Top ANCAP scores for Polestar 4 and Subaru Forester

Three more cars have undergone crash testing by ANCAP recently, the Polestar 4 and Subaru Forester registering five-star ratings. The wee Hyundai Inster compact city car managed a creditable four stars.

You’d expect the Polestar 4 to do well, being a close relative to safety-oriented Volvo. Its lowest score was 79 per cent for safety assist, its highest 92 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection. It scored full points for driver protection in the side impact and oblique pole crash tests. Full points were also awarded for the adult passengers in the frontal offset and full width frontal crash tests. Again, maximum scores were recorded for protection of child occupants (87 per cent) in the frontal offset and side impact crash tests. The vulnerable road user score was 81 per cent.

“Establishing a solid product line-up, this five-star rating now sees the Polestar 2, Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 all carry the top level of safety,” said Carla Hoorweg, ANCAP Chief Executive Officer. 

Subaru Forester

New Forester in both hybrid and petrol configurations reached five-star thresholds “with ease across all areas of ANCAP’s assessment”. Child Occupant Protection and Vulnerable Road User Protection were standouts with scores of 91 per cent and 86 per cent, respectively. The score for adult occupant protection was 83 per cent. Maximum points were awarded for driver protection in the destructive side impact, oblique pole, and full width crash tests. 

“The new-generation Subaru Forester extends the model’s impressive safety lineage, achieving five-star safety with strong performance across the board” Ms Hoorweg said. This also continues Subaru’s legacy of all models achieving five-star ANCAP safety ratings. 

Hyundai Inster

The compact Hyundai Inster received a four-star ANCAP safety rating. It performed well in collision avoidance tests but its crash protection attributes – how well the vehicle’s structure and airbags protect occupants – are what held the Inster to a four-star rating.

That was mainly on account of its threshold-matching score of 70 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection. However, it managed a better 83 per cent score for Child Occupant protection. And Inster offered a reasonable level of performance for avoiding incidents, with a Safety Assist score of 69 per cent. Its Vulnerable Road User score was 70 per cent.

“Smaller vehicles, by physical size, are at a disadvantage out on the road. Having a well-rounded level of structural safety as well as the ability to avoid a crash is critical for those looking to purchase a smaller vehicle,” said Ms Hoorweg.

Inster is still being assessed by Hyundai New Zealand for the local market.