OREANDA-NEWS. April 23, 2015. Testing organisation Latin NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) has awarded the SEAT Leon ST its top five-star rating in a new test. The Latin American consumer protection body has thus confirmed the outstanding verdict reached by its European colleagues at Euro NCAP, which awarded the Leon ST Estate and the five-door Leon with five-star ratings in earlier testing. The high safety level, particularly in child protection, fits perfectly with the family-friendly attributes and excellent everyday usability of the SEAT Leon ST and also the whole Leon range.

In accident safety for adult passengers, very good results were achieved for both driver and front seat passenger. Latin NCAP also judged that the airbags provided good head protection. The vehicle structure was stable and withstood even high loads. Child safety was tested with two dummies corresponding to a three year-old and an eleven-and-a-half year-old child. The organisation judged that they, too, were well protected in an accident. Full points were also awarded for the simple and reliable installation of child seats. Latin NCAP added the positive remark that the passenger airbag could be definitively deactivated to enable installation of a rearward-facing child seat, with the airbag status displayed to the driver.

“SEAT is committed to guarantee the highest level of active and passive safety in all its models,” stresses Dr. Matthias Rabe, Vice President for Research and Development for SEAT S.A. “We are therefore extremely satisfied with the outstanding ratings achieved by all the variations of the new Leon in the demanding tests conducted by the NCAP organisation in Europe and Latin America.”

The SEAT Leon comes as standard with a comprehensive package of safety equipment. Alongside the electronic stability programme with anti-lock system, this includes seven airbags with a head airbag system front and rear and a knee airbag for the driver (option in Latin America). The SEAT multi-collision brake automatically slows down the vehicle after a serious collision in order to dissipate the remaining kinetic energy. If the airbag is deployed by the first collision, the electronic stability programme brakes the vehicles and activates the hazard lights.

A series of optional assistance systems delivers further safety improvements. The SEAT lane-keeping assistant uses a camera in the front windscreen to identify lines on the carriageway and responds with corrective steering input in the event the vehicle threatens to leave the lane. The drowsiness detection system analyses the driver’s steering characteristics, continuously evaluating signals such as steering angle and steering speed. The drowsiness detection registers deterioration in driver concentration, emits an acoustic signal and displays a symbol to recommend taking a break.

Front Assist including city emergency braking function can avoid the risk of collisions by using a radar sensor to monitor the traffic in front of the vehicle. If the system identifies a critical risk of a rear-end collision at speeds of ca. 30 to 210 km/h, the assistant provides the driver with an acoustic and visual warning and primes the brake system for a possible braking manoeuvre. If necessary, the system automatically initiates braking – which can reduce the speed of a subsequent collision. During braking itself, “Front Assist” aids the driver and ensures – if necessary – that maximum braking force is applied. “Front Assist” can thus make a major contribution to protecting occupants and vehicle. The “city emergency braking function” can react with an emergency braking manoeuvre at the last minute before a rear-end accident at speeds of between 5 and 30 km/h.