The Alfa Romeo MiTo has been awarded a prestigious five-star Euro NCAP rating, setting it at the top of its segment in the field of safety. The ‘sportiest ever compact car’ notched up a score of 36 out of 37 in the Euro NCAP adult ratings and a judgement of “Good” (the only car in its segment to obtain 3.35 points of out a maximum of 4) in the new tests that Euro NCAP has introduced to assess the ability of the front seats to prevent whiplash”.
This major accolade yet again confirms Alfa Romeo’s particular commitment to all aspects relating to driver and passenger protection. The Alfa Romeo MiTo was in any case designed and built to obtain the maximum score in passive and active safety tests. Examples include the most sophisticated electronic devices for control of vehicle dynamic behaviour (from braking to traction): Vehicle Dynamic Control (not disengageable) that manages important functions such as the Hill Holder, traction control, assisted panic braking, MSR to prevent the wheels locking during over-run, ‘active electronic steering’ DST (Dynamic Steering Torque) and Q2 Electronic that simulates the presence of a self-locking differential electronically.
Thousands of hours of virtual simulations have made it possible to develop the car without the aid of prototypes in just 16 months. The virtues of the virtual design were then put to the test physically on cars produced in the Mirafiori plant, with two hundred tests on components and subsystems, more than one hundred impact simulations on a Hyge slide and more than eighty crash tests (frontal impact, side impact, roll-over and shunting, taking into account the various speeds at which impacts may occur, the different types of obstacle and the need to protect occupants with very different physical characteristics). These statistics demonstrate Alfa’s deep-rooted commitment to making the Alfa Romeo MiTo one of the safest cars in its segment and also in the field of motoring as a whole. The new model represents the state-of-the-art as far as passive safety is concerned. Total protection, in short, as evidenced by 7 airbags as standard (two of which are Multistage); three-point seatbelts with double pretensioners and load limit limiters; S.A.H.R. (Self Aligning Head Restraint), a new second-generation device built into the backrests of the front seats that moves the head restraint closer to the occupants’ heads in the event of an impact to lessen the effects of whiplash. Not to mention the contribution to occupant protection made by the body, the bonnet, the doors and the dashboard cross-member in addition to the seats and steering column, that have been designed with a view to their behaviour in the event of an accident.
In the field of preventive safety, the Alfa Romeo MiTo also offers headlights with a daytime function (known as Daytime Running Lights) that automatically turns on the side lights when the engine is turned on – to meet a specific standard that will enter into force in 2012 – and LED tail-lights that offer greater brightness than conventional bulbs, for greater safety.
The Alfa Romeo MiTo will make its South African debut in May 2009.
IN 2008 FIAT (incorporating the Alfa Romeo brand) CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF BUSINESS IN SOUTH AFRICA. FROM A SINGLE MODEL LINE-UP AND NOT ONE STAND-ALONE DEALERSHIP, THE COMPANY NOW BOASTS A VERY COMPREHENSIVE RANGE AND A DEDICATED DEALER NETWORK. FIAT GROUP AUTOMOBILES SOUTH AFRICA – 10 YEARS YOUNG AND HERE TO STAY!
26 November 2008
Euro NCAP five-star rating for the Alfa Romeo MiTo
The Alfa Romeo MiTo has been awarded a prestigious
five-star Euro NCAP rating, setting it at the top of its segment in the field
of safety. The ‘sportiest ever compact car’ notched up a score of 36 out of 37
in the Euro NCAP adult ratings and a judgement of “Good” (the only car in its
segment to obtain 3.35 points of out a maximum of 4) in the new tests that Euro
NCAP has introduced to assess the ability of the front seats to prevent whiplash”.
This major accolade yet again confirms Alfa Romeo’s
particular commitment to all aspects relating to driver and passenger
protection. The Alfa Romeo MiTo was in any case designed and built to obtain
the maximum score in passive and active safety tests. Examples include the most
sophisticated electronic devices for control of vehicle dynamic behaviour (from
braking to traction): Vehicle Dynamic Control (not disengageable) that manages
important functions such as the Hill Holder, traction control, assisted panic
braking, MSR to prevent the wheels locking during over-run, ‘active electronic
steering’ DST (Dynamic Steering Torque) and Q2 Electronic that simulates the
presence of a self-locking differential electronically.
Thousands of hours of virtual simulations have made it
possible to develop the car without the aid of prototypes in just 16 months.
The virtues of the virtual design were then put to the test physically on cars
produced in the Mirafiori plant, with two hundred tests on components and subsystems,
more than one hundred impact simulations on a Hyge slide and more than eighty
crash tests (frontal impact, side impact, roll-over and shunting, taking into
account the various speeds at which impacts may occur, the different types of
obstacle and the need to protect occupants with very different physical
characteristics). These statistics demonstrate Alfa’s deep-rooted commitment to
making the Alfa Romeo MiTo one of the safest cars in its segment and also in
the field of motoring as a whole. The new model represents the state-of-the-art
as far as passive safety is concerned. Total protection, in short, as evidenced
by 7 airbags as standard (two of which are Multistage); three-point seatbelts
with double pretensioners and load limit limiters; S.A.H.R. (Self Aligning Head
Restraint), a new second-generation device built into the backrests of the
front seats that moves the head restraint closer to the occupants’ heads in the
event of an impact to lessen the effects of whiplash. Not to mention the contribution
to occupant protection made by the body, the bonnet, the doors and the
dashboard cross-member in addition to the seats and steering column, that have
been designed with a view to their behaviour in the event of an accident.
In the field of preventive safety,
the Alfa Romeo MiTo also offers headlights with a daytime function (known as Daytime Running Lights) that automatically
turns on the side lights when the engine is turned on – to meet a specific
standard that will enter into force in 2012 – and LED tail-lights that offer
greater brightness than conventional bulbs, for greater safety.
The Alfa Romeo MiTo will make its South African debut
in May 2009.
IN 2008 FIAT (incorporating the Alfa Romeo brand) CELEBRATES 10
YEARS OF BUSINESS IN SOUTH AFRICA. FROM A SINGLE MODEL LINE-UP AND NOT ONE
STAND-ALONE DEALERSHIP, THE COMPANY NOW BOASTS A VERY COMPREHENSIVE RANGE AND A
DEDICATED DEALER NETWORK. FIAT GROUP AUTOMOBILES SOUTH AFRICA – 10 YEARS YOUNG
AND HERE TO STAY!
ENDS
Media Enquiries:
Clynton Yon, General Manager: Communication &
Institutional Relations, clynton.yon@fiat.com
+27 11
205-3744 / +27 82 659 0830
26 November 2008
Euro NCAP five-star rating for the Alfa Romeo MiTo
The Alfa Romeo MiTo has been awarded a prestigious
five-star Euro NCAP rating, setting it at the top of its segment in the field
of safety. The ‘sportiest ever compact car’ notched up a score of 36 out of 37
in the Euro NCAP adult ratings and a judgement of “Good” (the only car in its
segment to obtain 3.35 points of out a maximum of 4) in the new tests that Euro
NCAP has introduced to assess the ability of the front seats to prevent whiplash”.
This major accolade yet again confirms Alfa Romeo’s
particular commitment to all aspects relating to driver and passenger
protection. The Alfa Romeo MiTo was in any case designed and built to obtain
the maximum score in passive and active safety tests. Examples include the most
sophisticated electronic devices for control of vehicle dynamic behaviour (from
braking to traction): Vehicle Dynamic Control (not disengageable) that manages
important functions such as the Hill Holder, traction control, assisted panic
braking, MSR to prevent the wheels locking during over-run, ‘active electronic
steering’ DST (Dynamic Steering Torque) and Q2 Electronic that simulates the
presence of a self-locking differential electronically.
Thousands of hours of virtual simulations have made it
possible to develop the car without the aid of prototypes in just 16 months.
The virtues of the virtual design were then put to the test physically on cars
produced in the Mirafiori plant, with two hundred tests on components and subsystems,
more than one hundred impact simulations on a Hyge slide and more than eighty
crash tests (frontal impact, side impact, roll-over and shunting, taking into
account the various speeds at which impacts may occur, the different types of
obstacle and the need to protect occupants with very different physical
characteristics). These statistics demonstrate Alfa’s deep-rooted commitment to
making the Alfa Romeo MiTo one of the safest cars in its segment and also in
the field of motoring as a whole. The new model represents the state-of-the-art
as far as passive safety is concerned. Total protection, in short, as evidenced
by 7 airbags as standard (two of which are Multistage); three-point seatbelts
with double pretensioners and load limit limiters; S.A.H.R. (Self Aligning Head
Restraint), a new second-generation device built into the backrests of the
front seats that moves the head restraint closer to the occupants’ heads in the
event of an impact to lessen the effects of whiplash. Not to mention the contribution
to occupant protection made by the body, the bonnet, the doors and the
dashboard cross-member in addition to the seats and steering column, that have
been designed with a view to their behaviour in the event of an accident.
In the field of preventive safety,
the Alfa Romeo MiTo also offers headlights with a daytime function (known as Daytime Running Lights) that automatically
turns on the side lights when the engine is turned on – to meet a specific
standard that will enter into force in 2012 – and LED tail-lights that offer
greater brightness than conventional bulbs, for greater safety.
The Alfa Romeo MiTo will make its South African debut
in May 2009.
IN 2008 FIAT (incorporating the Alfa Romeo brand) CELEBRATES 10
YEARS OF BUSINESS IN SOUTH AFRICA. FROM A SINGLE MODEL LINE-UP AND NOT ONE
STAND-ALONE DEALERSHIP, THE COMPANY NOW BOASTS A VERY COMPREHENSIVE RANGE AND A
DEDICATED DEALER NETWORK. FIAT GROUP AUTOMOBILES SOUTH AFRICA – 10 YEARS YOUNG
AND HERE TO STAY!
ENDS
Media Enquiries:
Clynton Yon, General Manager: Communication &
Institutional Relations, clynton.yon@fiat.com
+27 11
205-3744 / +27 82 659 0830