2007 Tundra Falls Short in NHTSA Frontal Crash Test Rating

By: Mike Levine

Posted: 03-16-07 18:36 PT

© 2007 PickupTruck.com

Page: [1]

In what may turn out to be a significant marketing and sales blow to the biggest vehicle launch in Toyota's history, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released its frontal impact crash test ratings for the new 2007 Tundra full size pickup - only four out of five stars for driver and passenger safety. NHTSA tested the Regular and Double Cab versions of the Tundra, with the same four star results.

In the same test, the all new 2007 Chevrolet Silverado scored five out of five stars, matching the same five star scores previously earned by the current Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram 1500 pickups for driver and front passenger safety in a frontal impact.

Article continued

What vehicle these days doesn't get 5 stars? That's pathetic! I mean, yes, some don't, especially the cheap cars, but a brand spanking new vehicle on a brand new platform should be able to get 5 stars.

Maybe since it has a bigger engine it got going faster and the crash was more violent

I'm sure most cars are pretty similar in terms of safety in real-world crashes. Apparently you can both wrap a GTO around a pole at 70MPH and flip it five times and walk away from both.

NHTSA's frontal test is sketchy and antiquated... I'm more interested in the faster IIHS offset results.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/16/toyota-...rontal-crash-t/

the #~50, long, comment has to be the best to sum up the squabling everyone else was doing

Oh no, this makes me sad. See my tears? I'm really sad.

"Sketchy and antiquated"? It's the very same test all the domestic competition aced. That's apples to apples testing. The Tadpole has a soft head, just like its buyers.

Ohh what's that sound, it's my legs breaking as I wreck in my Tundra! Ouch!

Edited March 17, 200719 yr by Pontiac Custom-S

Apples, tadpoles and soft heads , way too much for me to think about on a Saturday!

You mean the hair isn't a force field?

Hey. I think, I've been merged! And no the hair is not a Force Field, it's a cushion!

Edited March 18, 200719 yr by Pontiac Custom-S

All I gotta say!

tundra

ugly

overpriced

cheap interior

unsafe

ugly

TOYOTA DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ TO BUY OFF THE CRASH TEST DADDIESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The difference could also be as small as one-percent, however, so this news may not be as significant as it sounds at first blush.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA cry ass babies

Edited March 18, 200719 yr by regfootball

Tell us how you really feel regfootball.

it was sad at the auto show today. seemingly half of toyotas floor space devoted to the TURDRA.

trying SO hard, they are

it's just nice to see recognition that Toyota is not Jesus Christ on four wheels.

i hope this is slathered ALL OVER THE PRESS. If I were Chevy's boss, I would be on the phone with my ad agency right now getting a commerical ready to air next week on the march madness games.

There is NO WAY toyota can spin this in any postive way. They had better not even try, it would just make it worse.

Really all you need to do is look in the interior of the Turdra to see how stupid toyota is about this. There is PIANO BLACK trim all over the inside. No one wants PIANO BLACK inside a pickup. It get's scracthed, smudgy, WTF?

The Ford and Chevy are both great trucks. I am not a Dodge fan, but folks swear by them. The titan was a reasonable first try, but I'm not a fan. Toyota has tried REALLY hard. But i think they need to do their homework some more. And next time, don't make it ugly!

Edited March 18, 200719 yr by regfootball

Ohh what's that sound, it's my legs breaking as I wreck in my Tundra! Ouch!

Is that before or after the steering gives out?

NHTSA's frontal test is sketchy and antiquated... I'm more interested in the faster IIHS offset results.

At least someone is thinking before posting. It would be quite funny to see the Tundra earn a "good" or "best pick" rating from the IIHS which does have a harder crash test.

sciguy... all of the domestic competition aced this government test. The foreign truck, Tundra, got a worse rating. The testing is done in a controlled manner for comparative purposes.

2007 Tundra Falls Short in NHTSA Frontal Crash Test Rating

By: Mike Levine

Posted: 03-16-07 18:36 PT

© 2007 PickupTruck.com

Page: [1]

In what may turn out to be a significant marketing and sales blow to the biggest vehicle launch in Toyota's history, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released its frontal impact crash test ratings for the new 2007 Tundra full size pickup - only four out of five stars for driver and passenger safety. NHTSA tested the Regular and Double Cab versions of the Tundra, with the same four star results.

In the same test, the all new 2007 Chevrolet Silverado scored five out of five stars, matching the same five star scores previously earned by the current Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram 1500 pickups for driver and front passenger safety in a frontal impact.

Article continued

Ahh good so Toyota isn't perfect! GO

Now if we could just get GM to market the hell out of this...

ford already has a truck commercial talking about its fully boxed frame and makes a big shot at the competitions (toyota's) 3 sided frame....LOL

Like I said, you'll prbably see a nice chevy commercial about this this weekend when you are watching march madness.

Edited March 20, 200719 yr by regfootball

Toyota: Moving in the wrong direction

And so begins....Toyota's downfall due to being arrogant and all I have to say is....

Ohh what's that sound, it's my legs breaking as I wreck in my Tundra! Ouch!

Heh. Reminds me of the tests they ran in the late 90s (I think it was) between Chev, Ford and Dodge extended cab trucks...and the driver of the F-150 got impaled by the steering column as the truck's frame proceeded to fold in half.

I just read Motor Trend's blatantly mismatched Silvy/Tundra comparison (pitting a 5.3L chev vs a 5.7L tundra and still crowing that the tundra could out-perform the chev with a 6.0L...wtf?). Too bad these results weren't in for that one...

Meh..

It'll get MINIMAL media exposure and even if it does become known you'll have the army of sympathy saying things like "Well, technically, it might only be a fraction of a point..."

Give me a break! Toyota failed, GM succceeded, end of story. Some people just can't accept that, it's like swallowing a bag of nails.

But I agree, this is just another crack in the base of Toyota and another sign that they're sliding in the wrong direction now. The problem is, it'll take the general consumer another 10-12 years to realize this (Just like it took them 10-12 years to fully abandon the domestics)

I don't think Toyota is going to let it deteriorate as easily as GM did.

Perhaps. Toyota doesn't have the legacy costs that GM/Ford currently do, and if they can avoid having that in North America they may not run into as deep trouble; however, a bloated bureaucracy is a bloated bureaucracy and a company that has been expanding for as long as Toyota has may find it difficult to put the brakes on and deal with a stagnant market share.

Frankly, I am somewhat surprised at the number of very public screw ups Toyota has commited in the past 18 months or so. We can debate the value of the frontal crash tests, but the ugly truth is that for a truck that is supposedly state of the art to fail this test is beyond being a joke - it is sad.

Toyota is the King of PR Spin and this is just another stupid mistake that could have been avoided.

I cannot believe toyota brought a C-channel frame to market under the tundra! 15 years of reverse-engineering the class leaders and they still cut corners. No wonder it got lagging crash test results!

I cannot believe toyota brought a C-channel frame to market under the tundra! 15 years of reverse-engineering the class leaders and they still cut corners. No wonder it got lagging crash test results!

take a look under the superduty Fords

How many stars for a Super Duty in this test? I'm curious.

And what is the thickness and beam height on the SD vs. the tundra?

What part did the open frame on the toy play in it's crash rating?

My '40 Ford has a C-channel frame, but I'll bet the toy doesn't match it's .42" thick steel or it's towing/cargo capacity.

Point is- with the class leaders (Ford & Chevy/GMC, not sure what Dodge is packing) having boxed frames, toyota needs to at least match this feature if they want to begin to make serious inroads into the segment.

At least there is an explanation.

``Safety is important, but it's not a very big part of the truck market,'' Kwong said. ``They want to haul stuff, carry stuff.'' said Bill Kwong a spokesman for the company's U.S. operations in Torrance, California.

The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker graded the Tundra at five stars in internal tests using NHTSA standards, he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=asia

At least someone is thinking before posting. It would be quite funny to see the Tundra earn a "good" or "best pick" rating from the IIHS which does have a harder crash test.

Why?

NHTSA's frontal test is sketchy and antiquated... I'm more interested in the faster IIHS offset results.

Why?