[SugarRushMurano]

(UPDATED) Murano rollover and frontal crash test...

New article in CNN today:
CNN article on rollover

And murano crash test result for those who never see this one:
Murano crashed


PS:
COPERKATS, thank you for your correction.
Sorry for the slow update

 

[HwnMurano]

These crash tests figured into my SUV buying plan as I considered several different makes and models before buying my MO.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is also another crash test resource. check this out.

Link to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Crash Tests

 

[9495]

Oh for crying out loud. I can't believe a Ford spokesperson actually SAID this. Obviously they don't put a lot of faith on the driving ability of their owners.

<snip>
Kinley said the test has the vehicle make hard turns in one, then the other direction in an effort to avoid a theoretical obstacle. She said most drivers would only turn in one direction in that case.

"Not many human beings would even be able to do this maneuver in an accident avoidance move," she said.
<snip>

This IS an avoidance move! If you swerve around something, that usually puts you in a lane that you are not intending to be in. You have to get back. Not only is that what you usually want to do, it's more of a reflex!

Way to take initiative of the issue, Ford, and blame the drivers rather than the crappy performance of your product. Geez.

~ Corin

(Wow, I'm kind of in a ranting mood today, aren't I?)

 

[GMTURBO43]

Speaking of rant...

I think a lot of it is drivers. I agree with what you say is that 90% of drivers probably would make the turn back into their lane - of course that is if they DIDN'T hit the car/semi/dog in the other lane.

However, drivers have become too dependant on the safety features built into vehicles. It seems as though the mentality as gone to "It's okay - I had Subway." But more like "It's okay - I have ABS." Or "It's okay - I have 26 airbags that will deploy, smack me in the head, suffocate my child, render my passenger's right arm useless and clean out my shorts after they pop up and make it so I have no clue as to what is going on around me."

Well, all these safety features make people feel safe - more relaxed if you will...

Is that really what we need?

 

[turbodog]

Reminds me of the old (Gallagher?) bit "imagine how carefully and politely we would all drive if the driver was strapped to the front grille"

My rant is, all the SUV rollover stats are based on single-vehicle accidents. HELLOOO! "single vehicle accident" is just a polite way of saying 'driver f&%$ed up'! The drivers in these stats have already demonstrated they failed to drive within limits imposed by the road conditions, their vehicle and/or their driving ability. Plus, over half were not wearing seatbelts, and alost half involved alchohol..... but the VEHICLE is blamed.

Now, on the other hand, those offset frontal crash pics of the prior generation F150's ARE scary.

 

[GAMacky]

This thread just reminded me of the styrofoam filling the entire interior of the crashing cop car in "Demolition Man"...:21:

 

[jimb]

I can attest to the crashworthiness of the Murano. My wife survived a head-on into a tree at 40 MPH in her '03 and she's in an '04 now -

 

[GripperDon]

500+ Hic Drivers side is not great

I sure would have expected to see hic's in the 250 to 350 range with pretensioners, load limiter and dual stage airbag. THe MO must be stiffer than expected even considering the short hood. OR the Driver Air Bag was late filling or it's pressure is too low and the driver bottomed out and went "thru" the bag hitting the streeing wheel.

The peak head G's of 115+ shows the head hit something hard and if you look at the side view of the crash you can see the dummy has slipped way down. So KEEP THAT SHOLDER BELT TIGHT and the anchor point height adjusted properly. ALSO if possible keep your seat adjusted as far rearward as reasonable for your arm length.

I really am dis appointed those head G's peak should be at least down to around 40-50.

 

[Gonzo]

Re: 500+ Hic Drivers side is not great

So KEEP THAT SHOLDER BELT TIGHT and the anchor point height adjusted properly. ALSO if possible keep your seat adjusted as far rearward as reasonable for your arm length.

Just where is the anchor point height suppose to be set to? I've set mine so it is slightly above my sholder. Is this correct? I don't recall seeing anything in the owners manual. It basically just states to "adjust it to a position best for you".

 

[zebelkhan]

With my recent eperience, I now know why Murano got a high rollover rating.

With the defect in its steering, once you turn the steering wheel hard to avoid an obsticle, you are unable to turn it back quickly, therefore you cannot easily create a condition for a rollover. However, you can easily end up off the road or hit something else in another lane!

 

[GripperDon]

Shoulder belt adjustment

I adjust mine so that it is just riding on the scapula ridge but not on the throat. For me this makes sure that it has less likelyhood of riding out to the distal end by the sholder.

Also the best crash results will usually be gotten with the lap portion snug, This may feel disagreeable at first but for me it shortly becomes good to be firmly anchored to the seat. I always give a firm pull on the sholder portion to get the slack out of the lap section of the belt.

 

[dklanecky1]

With my recent eperience, I now know why Murano got a high rollover rating.

I believe that they don't actually drive them until they rollover, so the theory on the steering defect having anything to do with the rollover rating wouldn't be accurate.

I believe that the rollover rating is a mathmatetical calculation of the vehicles weight, height, width, length, and center of gravity.

Anybody else have any more information on how the rollover rating is calculated?

 

[zebelkhan]

I believe that they don't actually drive them until they rollover, so the theory on the steering defect having anything to do with the rollover rating wouldn't be accurate.

I believe that the rollover rating is a mathmatetical calculation of the vehicles weight, height, width, length, and center of gravity.

My remark really meant to be sarcastic. In fact, I agree with you. It would make sense to use the physical properties of vehicles (size, weight, etc.) and a constant set of parameters (Mechanical condition, road condition, etc.) in a mathematical calculation to arrive at rating conclusions. Given that however, in real life, these results are only good if the constants are the same for all. Here we have another constant being introduced (MO’s steering defect) which is unique only to MO (as far as I know) and it can and it will change the results if there was an actual test.

 

[senza]

I recall seeing pictures of "roll over tests" many years ago relating to the old Suzuki "jeeps" and their rollover problems. They had 4 wheels mounted well out and up from the road. They created rollover conditions, lifting 2 wheels well off the ground until the other wheels would touch preventing a rollover. This probably was a test related specifically to this vehicle only.

 

[dklanecky1]

I recall seeing pictures of "roll over tests" many years ago relating to the old Suzuki "jeeps" and their rollover problems. They had 4 wheels mounted well out and up from the road. They created rollover conditions, lifting 2 wheels well off the ground until the other wheels would touch preventing a rollover. This probably was a test related specifically to this vehicle only.

I remember that one well! It was on the cover of a Consumer Reports magazine.

 

[ToddEichel]

IIHS test

In the IIHS frontal offset crash test at 40 MPH, the only category that the Murano didn't get a "Good" was head and neck, which was an "acceptable." The MO still earned a best pick, however. Here's what they had to say about the head and neck injury:

"... However, head acceleration was high when the dummy's head bottomed out the airbag and hit the steering wheel, indicating the possibility of head injury. At the same time, a moderately high tension force on the dummy's neck indicates the possibility of neck injury."

So it looks like making sure your seatbelt is properly positioned on your shoulder is definitely a must. Even with that, though, it's still much better than most on the road, hence the best pick.