Toyota C-HR adds to list of top performers

ANCAP SAFETY, Australasia’s independent voice on vehicle safety, today confirms a five-star safety rating for the new Toyota C-HR available in Australia and New Zealand.

The all-hybrid line-up demonstrated solid safety performance assessed against 2023-2025 rating criteria, with the Toyota C-HR becoming the first model to be assigned a 2024 datestamp.

Strong scores were shown by the Toyota C-HR in destructive crash tests, with maximum points scored for the driver in the oblique pole and side impact tests. Mixed results were shown in the frontal offset (MPDB) test, with Good performance recorded for driver and passenger head and upper leg protection, Adequate protection for the driver and front passenger lower legs, and Marginal protection for the driver’s chest. The MPDB test also assesses the potential risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle if hit by the test vehicle through a ‘compatibility’ assessment, and the C-HR demonstrated a relatively low risk, with a modest 1.69 point penalty (out of 8.00 points) applied.

In addition to vehicle structure, the full width frontal test is designed to assess the performance of occupant restraints and airbags - particularly for smaller occupants - and the Toyota C-HR achieved full points for driver and rear passenger head and neck protection. A Marginal score was recorded for the chest of the driver and rear passenger. The small female dummy seated in the rear seating position was observed to slip beneath the lap section of the seatbelt in this test – known as ‘submarining’ – and a 4.00 point penalty was applied.

Examining Child Occupant Protection, good scores were achieved for the child dummies in both the frontal and side impact tests. The rear seat design and positioning of child restraint anchorages also saw the C-HR earn maximum points for its ability to safely accommodate the full range of baby capsules, child restraints and booster seats in all rear seating positions.

Following an increase in ANCAP’s five-star score threshold for Vulnerable Road User Protection in 2023 (threshold increased from 60% to 70%), the C-HR comfortably achieved a score of 86%. This was boosted by the C-HR’s pedestrian-friendly front bumper design, and its ability to detect and either avoid or mitigate crashes with pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists in a range of on-road emergency braking and lane-keeping scenarios.

The Toyota C-HR is fitted with an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system and lane support system (LSS) capable of detecting and reacting to other road users. Full points were awarded for the C-HR’s car-to-car AEB performance including head-on emergency braking scenarios, and LSS performance.

Driver monitoring (DMS), child presence detection (CPD) and cyclist anti-dooring systems are some of the newer aspects introduced into ANCAP’s 2023-2025 assessment criteria, with the C-HR offering each of these safety systems as standard. Vehicle submergence countermeasures are also assessed, and the windows and doors of the C-HR were shown to remain functional beyond the two-minute requirement if the vehicle was submerged in water.

“The Toyota C-HR offers a balanced level of protection for occupants and those outside the vehicle, as well as through its active collision avoidance capability putting in squarely above the five-star threshold for all four areas of ANCAP assessment,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

Full details on the performance of the Toyota C-HR can be viewed here.

RATINGS PUBLISHED TO DATE AGAINST 2023-2025 CRITERIA

The Toyota C-HR becomes the 11th new model to be assessed against ANCAP’s current 2023-2025 rating criteria. Of these:

• Eight models scored 5 stars
• One model scored 4 stars
• Two models scored 0 stars

“It is great to see the majority of models rated against our most stringent criteria yet reaching and exceeding five-star thresholds,” said Ms Hoorweg.

The following chart features each of the 11 new models rated by ANCAP to current 2023-2025 rating criteria, and their corresponding scores in each pillar of assessment.