If you’re in the market for an affordable, yet luxurious midsize car that also boasts incredible safety, the 2011 Hyundai Sonata should be a safe bet! The all-new 2011 Sonata has just been named a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Vehicles that earn the Top Safety Pick badge must deliver a ‘good’ rating for the Institute’s front, side, rear, and rollover tests. The vehicle rating also requires electronic stability control.
In 2010, it has become much more difficult for a vehicle to earn the covered Top Safety Pick rating. New IIHS regulations have made the roof strength test twice as stringent as the federal requirement, which has caused some vehicles to fall off the Top Safety Pick list this year.
The 2011 Hyundai Sonata is all-new this year, and it’s no surprise that this new model boasts plenty of safety features. Following in the Genesis’ footsteps, Hyundai has added a long list of safety features on the Sonata as standard equipment. From an ultra-high-strength steel body structure, to advanced airbag technology and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), the new Sonata was “built from the ground up with safety in mind,” according to Hyundai.
As the 2011 Hyundai Sonata begins to arrive in showrooms across the country, Hyundai dealers are having difficultly keeping pace with demand. With its new top safety nod from IIHS, it’s likely that demand for this new sedan will only increase. And with new powertrain offerings expected to come soon, including a Hyundai’s first hybrid model, Alexandria Hyundai dealerships are confident that Sonata’s popularity will continue to grow.
While Hyundai continues to win awards for their latest products, dealers like Pohanka Honda don’t seem to concerned about the Korean brand’s momentum. Instead, unique hybrids like the upcoming CR-Z and improvements to 2011 Accord will likely keep Honda on top, at least for now.
For additional details about the 2011 Hyundai Sonata and its unique safety features, see the official press release below.
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Press Release:
2011 Hyundai Sonata Named ‘Top Safety Pick’ by IIHS
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata joins an elite group of motor vehicles as a “Top Safety Pick” of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
This award is only given to those vehicles that do a superior job protecting people in front, side, rear and rollover crashes. A car’s ability to handle itself in these crashes is determined by how many “GOOD” ratings it receives in each of the IIHS tests. Additionally, the vehicle must have electronic stability control readily available as an option.
Sonata is built from the ground up with safety in mind, with a hot stamped ultra-high-strength steel body structure, advanced airbag technology and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), delivering on Hyundai’s commitment to both active and passive safety technology leadership. Once again every 2011 Sonata has lifesaving ESC as standard equipment. This is important because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that ESC results in 35 percent fewer single-vehicle crashes and 30 percent fewer single-vehicle fatalities in passenger cars.
The Sonata also features a state-of-the-art Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) including Brake Assist and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD). Sonata features six airbags—including dual front, front seat-mounted side-impact, and front and rear side curtain airbags—along with active front-seat head restraints.
While past Hyundai models, such as the Genesis, have been named IIHS “Top Safety Picks,” the standards are higher than ever for 2010, with a roof strength test added to the qualifications. According to the new guidelines, roofs must be more than double the strength of current federal requirements in order to better maintain vehicle integrity in the event of a rollover accident.
Because this roof strength test is so demanding, many of the vehicles that had previously been named “Top Safety Picks” were dropped from the list in 2010. From the 2011 Sonata’s inception, Hyundai engineers carefully considered the importance of roof strength and designed the newest edition to pass this high hurdle set by the IIHS.
The other IIHS “Top Safety Pick” standards are stringent as well — the Institute’s frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. Each vehicle’s overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a dummy representing a 50th percentile male in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.
Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two instrumented dummies representing an average-sized woman, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle’s structural performance during the impact.
Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry — the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck. This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph.
It’s no coincidence that the 2011 Sonata joins company with the other “Top Safety Picks.” During development of the 2011 Sonata, Hyundai did its own crash tests using the same procedures as the Institute. When it came time for the actual IIHS’ tests, the Sonata achieved a “GOOD” rating in every category, reflecting Hyundai’s commitment to safety and engineering excellence.
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