Basically, most small cars have front-wheel drive. This, in turn, provide better grip than rear-wheel drive especially when the road is too slippery to handle.
On Consumer Report's 25 safest cars on the road, the Volkswagen series tops the list in the small cars category. The VW Golf TDI was ranked #1 with the Volkswagen Jetta next in line.
These safe small cars can be dubbed as small but despite their size, they offer optimum car performance.
In general, these small cars are built with security tools that are aimed to give you a flexible drive and allow you to respond quickly to anything you may encounter on the road. They are also equipped with safety features like dual airbags, seatbelts, ABS, and side-door impact beams. Newer features you'll see on the latest Volkswagens are side-impact air bags. These are built for front-seat passengers. These side-impact air bags support the torso.
Then, they also have the safety belts. The belts found on these small cars have regulating upper anchor designed for the shoulder belts. This design is intended to make the protect you whenever a car crash happens.
These safety belts in Volkswagens have seatbelt pretensioners. These are the ones that are responsible to pull back the belt to absorb a flop in the course of a frontal impact.
Plus, it has the LATCH system or the Lower Anchors and Tethers for children system. This facilitates the child-seat installation because the inaptness of the safety belt with the child seat is reduced. They also have additional safety features like ESC or the electronic stability control, tire pressure monitors, daytime running lights, occupant-sensing air bag systems, and tire pressure monitors.
The drawback is that small cars are not physically applicable to any towing services. Plus, they are not meant to carry a lot of cargo because it lacks space. Though, there are small cars that are equipped with lockable fold-down rear seatback that offers additional space for more loads.
On the other hand, small cars like these remarkable Volkswagens are not only recognized as safe cars but also cost-effective in terms of gasoline consumption. This is because they have small, yet powerful, four-cylinder engines. Because of these and other safety features present, any owner will be proud to own a small car, whether it is a hatchback, sporty car, or a sedan.
Additionally, small car owners will also be very satisfied with their auto insurance policies. This is because most auto insurance companies consider the type of the car being used when calculating premium rates.
And because these Volkswagen are included in the list of safest cars, they will most likely reap lower auto insurance rates. Though, these premium rates may change if the your insurance company finds out that your driving history is less than perfect, in that case any vehicle is going to be expensive to insure with a few tickets and accidents.
So, if you are thinking to get your child, who is in college, a car this year, then these small but safe cars may be the right fit. Not only are they safe and dependable, but they are also built for the younger drivers and those who drives and travels often like students.
Copyright 2005 by RSN Insurance and Brad Intlehouse.
This article may be used freely in ezines, newsletters, websites, to offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, active links and this resource box is included.
About The Author Brad Intlehouse is an ex-insurance agent whose goal is to help you make smart buying decisions on your car insurance and answer your insurance questions to help save you money year after year at http://www.rsninsurance.com.
