Small car ( Hatchbacks ) Reviews and ratings

Another review and rating guide from Canstar Blue . I’m glad Suzuki were rated at number 2 . I have owned 7 of them in the last 6 years ,purchased for business and private use . Currently I drive a Suzuki Baleno GLX Turbo Sport . I would not say I’m a fan boy though . :smile_cat:

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Though if buying secondhand this list may frighten many (the list was updated 7/Sept/2017):

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I too have a small Suzuki - the performance of which I find most entertaining, but it’s luggage capacity is small and it only has two wheels :wink:

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I’m rather keen on Suzuki 4 stroke marine out boards too .

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Even less luggage space and fewer wheels. Another

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The way Melbourne’s traffic is getting so congested this might be the way to go .:scream_cat:

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Back in the day I had a Suzuki 2 wheeler . Had a 3 cylinder engine in a sort of V configuration . About 350-375CC I think . Went well . Great bike .

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Two wheels is fine where I am - no traffic to speak of and lots of road, so commute and day trips to ‘cleanse the soul’. Luggage-wise I can fit a phone and a wallet under the rear hump - and whatever else has to be strapped onto the bike or me - but it makes up for that by being zippy, 0-100 in 2.5-ish :slight_smile: Not sure I’d like to run it in the big smoke …

Digressing - my VW Shopping Trolley rated well in the used car ratings - but so it should, with a 0-100 measured in months !!

Do you believe the used car safety rating. I ask as my current car had a higher rating than now. When i look recently ot has had a poor rating. I can only think that reviews have changed because crash tests came out worse then when i first bought the car

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Some of the changes come from new Tech and fittings that get added to cars to make them safer to drive. New things like forward traffic collision avoidance, side air bags, crumple zones, cabin strengthening all add to better and safer cars. What years ago may have received a 5 star rating may only now be a 4 or 3 star rating compared to the latest models.

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Well yes true because not many cars that are based on the current rating had the highest star. I remember more cars had better ratings. Maybe ill stick to my intuitive ideas.

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Also, standards and expectations of safety change every year.

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The simple answer is the two ratings use two different systems.

The crash test rating when the vehicle was new is based on a laboratory (physical) crash test with the famous ‘crash test dummies’. This provides a standardised assessment which is useful when comparing similar classes of vehicles.

The crash ratings for older (vehicles) are based on analysing real crash data. Lives lost, injuries sustained, traffic accident analysis to categorise the types of impact and forces.

Important to note, as more data is added to the historical record the relative ratings of a vehicle model and year may change.

How these safety ratings are calculated (per RACQ)

Records from over 8 million vehicles in police-reported road crashes in Australia and New Zealand between 1987 and 2016 were analysed by Monash University’s Accident Research Centre. The ratings were calculated using an internationally reviewed method and are influenced by the vehicle’s mass, the structural design of the body, and the safety features fitted to the vehicle, such as airbags and types of seat belts.

Each of the driver protection ratings in the 2018/19 update has been recalculated based on the most recent crash data available so they are not comparable with the ratings published in previous years.

Note: being real life assessed the used vehicle safety ratings also include some bias due to usage, driver groupings and age reliability. EG the earlier model Toyota Prius had a significant market in the Taxi industry, hence very high relative use per vehicle, high urban lower speed environments and debatably a more experienced driver base. Refer to the Monash test reports to draw your own conclusions.

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