5 Star Brilliance
A 5-star safety rating is a badge of honour that is not easily earned. There is a comprehensive checklist that vehicles are subjected to before the crash tests even begin and all these components come together to give a vehicle its star rating. Testing agencies look at safety equipment fitted to the vehicle (seatbelts, airbags), construction methods (steel types and layering), crash mitigation technology (electronic systems and driver aids), and of course the destructive impact testing. (head-on, side-impact, and rollover)
Related: What SUV will last the longest?
There are crash testing agencies all over the world and they all conduct testing on vehicles sold in their regions as the specification of vehicles sold in Europe and ones sold in India are very different. Each region has its own testing regimen but the de facto global standard is EuroNCAP.
Regional Testing Agencies:
America
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)
Europe
- New Car Assessment Program (NCAP)
Australia
- Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP)
Russia
- Auto Review Car Assessment Program (ARCAP)
Far East
- China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP)
- Japan New Car Assessment Program (JNCAP)
Here in SA, we reference the NCAP programs from Europe, Australia, and the Far East and usually are not overly concerned by the NCAP scores from America or Russia. We took a look at the top scorer's across these agencies and below are the most 5 star rated SUVs
Jeep Grand Cherokee
In South Africa, Jeeps halo model is the Grand Cherokee and gets the highest rating as well as all the performance and luxury you will need in a large SUV.
Land Rover
The new Defender 90 and 110 come with the highest rating for these luxury offroaders.
Mazda CX Series
The Mazda CX-3, CX30, and CX5 get the highest ratings
Volvo XC Series
Pioneers of vehicle safety, Volvo, bring their XC40, XC60, and XC90 and get the highest ratings.
BMW X Series
The BMW X series gets high ratings with the X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7.
Hyundai
Hyundai gets high ratings across its upper range with the Santa Fe and Palisade SUVs.
Kia
The Kia Sorento gets 5 stars across the board
Lexus
Lexus gets high ratings with its X range. The NX, RX, LX, and UX family all walk away with 5-star ratings
Mercedes-Benz G Series
You will be hard-pressed to find a G series Mercedes SUV that doesn't have a 5-star rating. THE GLC, GLE, and GLS all score highly.
Subaru
Top-end Subaru vehicles also score rather high with the Forester and Outback pulling 5-star ratings
