By Muhammed Hashim 
This is one of those rare cases where the results of the old model come out after the new model
Interestingly, the Global NCAP score of the old Maruti Dzire has been revealed just after the announcement of the results for the new-gen model. This is quite bizarre and doesn’t happen all that often. Note that the new-gen avatar bagged a full 5-star rating, a first for a Maruti Suzuki car. On the other hand, the old Dzire has only been able to secure a disappointing 2 stars. Clearly, the largest carmaker in the country has done tremendous work to make the new Dzire extremely potent when it comes to safety.
Old Maruti Dzire NCAP Safety Rating
The old Maruti Dzire secured 22.22 points out of 34 in Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) for a 2-star rating and 24.45 points out of 49 in Child Occupant Protection (COP) for a 2-star rating. This version weighed 1,098 kg and had a few standard safety features like 2 airbags, seatbelt pretensioner and seatbelt loadlimiter only for the front seats, ISOFIX child seat mounts for the rear seat, seatbelt reminder for the front seats and electronic stability control. The bodyshell was rated as unstable and not capable of withstanding further loadings. Also, the footwell area was deemed unstable.
Adult Occupant Protection (AOP)
In the AOP section for the Frontal Impact test, the driver’s head and neck showed good protection, and his chest, knees and tibias demonstrated marginal protection. On the other hand, the passenger’s head and neck were offered good protection, his chest, left knee and tibias showed adequate protection and his right knee received marginal protection. For the Side Impact test, the head and pelvis showed good protection, the abdomen showed adequate protection and the chest received weak protection. Finally, the Side Pole Impact was not performed since there is no availability of side head protection even as optional. In the Frontal Offset Deformable Barrier Test, the old Dzire got 9.318 points while for the Side Movable Deformable Battery Test, it received 11.903 points. These factors led to an abysmal 2-star rating.
Child Occupant Protection (COP)
On the other hand, for the COP section, the old Dzire bagged 20 points out of 24 in the Dynamic Score, 4.45 points out of 12 in the CRS Installation Score and 0 points out of 13 in the Vehicle Assessment Score. The ISOFIX mount for the 18-month-old child was positioned rearward facing, while for the 3-year-old, it was positioned forward facing. In the former, it was able to prevent head exposure during the frontal impact offering full protection, while with the latter, it was able to prevent head exposure during the frontal impact offering full protection. The CRS for the 18-month-old offered full side impact protection but the CRS for the 3-year-old showed head contact during the crash. All these resulted in a 2-star safety rating.
My View
This has to be one of those absolutely rare occasions where Global NCAP has released the test results of a car that is about to be discontinued in a matter of days. In fact, in the YouTube description, Global NCAP acknowledges that it knows that this model is facing discontinuation. That is quite interesting. Perhaps, this incident will highlight the impressive safety prowess of the new Maruti Dzire even more.
Also Read: New Dzire Becomes Safest Maruti Ever, Global NCAP Score Out!
