforgiving to pedestrians in an impact.

The item said Which did not use the same critera as Euro Ncap. Wonder why the Pug and Fiat equivalent models were not mentioned?

 

Ian

Black 55 VTR+

[Terry1100]

I'm not prepared to take seriously any comparison which puts the Blingo in the same category as the Touran.

 

The rock bottomest price for a Touran is pushing £15 grand and it goes to over £20 - plus an extensive (and expensive) options list - you've got to be trying fairly hard to pay over £10 grand for a Blingo.

 

I would expect a lot more for that kind of money - I know that I'm buying a van with windows and I'm happy with the limitations that come with it.

 

I would like to see Blingo vs Kantgo and Doh-blo

 

That would be fairer.

[hertsnminds]

Well like all surveys not very conclusive

http://www.which.net/motoring/p10-15_car_safety.pdf

 

They place the Doblo which does not have stability control as an option with an NCAP 3/1 stars (oocupant/pedestrain) 3 places higher in the rankings than the Lingo which can have optionsal ESP and gets 4/2 stars from NCAP.

 

Ian

Black 55 VTR+

[Terry1100]

My C2 seems to come out better than I would have expected - I wouldn't fancy crashing it :D (mine doesn't have ABS let alone ESP despite being an SX)

[ian_c]

I don't hold too much respect for which reports, they like to sensationalise to justify their existance...

 

I've seen A-class hit an S-class head on, and it's amazing how well the sandwich floor concept works, so I have no concerns about the Vaneo.

 

I will say ESP was a factor in it's purchase though, no-one chooses it on the berlingo so forced me to consider new only so I could add it.

 

I could buy the vaneo 2nd hand knowing it would have it.

[DesdinovaUK2]

I started an earlier thread about the Euro NCAP results which were

 

4/5 for adult protection, 3/5 for child protection and 2/5 for pedestrian protection.

 

For comparison the Doblo is 3/5, 3/5 and 1/5 the Kangoo 4/5, 2/5 and 1/5

[Terry1100]

Which means that in a like for like comparison, the Blingo still rocks :D

 

All the more impressive when you consider just how much R*****t bang on about the NCAP ratings for their cars.

[northman]

Interesting thread.

 

Personally, I think that the Which ratings are more helpful than NCAP ones - partly because Which take extra factors into account, and partly because their ratings allow one to compare cars across different categories, whereas NCAP do not.

 

What I noticed in the Which? article is that most of the vehicles that are rated are fairly new - almost nothing from before 2000, mostly cars that have come out in the last 4 years. And of course we all know that there has been a huge improvement in crash-worthiness of vehicles in the past dozen years - as our society becomes more paranoid - sorry, I mean safety conscious - and concerned about litigation.

 

As for the Berlingo, it is basically an old design. My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that while the 2002 facelift did improve crash-worthiness to some extent, it was largely just a facelift, and the Berlingo remains basically a 10 year old design. The new Scenic and Zafira, are, by contrast, brand new cars - like the Touran, Mazda5, etc.

 

And me? Well, I'm driving a pre-facelift Berlingo, so I guess that by Which standards, I'm driving a real deathtrap. But then that's what my parents and grandparents always drove, and I always survived, so I don't let it worry me!

[Terry1100]

For a real life example, a kid in a Saxo hit the o/s/f of our Blingo at an unfeasible speed recently.

 

The Saxo bounced backwards across the road and had to be lifted and shifted away to the great scrapheap in the sky.

 

Despite the fact that our Blingo had taken the impact directly on the wheel which transmitted the shock right through the steering and suspension, it still drove home (took 5 weeks to get it back though - but no write off) Surprisingly little panel damage as well.

 

For the record, obviously it was the wife driving - I wasn't even present.

[ian_c]

Now the saxo 106 *is* a deathtrap, I've seen a couple in accidents and they are not pretty. I had a saxo, a lot of fun, but I would not have another without a cage welded to the front turrets.

[tronboy]

"Which?" is shyte. Full stop.

 

I've never again trusted the 'consumer' magazine since it did a test of 20-odd CD players in 1989 stating that "since they all sound very similar, we've concentrated on convenience of use and features".

 

They also rated the 2CV as being less safe than a Lada.... Ignoring the predictable (if jaunty) safe handling of a 2CV and the rear-wheel drive oversteer that the tank-like Lada displayed at any given opportunity.

 

What toss.

 

TronX

[tronboy]

:D