The new Peugeot 208 has missed out on a maximum score in the latest Euro NCAP safety ratings, with testers awarding it four stars. The French hatch missed out on top marks due to what Euro NCAP testers said was “poor” whiplash protection for rear passengers. The Jeep Cherokee was also awarded four stars in the latest tests, and they are the only two cars tested so far in 2019 that have failed to achieve five stars. Matthew Avery, director of research at Thatcham Research, which conducts Euro NCAP tests, called the 208’s score “respectable”, but added it was “not a good choice if you’re carrying adults in the back, with its ‘poor’ whiplash protection for rear passengers. Protecting both front and rear occupants is especially important as families continue to downsize from larger vehicles.” The Cherokee lost marks for both adult occupant protection and child occupant protection, and was criticised for offering limited whiplash protection. Avery called the result an improvement on the Jeep Wrangler, which scored one star when tested last year, but added: “There’s still a long way to go before Jeep can get back to producing five-star cars like the 2017 Compass.” Two BMW models excelled when they were tested, with the 1 Series and 3 Series both scoring the maximum five stars. The 3 Series achieved a 97% score for adult occupant protection, one of the highest scores in
Origin: Peugeot 208 falls short of maximum Euro NCAP score
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This animated short featuring classic cars as pool floaties is strangely awesome
Some art makes you happy, some art makes you sad, and some art – like this superbly random animation showing a bunch of classic cars reimagined as pool floaties and other, uh, things, hopping around a house – makes you confused, giddy and creeped-out all at the same time. Probably best if you just watch it first, to see what we mean. The animation is titled after a famous Yogi Berra quote, “The future ain’t what it used to be,” and, as you can see, it’s a whole lot of beautiful weirdness. It’s art, right? Petty sure it’s art. I mean, if it isn’t art, then what is it? “The Irreverent meets the sublime in this animated short film that follows an all star automotive cast from around the world,” reads the video’s description. “Elegant british classics mixed with Inflatable german auto’s and chopped up American metal.” The setting looks a lot like your uncle’s modern single-storey second home in the Phoenix Valley in Arizona, only instead of Baby Boomers walking around in loose-fitting linen casual wear, it’s a bunch of German, British and American cars reimagined as futuristic animal floaties bouncing, floating, rolling and sliding their way about the property. There’s a trio of Porsche 911 Carrera RS’s in ‘Flamingo spec,’ ‘Swan spec’ and ‘Duck spec’; a BMW 3.0 CSL and ‘68 Pontiac Bonneville that split in half and move about like some kind of breakdancing briefcase; and other animated cameos including a Mercedes Pagoda, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Citroen 2CV, Ford F-150 and more. The video was put together by Scotland-based artist and designer Chris Labrooy. Check out his online portfolio for more futuristic and odd automotive art.
Origin: This animated short featuring classic cars as pool floaties is strangely awesome
Autocar confidential: Hyundai won’t be caught short, BMW ends its ‘Gran Tour’ and more
In this week’s collection of motoring murmurs, we hear why BMW isn’t building another B-Class rival, how Hyundai is ready for any market eventuality, and more. Munich’s MPVs make way for high-riders Don’t expect to see a replacement for BMW’s 2 Series Active Tourer and seven-seat Gran Tourer, at least for some time. BMW’s product management vice-president, Peter Henrich, claims the current MPVs have “done an excellent job in bringing new customers to our brand” but are now “not at the centre of what our brand today stands for”. “We will see about moving Gran Tourer customers to our SUVs,” he added. Volkswagen tightens its grip on power Volkswagen sales boss Jürgen Stackmann says the firm has no concerns over battery supply limiting its ability to produce 100,000 ID 3 electric cars per year from 2020 onwards. Some car firms are struggling to secure enough batteries to meet demand, but Stackmann said VW’s supply was secure “as far as you have security in life and business. We will have stable and good supply for the volumes we want to build.” Volvo grabs the green pump Volvo won’t follow Mercedes down the diesel hybrid route, according to UK operations director David Baddeley. “There will either be petrol, petrol hybrid or full battery electric,” he said. “Go back two or three years and we were 98% diesel in the UK. Now we are 60% diesel and moving quickly. You’ve got to anticipate these changes.” Hyundai: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail… New Hyundai UK boss Ashley Andrew claims the allure of the brand is that it has “completely future-proofed itself, whichever way it goes” in terms of powertrains. “If the market goes towards battery-electric vehicles, we have them; if it goes towards hydrogen quickly, we’ve got that. Not only that, we’ve got the intellectual
Origin: Autocar confidential: Hyundai won’t be caught short, BMW ends its ‘Gran Tour’ and more
Put on Your Judgy-Pants: Big on speed, short on brains, caught on film
This Lexus rolled over in Estonia as its driver tried filming the car reaching its top speedvia Carscoops Have you ever wondered why the speedometer goes all the up to those huge numbers if it seems like your car could never go that fast? And I don’t just mean in your little Elantra; they increase the numbers accordingly in, say, a Porsche. Like dangling a little something-something just in front of your nose. Or better yet, daring you to test it out. This Estonian gentleman was simply doing what we all yearn to do in our hearts: seeing if his car could go as fast as advertised. Let anyone here who hasn’t considered it throw the first wrench. But – there’s always a but – he ran into a few problems, of course, as Carscoops reports. Like how it’s not enough to simply tell your friends, Hey, dudes, I got the Lexus all the way up to 260 km/h! because someone will always say, Sure you did, Jakob. I’ve heard Estonians can be a tough room. The upside is we no longer have to strap our best friend into the death seat to film our antics; we have dash-mounted cams that can record our stupidity up close, though they are admittedly mostly used to capture the dumbass-ery of others. Thankfully, our video star passed up the passenger-cameraman option (or all his friends did); unfortunately, he also passed up the dashcam method. He chose instead to hold his phone to record himself, because when you’ve announced you are going to hit 260 km/h, you only need one hand and a little bit of focus. This video should be more horrifying, actually, than it is. Estonia must produce some pretty cool customers, because according to the story, shortly after hitting that speed, however, he lost control of the car and can be seen applying opposite-lock to help correct a slide. It doesn’t work and, for approximately eight seconds, the Lexus can be heard sliding down the road before it slides into an area of grass and rolls onto its roof. As the Lexus skids to a stop on its roof, all our Speed Racer does is hunt around for his phone. If he pooped his pants, he doesn’t mention it. Take Our
Origin: Put on Your Judgy-Pants: Big on speed, short on brains, caught on film
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