ARCAP (Autoreview Car Assessment Program) is an automobile safety assessment program founded by the Russian

car magazine ''Car'' is a British automobile, automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Media Group, Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published or licensed by Bauer Automotive in South Korea (since March 2016), Brazil, China ...

Autoreview ''Autoreview'' is a Russian car magazine that was founded in 1990 and originated as "Autoreview Newspaper." It is published biweekly with each edition running between 32 and 64 pages. The magazine is known for its ARCAP safety rating of cars sold ...

. It was Russia's first independent rating for the

passive safety Automotive safety is the study and practice of automotive design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadw ...

of a car, presenting itself as the local edition of the

Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven, Belgium. Formed in 1996, the first results were released in February ...

program. It also provides exclusive test results on some models not marketed in Europe or

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, such as

AvtoVAZ AvtoVAZ ( rus, АвтоВАЗ, p=ɐftɐˈvas) is a Russian automobile manufacturing company owned by the state. It was formerly named as VAZ (), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (). AvtoVAZ is best known for its flagship series of ...

vehicles.

History

Since 1996, Autoreview has been conducting independent crash tests for cars sold in the Russian market. The early tests did not comply with international car safety testing methodology. In 2001, the first test was carried out according to the rules of

, though only for frontal impact. At first the score could deviate from testing norms: in 2002 the

VAZ-2110 In contemporary history, the third millennium is the current millennium in the ''Anno Domini'' or Common Era, under the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2001 ( MMI) and will end on 31 December 3000 ( MMM), spanning the 21st to 30th ...

, which would have scored only 0.7 points out of 16 by normal testing criteria, was awarded an additional four points to set it apart from the even less safe

Izh Oda The Izh 2126, also known as the "Oda" (Russian: Ода, for ode), is a compact hatchback produced by the Soviet automotive maker IZh (later Russian "OAO Izhmash", and eventually "IzhAuto") between 1990 and 2005. History The Oda was designed to ...

and

VAZ-2106 The VAZ-2106 Zhiguli (alternatively Zhiguli 2106) is a sedan (automobile), sedan produced by the Soviet Union, Soviet (later Russian) automaker VAZ, and later, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, also by Russian Lada Izhevsk, Izhevsk Avto and U ...

. For similar reasons it was decided to distinguish between cars with low levels of safety, and cars that in addition to being unsafe were structurally unsound. In 2017, ARCAP agreed to perform a second

crash test A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation (see automobile safety) or related systems and compon ...

on the new

UAZ Patriot The UAZ Patriot ( AZ-3163 is a mid-size body-on-frame SUV produced by the UAZ division of Sollers in Ulyanovsk, Russia. It was introduced in 2005 and replaced the older UAZ Simbir (UAZ-3162). Extensive use of newer parts, large carrying c ...

, after the manufacturer had complained about its methodology following a disappointing rating. The second test ultimately assigned the car a similarly low rating.

Methodology and ratings

According to the results of crash tests (frontal impact of a deformable barrier at 64 km/h with a 40% offset), the car is rated on a scale (0 to 16) following the protocol for the

frontal impact. The score is converted into a star rating, from zero to four stars, that does not coincide with a Euro NCAP rating. By December 2010, over 20 models were assigned a zero-star rating. Due to a lack of sufficient funds, Euro NCAP standards are applied only in part, as only passive safety is tested, and only for the frontal part of the vehicle. No side crash tests are carried out. Active electronic components such as

anti-lock braking system An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a Automotive safety, safety anti-Skid (automobile), skid Brake, braking system used on aircraft and on land motor vehicle, vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing t ...

s or

electronic stability program Electronic stability control (ESC), also referred to as electronic stability program (ESP) or dynamic stability control (DSC), is a computerized technology that improves a vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss of traction ( skiddi ...

s are not considered. The ratings include symbols for the driver, passenger and car. The car symbol is crossed out in the test result if the impact seriously compromised the structural integrity of the vehicle body. The symbols of the driver and passengers are crossed out where vehicle occupants may be at increased risk of injury to vital organs.

Test facilities

Tests are conducted in the Dmitrovsky District test grounds of the NAMI research institute, and the Laboratory Impact Testing of

. The Dmitrovsky test grounds near

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and AvtoVAZ are the only facilities in Russia to provide access to acceleration catapults and modern

Hybrid III The Hybrid III is the standard crash test dummy for frontal crash tests as of the beginning of the 21st century. It was initially only a 50th percentile male (equal in height and weight to the average North American male at the time of its deve ...

dummies, with the equipment required for their calibration. Outside of Russia, ARCAP uses test grounds of the

TÜV SÜD TÜVs (; short for , ) are internationally active, independent service companies from Germany and Austria that test, inspect and certify technical systems, facilities and objects of all kinds in order to minimize hazards and prevent damages. T ...

subsidiary in the Czech Republic.

References

External links

ARCAP website
(in Russian)
Archived tests
{{NCAP New Car Assessment Programs Consumer organizations in Russia

History

Methodology and ratings

Test facilities

See also

References

External links