Quote Originally Posted by JPD View Post
... I accept that the model has been tested by many different organisations with differing results. It failed the Euro NCAP crash-test in 2006 as the passenger cell collapsed, but other tests may not have produced the same results. ..... I agree the 2010 Aveo got the top rating in the US NACP as they improved the crumple zone and made airbags standard, but I inferred from the original post that someone couldn't have driven 120k since last year. Sounded like an older model.
Yes, '04 and '05 carry warnings of pelvic injury from the US side impact tests. But the substantial differences between US/Euro frontal tests for '06 are surprising. The Euro NCAP use a different (deformable) barrier and higher speeds than the US tests. Their 64 KPH (~40 MPH) would be roughly 14% faster than the US frontal impact speed. The dominant deficiency in the 2006 Aveo Euro NCAP results was that the driver dummy's chest hit and deformed the steering wheel. I suppose the speed difference could account for why this didn't show up in the US tests, but then I would question any results where a smiley face airbag deploys (see video at above link).

The 2010 Aveo also got top rating in the Euro NACP. In fact, it is the current (10/2011) leader among their most recent tests of cars in its "Supermini" class. See http://www.euroncap.com/supermini.aspx.