Midsize SUVs do well in crash tests

WASHINGTON -- Eight of the nine midsize sport utility vehicles tested won the highest safety rating in new high-speed crash tests, according to results released Sunday by an insurer-funded safety group.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ranked vehicles based on their performances when the driver's side hit a barrier at 40 mph. When a vehicle earns the highest rating of good, it means a driver wearing a seat belt probably would not be seriously injured.

Earning the good rating were the Lexus RX330, the Infiniti FX, the Cadillac SRX, the Toyota 4Runner, the Nissan Murano, the Chrysler Pacifica, the Honda Pilot and the Mitsubishi Endeavor.

The Kia Sorento earned the second-highest rating of acceptable. The institute said the vehicle structure held up well, but the crash test dummy in the driver's seat took hard hits from the steering wheel and the door.

Kia spokesman Kim Custer said Kia was surprised by the results because the Sorento has earned high ratings in government safety tests.

"We're looking at this closely, to see if there was an anomaly in that particular vehicle," Custer said. "We'd very much like to take appropriate steps sometime in the future to retest the vehicle."

Adrian Lund, the institute's chief operating officer, said the high ratings reflect significant changes in design since the institute began testing midsize SUVs in 1996. That year, no midsize SUV earned the highest rating; this year, 16 have earned good ratings.

Lund said the test is particularly challenging because only a portion of the vehicle's front end hits the barrier. That means a small area bears the full energy of the crash.

"Good structural design is the key to good performance in the offset tests," Lund said.