k.alali

2013 Mercedes Benz C-Class W204: C250, C300, C350, C63 AMG
NHTSA Side Pole Crash Test

A small-sized adult female crash test dummy is placed in the driver's seat and is secured with a seat belt. The test vehicle, angled at 75 degrees, is then pulled sideways at 20 mph (32km/h) into a 25-cm diameter pole at the driver's seating location. This test mimics a side impact crash involving a narrow, fixed object like a utility pole or tree.

cyberorth

Checkmate

ibmb

They just uploaded a front test for 2013 C-Class.

bhamg

For some reason I got no audio on that pole crash video over my phone so I don't know the result. It looked like very bad news for the driver though.

220S

It may have looked bad on video but apparently it's not the case in the test. It received a full 5 stars (click on the side crash tab and then scroll to the bottom of the page for the pole crash results) http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shop...vehicleId=7243

Overall the car has a 5 star rating by the NHTSA.

bhamg

That's great to hear...that vid pretty graphically demonstrates the value of side and head (curtain) airbag systems.

220S

btw, you can download .pdf files of both the frontal and side crash test data. The tests were performed by Karco Engineering in Adelanto, CA (east of Lancaster.) The reports are over 100 pages long and complete with detailed photos of before and after. There's hardly any intrusion by the doors to the driver's body; it may look bad on the video but the chassis absorbed the energy from the impact. The driver's pelvis didn't touch the door. It's pretty amazing to see the energy absorption by the car. None of the doors separated from the door hinges or latches.

And after the crashes, they mount the cars on a static rollover frame to test for any fluid leakage. The testing protocol and the amount of miniscule data is pretty interesting.

Download the test data here:

side impact test:
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/databas...e=v&tstno=8079

frontal impact test:
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/databas...e=v&tstno=8080

otakki

That's good infos. I'm having a hard time finding similar .pdf files for the current (W212) E-Class. Could you please put up a link to those and where I need to go to search other cars?

220S

The current W212 is not yet tested under the newer and more rigorous testing protocol (started in 2011.) But the earlier tests of the 2010 W212 can be found here:

frontal test
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/databas...e=v&tstno=6822

side impact (the pole test is only with the newer testing)
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/databas...e=v&tstno=6814

For other newer cars (after 2011) and under the latest NHTSA testing, look here: http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shop...Newer+Vehicles