I'm pouring over some EuroNCAP test results and while no car in the lightpole side crash test I see have managed to rise above the grade "fair" (that's citroen c3 picasso pigly) basic impreza managed to score "unacceptable" in the chest protection. Head protection for some reason is "high" and abdomen protection is "sufficient". In the test the 10" pole on a platform is side impacted at 29km/h (about 17 mph) on a stationary car. I wonder how useful is that test and what real world scenario it's meant to model, but for comparison in the same test for Lancer head protection is high, chest "weak", abdomen "fair". Interestingly enough the pole sideimpact results for Mazda 6 match those of Impreza.
Is the cause a B pillar designed by a material science "F" student or just the regular corporate bean counting speading like cancer from big 3 into the big 4 right over the pond? I see that B pillar on lancer is a bit longer than on impreza contributing to a larget overall blind spot, but, still, chassis stiffness rules above that, no? Me thinks in case of a rollover lancer would ride on its roof better than impreza. What do you think?