Currently reading: Stability test results published
EuroNCAP starts testing stability control - Subaru Impreza and Alfa Mito criticised

Safety organisation EuroNCAP has begun testing stability control systems on cars.

The initial 40 cars tested all passed the test, although the Subaru Impreza and Alfa Romeo Mito were criticised.

The Impreza drew criticism because it thought the system could be knocked off accidentally without the driver realising.

EuroNCAP also noted that when the Alfa Romeo Mito’s three-mode steering system – DNA – was set to Dynamic mode, the car failed the test.

Robot-driven vehicles were subjected to a double lane change at 50mph to determine the effectiveness of the ESC system.

UK based research concluded that vehicles featuring ESC were 25 per cent less likely to be involved in a fatal crash - the equivalent of approximately 380 fatalities per year.

Alex Kersten

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LFB 29 March 2010

Re: Stability test results published

I'm sure our professional VAG marketing man will be along in a minute but I thought that various forces overrode engineers high speed stability concerns, and thought a spoiler would ruin the look and affect sales or something..

Thats a bit different from from ESP though, it was a mechanical design fault. Its all very well being a driving God if your rear wheels are barely touching Earth as you lift off at Autobahn speed.

Dan McNeil v2 wrote:

Ah....but: why did the all-conquering, all powerful, utterly perfect Audi put such a killer of a car on the market in the first place?

Answer: a) they knew the original TT was flawed, but they put it on the market anyway, which made them a teeny bit uninterested in their customer's health, or...

Answer b) they didn't know the original TT was flawed, which made the mighty Audi incompetent.

Which was it?

LFB 29 March 2010

Re: Stability test results published

Thanks for that, the full article was an interesting read.

Their summary conclusions were that the car was :A strong perfromer, with a well chosen set of gear ratios. They reported that it had excellent maneuverability with very agile cornering. They also reported that the braking was very effective and stable.

They did also report that taking a tight hairpins on the limit against oncoming traffic might not be a good idea!

Full (slightly gibberized, slightly funny) translation here:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/einzeltests/alfa-romeo-mito-1-4-tb-16v-italienischer-mini-im-test-691483.html&ei=1qKvS-ywJ8z24AaXpry-Dw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA4Q7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DItalienischer%2BMini%2Bim%2BTest%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US

nicksheele wrote:

Have just read an online report of a test of a Mito 1.4 TB 16V by Auto Motor und Sport:

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/einzeltests/alfa-romeo-mito-1-4-tb-16v-italienischer-mini-im-test-691483.html

Dan McNeil v2 29 March 2010

Re: Stability test results published

nicksheele wrote:

tannedbaldhead wrote:
any comment on the number of deaths attributed to early spoilerless Audi TTs and their predisposition to park themselves up trees when driven round gentle Autobahn curves at high speed?

none, except Audi rectified the problem,

Ah....but: why did the all-conquering, all powerful, utterly perfect Audi put such a killer of a car on the market in the first place?

Answer: a) they knew the original TT was flawed, but they put it on the market anyway, which made them a teeny bit uninterested in their customer's health, or...

Answer b) they didn't know the original TT was flawed, which made the mighty Audi incompetent.

Which was it?