Subaru Legacy and Outback, Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring new IIHS Top Safety Picks

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) on Aug 27th 2009 at 6:29PM

Four 2010 model year vehicles have just been awarded Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Subaru's Outback and Legacy, the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler's Sebring. Top Safety Picks are given to those vehicles that come equipped with electronic stability control and receive front, side, and rear crash test ratings of 'Good' in IIHS testing.

The Legacy has boasted a 'Good' rating for a few years now, while the all-new Outback takes the cake on its first try. The Sebring and Avenger continue their runs of 'Good' form in their current generations.

[source: IIHS]

Source article: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/27/subaru-...ler-sebring-ne/

Chrysler should run with this ASAP. They don't have too much else to run with...

i have a new appreciation for the sebring avenger. never buy one new, but they are incredible buys used. the interior is cheese and they drive like crap, but they are not bad. just slightly behind the curve. i could prob stomach an avenger for a couple years. I like the dash layout and its fairly spacious in back. its a nice tweener size.

The R/T drives pretty well...none of the Sebrings do though. Wish Chrysler would shove some better interiors into the cars.

This might be the first positive press I've seen about these cars.

You might be right.

Although C&D did say the Avenger was put together better than the Camry, and drove better too.

You might be right.

Although C&D did say the Avenger was put together better than the Camry, and drove better too.

Don't recall that.. I've never looked closely at the Avenger, but had a Sebring convertible rental last year. Pleasant enough to drive, but oh, the interior and the lack of trunk space (with a giant trunk lid)...just seemed very cheaply put together....

It was in one of their midsize sedan shootouts.

I drove an Avenger R/T once. Handled pretty well and had resonable pep,, and the interior was well put together...but man was it cheap.

In the Sebring's case it's probably a much safer car simply because people stay away to avoid getting the ugly on them.

The Avenger and Sebring are really nice looking cars. Id consider buying one.

I like the Avenger. I think the Sebring's main problem is those giant headlights. Smaller headlights, more like the Airflite's, would have made the car much better looking, imo.

The Chris-Craft hood and "fake" roofline at the C-Pillar don't help the Sebring either.

The Chris-Craft hood and "fake" roofline at the C-Pillar don't help the Sebring either.

I agree, it's too bad that more and more cars, like the Cruze, think its a good idea to have it.

In the Sebring's case it's probably a much safer car simply because people stay away to avoid getting the ugly on them.

YOU LOSER! YOU BEAT ME TOO IT--When I read the topic that was the FIRST thing that came to my mind! LOL

how fast is the avenger R/T? is it less than 6.5 in the sprint? might be a nice stealthmobile.

No it's not. It's about 7 seconds. But then it makes less horsepower and torque than my 3.5 does. That's just pathetic really.

my avenger is still serving me well with no problems since the day i drove it off the lot

You might be right.

Although C&D did say the Avenger was put together better than the Camry, and drove better too.

Cool! I'll bet some people at Toyota were pissed about THAT!

Chris

No it's not. It's about 7 seconds. But then it makes less horsepower and torque than my 3.5 does. That's just pathetic really.

yeah but isn't the R/T AWD?

Currently driving one from work...Reddish 08 SXT. 4cyl auto...not Chrysler's shining moment.

But...its fine and economical in normal use, and for 10k w/warranty....

The only deal killer would be the rear corner/C blindspots...4 dr sedan record awful...