The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently put new products from Toyota and Nissan through its rigorous crash testing procedures, and all earned the organizations highest marks.
Among these vehicles: the all-new 2010 Lexus HS 250h. Toyota’s luxury division brought this mid-size hybrid out this late last year to some controversy, as the car wears its Toyota Prius underpinnings a bit too close to the surface—but without showing enough of a family resemblance at the gas pumps. While the Prius leads the industry with EPA ratings of 51/48/50 in terms of city/highway/combined mpg, the Lexus goes a relatively disappointing 35/34/35. But the HS 250h didn’t disappoint the IIHS, achieving a good rating in frontal crash protection.
Also getting a good rating for frontal crash protection was the redesigned Toyota 4Runner, one of the few body-on-frame SUVs of its size remaining on the market. At 189.9 inches it’s about a foot longer than the Chevrolet Tahoe, for example. The Toyota’s most similarly sized SUV rivals—not crossovers—are the Ford Explorer (193.4 inches), Jeep Grand Cherokee (186.7 inches) and Nissan Pathfinder (192.3 inches).
Despite recent negative exposure, Woburn used vehicles specialists weren’t at all surprised to see that Toyota models are still on top in terms of accolades. The brand has worked quickly to improve flaws in its products, and will likely maintain their edge in safety.
Coincidentally, it was another product from Nissan—Infiniti to be exact—that recently received good ratings from the IIHS in both side and frontal crash protection: the next-generation 2011 Infiniti M. In fact, the ratings apply to both the M37—boasting a new 3.7-liter, 330-hp V6—and the M56, which rocks a big 5.6-liter V8 that makes 420 hp. Notably, despite this kind of power, the ’11 Ms are also more efficient than the 2010 models. The M56, for one, sees a 4-mpg increase in its EPA highway rating, now up to 25 mpg. Nissan Service Worcester also sees Nissan products continuing this trend of improving fuel economy throughout their lineups.
Although the largest of Infiniti’s crossovers was not included in this latest batch of testing, new Infiniti QX Worcester consumers have been drawn to the V8-powered behemoth for its incredible safety performance and features.
(Note: The Toyotas have not gone through IIHS crash testing at this time.)
The new Infiniti M sedans go on sale this spring; the Toyota 4Runner and Lexus HS 250h are available now.
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