Holden Colorado fails roof crush
The Holden Colorado workhorse ute has failed a critical safety test to determine its roof strength.
It received a “marginal” rating in the latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety roof crush test program in the United States. The Colorado - sold in North America as a Chevrolet - also rated “poor” for side impact protection despite having side curtain airbags as standard. In Australia, the Colorado has neither curtain nor side torso airbags.
The GM pickup was one of five utes that underwent roof strength and side impact testing. Nissan earned the highest rating of ‘good’ for its popular Navara, while the Ford Ranger was ‘acceptable’ for roof crush protection. The Navara is the only pickup in the group to earn the highest rating.
The two other utes were the Toyota Tacoma and Dodge Dakota, which are not sold here. The rating is based on institute research that shows occupants in rollover crashes benefit from stronger roofs.
Vehicles rated good must have roofs that are more than twice as strong as the minimum required under US safety standards. “As a group, small pickups aren’t performing as well as small cars or small off-roaders in all of the institute’s safety tests,” according to the institute’s senior vice president David Zuby.
“None of the ones we tested is a top-notch performer across the board.” In the US rollovers are much more common for off-roaders and pickups than for cars. Almost half of all pickup occupants killed in crashes last year were in utes that rolled over.
This compares with 58 per cent of deaths in off-roaders and 25 per cent in cars. In the roof strength test, a metal plate is pushed against a corner of a roof at a constant speed.
New ute rollover standards are now being phased in for the United States that will require manufacturers to increase the roof strength. Both the Navara and Ranger also achieved a ‘good’ rating for side impact.
In the US the Navara has standard head curtain and side airbags while the Ranger has a combined head and torso side airbag. In Australia neither the Navara or Ranger are available with curtain or side airbags. The Colorado is sourced from General Motor’s Thailand factory.