'Offset' crash tests find higher risk for smaller cars

There’s an old saying -- you can’t repeal the laws of physics. That may be the discussion right now at several small-car manufacturers today.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, known for its slow-motion car crash videos, sent the Honda Fit crashing into a Honda Accord, the Smart ForTwo into a Mercedes C-Class and a Toyota Yaris into a Toyota Camry -- each at 40 miles per hour. The results indicate what safety you may be trading for efficiency when your mode of transportation shrinks.

The tests are called "offset" crashes. The cars crash not quite head on, similar to what would result when a car strays over the center line, and the damage can easily intrude into the passenger compartment. Each of the small cars sustained damage the institute believes would lead to injuries for their occupants.

In a statement, Adrian Lund, president of the Arlington, Va.-based institute, said, "Though much safer than they were a few years ago, minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes, simply because they're smaller and lighter. In collisions with bigger vehicles, the forces acting on the smaller ones are higher, and there's less distance from the front of a small car to the occupant compartment to 'ride down' the impact. These and other factors increase injury likelihood."

The Smart ForTwo had “extensive” damage...

Toyota thinks small

What to do when the car market gets smaller? Build smaller cars.

At least that’s what Toyota apparently has in mind as it tries to weather the global downturn in auto sales. According to the Associated Press, the Japanese automaker may bring its iQ ultra-compact car to the U.S. market, where it would vie for leadership in the fuel economy rankings and pose a challenge to Daimler’s Smart Fortwo two-seater.

“The Toyota iQ microcar being sold in Japan and Europe is another example of the world platform that we may want to adapt to the U.S. market,” Don Esmond, a senior VP at Toyota’s Torrance-based U.S. sales operation, told an industry conference in Detroit this week.

Esmond didn’t specify when the iQ, which went on sale in Japan and Europe last year, might be available in America.

Toyota refers to the two-door car, which the automaker says can seat three adults and a child, as an “urban commuter vehicle." At around 10 feet long, the iQ is about a foot longer than the Smart Fortwo, which is a shade under 9 feet in length, and it’s about 4 feet shorter than a Toyota Yaris.

But for MPG-conscious consumers, the most important number will be the one on the EPA sticker. Under Japanese standards, the car is rated at 54.1 miles per gallon. If it achieves similar results under the EPA's fuel economy standards, the iQ would get the best mileage of any car sold in America by a major manufacturer, including Toyota’s own Prius gasoline-electric hybrid. (The 2009 Smart Fortwo coupe has a combined city/highway EPA rating of 36 MPG.)

Daimler sold just under 25,000 Smart Fortwos in the U.S. last year, the first year it was widely available here. That was about the same number of Beetles sold by Volkswagen.

Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight, told AP that microcars appeal to some buyers but can be a tough sell to most American motorists.

“There’s a novelty aspect to these vehicles, and as long as the manufacturer understands that they’re going to get novelty car volumes, then fine,” she said.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Photo: Crowds check out the new Toyota iQ ultra compact in Japan last year. Credit: Associated Press

Top 10 turkeys of the L.A. Auto Show

The L.A. Auto Show runs through Thanksgiving weekend, which seems appropriate, because there is a lot of turkey on the show’s menu. From Honda’s hydrogen-powered hypercar -- a guess that’s tofurkey, of a sort -- to a huge, steroid infused, poultry-yellow Rolls-Royce that is lacking only a wattle, the show’s collection of large, flightless birds is certainly worth a, um, gander.

I know, I know. You’re stuffed. You’ve loosened your belt, maybe even undone your trousers … ahhh. But perhaps there’s room for one … more … tiny …morsel?

>>Click here for the complete list: Top 10 turkeys of the L.A. Auto Show. After-dinner chit-chat can commence in the comments section.

-- Dan Neil

Photo: Honda's tofurkey, er, FC Sport concept. Credit: Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images

L.A. Auto Show: Smart Fortwo gets in tune

Not content with wooing young urban hipsters and middle-aged empty nesters, Smart Fortwo is now going after the tuner crowd. Make that the eco-tuner crowd.

The Smart's U.S. distributor, a subsidiary of Penske Automotive Group, unveiled a tuned version of the popular two-seater today at the L.A. Auto Show tricked out by Brabus design shop. Brabus is known for its up-gunned versions of various Mercedes models. (Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler also owns Smart.)

The tuner version of the Smart features the usual accessories for the fast-and-furious crowd: 15- and 17-inch alloy wheels, sport suspension and exhaust system (including chromed tailpipes), front and rear skirts and a roof spoiler.

Low-rider touches notwithstanding, Smart USA President David Schembri spent much of his time talking up the car's green pedigree. It features the same compact three-cylinder, 70-horsepower engine that "powers" the original version of the car, which means it also delivers the same EPA fuel economy of 41 mpg on the highway. You only need one hand to count the number of vehicles widely available in the U.S. that can top that.