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Mercedes-Benz M-Class Rated as 'Best Pick' in Sport Utility Crash Tests

15 July 1999

Mercedes-Benz M-Class Rated as 'Best Pick' in Sport Utility Crash Tests M-Class Sport Utility is a Top Performer in High-Speed Crash Test

    MONTVALE, N.J., July 14 -- The Mercedes-Benz M-Class has been
rated a "Best Pick" among popular sport utility vehicles in a rigorous series
of high-speed crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety.  Among the 15 SUVs subjected to a 40 mile-per-hour offset crash, none
scored higher than the M-Class.
    Test scoring used three major criteria: intrusion into the occupant
compartment, injury measurements on a Hybrid III dummy in the driver's seat,
and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the vehicle restraints
limited dummy movement.
    All passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. must pass a 30-mph crash into a
wall, and since 1978, the federal government has been conducting similar
"flat-barrier" crash tests at 35 mph to compare vehicle safety performance.
The frontal "offset" crash represents the majority of serious real-world
frontal collisions.
    Not only do crash forces increase dramatically when collision speed
increases another five miles per hour, but also less than half of the vehicle
width collides with the barrier in an offset test.  Offset crashes increase
the chance of intrusion into the occupant safety cell, and can indicate how a
vehicle will perform in a worst-case accident scenario.
    While the Mercedes-Benz M-Class protects its occupants extraordinarily
well, the M-Class is also built to be friendlier to the other vehicle as well.
Designed to be compatible with passenger cars in collisions, the Mercedes M-
Class features a clean-sheet design, which allowed its developers to take a
fresh approach to occupant safety as well as compatibility with other
vehicles.
    Mercedes-Benz engineers have given considerable thought to what happens
when a small car collides with a larger vehicle.  While people in the smaller
vehicle are usually at greater risk, thoughtful engineering can help protect
the occupants of both vehicles.

    Frame Structures Should Meet Squarely
    Auto safety experts maintain that two key factors determine crash
compatibility, especially between vehicles of disparate size.  First and
foremost, the main structures of the two colliding vehicles must align and
meet squarely, which means that the frame members of both vehicles must be
about the same height above the road.  This not only reduces the possibility
of one vehicle overriding the other catastrophically, but also helps the
protective crumple zones designed into both vehicles to serve their purpose in
absorbing crash energy.
    To address this point, the frame rails of the Mercedes-Benz M-Class are
about 19.5 inches above the ground, within an inch in height of the typical
passenger car.  In most other sport utility vehicles, this dimension (measured
from the mid-point of the longitudinal frame rails to the ground) varies from
about 21 inches to as high as 28 inches.  However, the M-Class still has 8.5
inches of ground clearance for good off-road performance.

    Crumple Zones Can Be Fine-Tuned
    Secondly, the crumple zone of a larger vehicle should be somewhat "softer"
than a small car, since a larger vehicle can safely absorb more crash energy
and thus help protect the occupants of both vehicles.  Mercedes-Benz designers
have been fine-tuning crumple zone stiffness relative to vehicle size for
years, and this sophisticated concept is likely to be adopted by other
automakers.

    Extra Crumple Zones
    Although the M-Class sport utility uses a body-on-frame design, the
dynamics of its crash protection are roughly equal to the Mercedes-Benz
E-Class luxury sedan, which has a unibody structure.  In addition to a
conventional front crumple zone built into the nose of the vehicle, the
M-Class incorporates a special structure around the windshield pillars.  In a
severe collision, this extra crumple zone can actually help dissipate some of
the crash energy around the sides of the vehicle, providing even more
protection for the occupants of both vehicles.