Autoreview Car Assessment Program

ARCAP logo

ARCAP (Autoreview Car Assessment Program) is an automobile safety assessment program founded in 2010 by the Russian car magazine Autoreview. It was Russia's first independent rating for the passive safety of a car, presenting itself as the local edition of the Euro NCAP program. It also provides exclusive test results on some models not marketed in Europe or North America, such as AvtoVAZ vehicles.

History

Since 1996, Autoreview has been conducting the 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 EuroNCAP, though only for frontal impact.

Subsequently, after the accumulation of the test results, the results were combined into a summary rating based on the rules of EuroNCAP. It was found that the rules of EuroNCAP do not apply very well to the Russian reality, as they are drawn up in accordance with modern requirements and well ranked cars, the safety of which is already more or less at a decent level. On the other hand, the rules in Russia do not make provision to clearly identify either; cars with low safety, disastrously unsafe cars, or make a distinction between low safety and disastrously unsafe cars.

In 2017, ARCAP agreed to perform a second crash test on the new UAZ Patriot, 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 EuroNCAP frontal impact. The score is converted into a star rating, from zero to four stars, that does not coincide with an EuroNCAP 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 systems or electronic stability programs 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 test grounds of the NAMI research institute, and the Laboratory Impact Testing of AvtoVAZ. The Dmitrovsky test grounds near Moscow and AvtoVAZ are the only facilities in Russia to provide access to acceleration catapults and modern Hybrid III dummies, with the equipment required for their calibration.

Outside of Russia, ARCAP uses test grounds in the Czech Republic with the participation of international companies (headquartered in Munich, Germany) for technical control TÜV SÜD.

External links

• ARCAP website (in Russian)