主题：【原创】想买Ford Explorer，几个问题请教大家 -- dafemren

Both are true. But the injury-claim rates of the Corolla and Focus are still

"substantially worse than average," according to HLDI--even if other cars h

ave worse scores. And some of the worse-scoring cars, such as Suzuki's Foren

za, are also on the list--though others, such as Kia's Rio and General Motor

s' Chevrolet Aveo four-doors, are not, because the IIHS has not yet issued t

hem crash-test scores. (A caveat: Not every car on the market has a full ros

ter of safety ratings. The IIHS and NHTSA do not crash-test all models, and

crash-protection ratings and injury-claim reports are constantly being updat

ed.)

Both Ford and Toyota insisted that any model without side airbags is bound t

o receive a "poor" IIHS side-impact rating. The rating, Ford argued, is real

ly just a test of side-airbag presence and frontal protection scores are mor

e important. The Toyota spokesman said that only 15% of Corolla buyers get s

ide curtain airbags, because people shopping for this type of car "are extre

mely price-sensitive and are opting for other optional equipment more often

than for side curtain airbags."

Our perspective: Feel free to forego the $655 side airbags in a Corolla. But

know that there is a safety tradeoff.

A General Motors spokesman asserted that HDLI figures have little to do with

vehicle safety. "Those figures pertain to what insurance companies are aske

d to pay for repairs," he said. But HLDI states on its Web site that "injury

losses"--the figures we studied for this piece--summarize the medical, hosp

ital and other expenses incurred by occupants of insured vehicles.

If a car crash involves a trip to the hospital, that's potentially relevant

to the safety of the car involved. But other factors help predict insurance-

claim filings. For example, Ford emphasized that demographics can influence

injury rates--say, if a car is more popular with older drivers, who are more

susceptible to injury, or very young drivers, who may drive faster and have

less experience.

In terms of other comments we received, a Mazda spokesman wrote that the Maz

da3 has a "good" IIHS frontal-impact rating, despite the "poor" side rating

of models tested without side airbags. And, he said, "many Mazda3 models als

o feature dynamic stability control, traction control and anti-lock brakes,

a combination of safety features not available on many other vehicles in its

class."

Finally, Toyota took issue with our criticism of the Corolla's "poor" IIHS r

ear crash-protection rating. He called attention to the fact that the IIHS b

ases its overall rating for rear protection on a two-step evaluation that in

cludes (1) the geometry of the seat and head restraint [a "static" test] and

(2) a "dynamic" test that simulates a rear impact. The spokesman said that

the Corolla's "static" rating is the highest-possible. In fact, the IIHS' We

b site states that the "static" rating of 2006- and 2007-model Corollas is m

erely "acceptable," and that the car's "dynamic" and "overall" ratings are "

poor."

By publication time, Suzuki had not responded to requests for comment.