“The bodyshell of the new Espace was so strong that the car’s computer decided that the adaptive airbags were not needed“

The crash test was between the Renault Espace – the car that earned itself the title of “safest car ever” when the new 2003 version scored 35.11 points out of a possible 37, achieving five stars and the highest score ever recorded in crash tests undertaken in the Euro NCAP. While the Espace was Fifth Gear’s five-star car of choice, the programme wanted to compare its performance with a Euro NCAP three-star rated vehicle to underline the occupant protection available if motorists choose a top-scoring model.

The current maximum five-star score was introduced in 2001 and to demonstrate the difference between a five-star car and a more common three-star car, the programme crashed two such cars head-on into each other. To save any embarrassment to rival manufacturers it was decided to choose an old Renault instead. But, to get one that performed at three-star level, Fifth Gear had to go out and buy another Espace – only this one was a 1995 model – nearly 10 years old. To make a comparison, the last Chrysler Voyager tested by EuroNCAP was in 1999 and it scored only two stars.

The Megane is one of Renault’s five five-star models New standards for supermini segment Renault will expand its car line-up with the Modus, which it plans to launch in the supermini segment in the autumn following its UK debut at this year’s British Motor Show. Viewed as a higher-range alternative to the long-established Clio, the “small car with a big heart” will, says the manufacturer, set new active safety standards in the sector with its braking system to the fore. The five-door Modus benefits from Bosch 8.0 ABS-EBD technology, new-generation ESP with understeer control and a tyre pressure monitoring system. The Modus will also be available with many active and passive safety features, which will include additional cornering lights – a world first in the small car segment – double-distance xenon headlamps, together with an automatic range adjustment system. Passive safety, which reflects Renault’s acknowledged strategy and expertise in the area, includes numerous strengthened crumple zones, designed to work in harmony with the restraint mechanisms of the manufacturer’s thirdgeneration system for restraint and protection (SRP3). Other safety features of the Modus are its six airbags – including two adaptive front airbags – and front safety belts with load limiters and double pretensioners.

Needless to say, one 30 mph offset head-on crash test later, there was rather more of the new Espace left than of the old one. In fact, the bodyshell of the new Espace was so strong that, although the seatbelt pretensioners fired, the car’s computer decided that the adaptive airbags were not needed at all and the film revealed that the dummy’s face didn’t make contact with the steering wheel. The dummy in the three-star Espace was not quite so lucky and would have needed a wheelchair to get back to the laboratory.

The government is a third of the way through its 10-year target by 2010 of cutting road deaths by 40% and the French manufacturer argues that the landmark would be achieved overnight if all cars were designed to Renault crash safety standards. Renault is the only carmaker that has seen six of its models achieve the highest five-star Euro NCAP rating – the Megane, Scenic, Laguna, Vel Satis and Espace and last month in the latest round of testing the Megane Coupe- Cabriolet – while the Clio and Kangoo have each achieved four-star ratings.

“The car you drive will make a big difference as to whether you live or die following a major accident. It’s as simple as that”

To provide consumers with independent comparison information, the Euro NCAP organisation was set up to crash test all types of cars and publish the results (see www.euroncap.com). Government figures reveal that in 2002, the latest year for which statistics are available, a total of 3,431 people were killed in road accidents in the UK and 35,976 seriously injured. A Renault spokeswoman says: “The car you drive will make a big difference as to whether you live or die following a major accident. It’s as simple as that. “A simple way to achieve the government’s 10-year reduction target would be to have every car perform at the level of a five-star Euro NCAP car as suggested by Renault back in 2001.”

On 29 November 2001, when the Laguna became the first car ever to score the maximum five-star Euro NCAP score, it was estimated that “the UK’s declining road death rate could be reduced by a further 40% if all cars matched the safety of the Laguna”. Gradually, that is happening as more cars score that once elusive five-star score, but out of the several hundred models on sale in the UK there are still only 24 cars that reach the maximum five-star score – and five of them are Renaults.

The Megane is one of Renault’s five five-star models

The latest Megane is the only mid-size car to score five stars; the new Scenic was the first mid-size MPV; Laguna led the charge back in 2001; the luxury Vel Satis tops the executive class; but the champion is the new Espace launched last year which still holds the title of safest car on the road with its maximum five-star score. One chart-topping car might be a fluke but for six out of 24 of the five-star Euro NCAP cars to be Renaults, there must be a reason, argues the company. The spokeswoman says: “There is – it’s called lots of money and expertise. Renault spends significantly more money on safety research and development than most other car companies – £70m every year.

“Consequently, it brings innovations to the market. Recent ones include the first seatbelt load limiter (1995), controlled deflation frontal airbags (1997) and, one of the reasons for the five-star performance of the current range of cars, the third generation adaptive system for restraint and protection (SRP) that remains unique in the market. It is adaptive depending on the severity of the impact and can choose between two different size airbags with double seatbelt pretensioners.”

Specialist magazine Auto Express summed Renault’s safety record up in a sentence: “No other manufacturer has done as much work across the range on safety.”