Lancia Delta awarded the prestigious five Euro NCAP stars

Filed under:
Safety, Fiat
on 09/06/2008

Source: Fiat / Lancia

The latest member of the Lancia family has been awarded five prestigious Euro NCAP stars, positioning itself at the top of the safety league tables. This recognition confirms the special attention paid by Fiat Group Automobiles to all aspects of driver and passenger protection.

To achieve this important result, the designers studied all possible types of accident: frontal and side impacts, overturning and nose-to-tail crashes. Consideration was also made for the different speeds at which collisions can take place, the different types of obstacles and the protection of occupants with greatly differing physical characteristics. Altogether, 15,000 hours of calculations, 80 crash tests,150 HyGe sled simulations and 100 tests on components and subsystems were carried out.

These figures bear witness to the strong commitment of the company to make the Lancia Delta one of the safest cars in the entire automobile world.

It is the merit of many sophisticated devices fitted on the new model (fitted as standard depending on market and versions). Starting with those dedicated to passive safety: 6 airbags (front, window-bag and side bags, all fitted as standard on the entire range). And continuing with three point seat belts with double pretensioners and load limiters, 5 headrests, FPS fire prevention system and Isofix fittings on side rear seats. And finishing up with all the protection assured for the occupants by the bodywork, bonnet, doors and dashboard cross member. Without forgetting the contribution to passive safety assured by other elements, including the seats and the sub-cross member area, which have been designed above all bearing in mind their behaviour in the event of an accident.

Furthermore, the new car assures constant and predictable behaviour on the road, even forgiving any driver errors and allowing critical situations to be overcome without great difficulty. In fact, in addition to a braking system with excellent performance, the Lancia Delta is fitted with the most sophisticated electronic devices to control the car's dynamic behaviour: from braking to traction. So with its ABS with EBD (Electronic Brake force Distribution) and, above all, ESP (Electronic Stability Program, known as the "Absolute Handling System"), the system that cuts in under near-limit conditions, when vehicle stability is at risk, to help the driver control the car. The Absolute Handling System fitted on the Lancia Delta is highly advanced, introducing some very important functions including, for example, LTF (Linearization Torque Feedback) and TTC (Torque Transfer Control) which also cuts in "discretely", working together with the DST (Drive Steering Torque), the "active electronic steering" that automatically corrects and controls oversteering on low-grip surfaces.

The Lancia Delta is therefore a car designed and built to assure the highest possible standards of safety and reliability.