Does the Hyundai Stargazer's 4 out of 5 stars make it less safe to drive? How ASEAN NCAP crash tests work

For many, vehicle safety isn’t that big of a deal.

Most car buyers look at space, practicality, convenience features, and, of course, price. But how well a car performs in a road crash becomes extremely vital the moment you and your loved ones actually get into a crash.

The money you may have saved by getting a less safe model may result in you paying the ultimate price – your life or the lives of the people you care about.

That’s why organizations like the non-profit ASEAN New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) exist. 

It evaluates the safety of the newest car models sold in the ASEAN region and publishes the results on its website. The group not only checks how well a car performs in a crash, but also how well it prevents you from getting into a crash in the first place.

One of the headlines that popped up recently was the performance of the Hyundai Stargazer multi-purpose vehicle, which only managed four out of five stars in the group’s testing.

We look into how ASEAN NCAP rates its vehicles and how cars that it tested in 2022, including the Stargazer, fared.

A test of survival

All cars tested by the ASEAN NCAP receive a star rating, with five stars signifying the best-performing models.

Under the ASEAN NCAP Overall Assessment Protocol 2021-2025, vehicles are evaluated based on four pillars with the following weights:

• Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) – 40 percent

• Child Occupant Protection (COP) – 20 percent

• Safety Assist (SA) – 20 percent

• Motorcycle Safety (MS) – 20 percent

AOP and COP involve measuring the forces in front and side impacts on test dummies. The latter pillar also factors in the installation of child restraints, along with child detection systems.

Meanwhile, SA looks at active safety systems like collision-mitigation braking, where the brakes are automatically applied when a crash is imminent, along with simple features like seatbelt reminders.

Finally, MS was included in the latest testing protocol because of the high number of deaths involving motorcyclists, who are more vulnerable in a road crash.

This pillar looks at the presence of blind-spot monitoring, rear cameras and automatic high beams.

Honda BR-V – 5 out of 5 stars

One of the headline features with the all-new Honda BR-V, which was launched locally on November 2022, is the Honda SENSING active safety system.

In the Philippines, only the top-spec BR-V VX gets the system, which includes features like adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams, collision-mitigation braking, lane-keep assist and lane-departure warning.

The variant that ASEAN NCAP tested was also equipped with Honda SENSING that helped the car bag the coveted five-star rating.

The group gave the BR-V a score of 77.02 out of 100, with the following breakdown:

• AOP – 26.98/32

• COP – 44.53/51

• SA – 16.50/21

• MS – 8.10/16

Honda HR-V – 5 out of 5 stars

Also tested this year was Honda’s oddball crossover, the HR-V.

Despite its funky looks, all variants of the HR-V sold in the Philippines come standard with the aforementioned Honda SENSING system. 

The HR-V performed well in the ASEAN NCAP tests, with the crossover getting 81.38 out of 100 points. Here’s the breakdown of the score:

• AOP – 28.00/32

• COP – 45.43/51

• SA – 19.50/21

• MS – 8.10/16

Based on our own comprehensive review of the HR-V Turbo, the active safety assists were very effective in correcting lane deviations and automatically applying the brakes in line with the speed of other vehicles.

Hyundai Creta – 5 out of 5 stars

The cool-looking Hyundai Creta crossover is one of the models that the newly revamped Hyundai Philippines is counting on to gain traction locally.

Only the top-specification Creta GLS comes with blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, collision-mitigation braking, lane-keep assist and automatic high beams.

The Creta that ASEAN NCAP tested was also equipped with all the active safety systems, with the small crossover scoring 75.78 out of 100. The breakdown is as follows:

• AOP – 27.78/32

• COP – 39.67/51

• SA – 14.79/21

• MS – 9.14/16

Hyundai Stargazer – 4 out of 5 stars

Hyundai’s hot new multi-purpose vehicle may be called the Stargazer, but it didn’t get quite as many stars as its main rival, the Honda BR-V.

The local Hyundai Stargazer is available with collision-mitigation braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist and rear cross-traffic alert only on the top-of-the-line GLS Premium variant.

Despite this, the Stargazer performed relatively worse than its rivals in the front impact test, where ASEAN NCAP found that the car provided only marginal protection to the driver’s chest and right leg, leading to possibly serious injuries.

In addition, the Stargazer fell short in the side-impact test, again with marginal protection to the driver’s chest.

In the end, the Stargazer got 66.48 out of 100, which was enough for a four-star rating. Here’s the breakdown in the four pillars:

• AOP – 24.97/32

• COP – 36.92/51

• SA – 12.64/21

• MS – 7.00/16

ASEAN NCAP was established on December 2011 as a collaborative effort between the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research and Global NCAP.

It joins similar programs around the world like Euro NCAP, Latin NCAP, and the independent tests conducted by the U.S.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

What do you think of the crash-test figures for these four locally available models?