Consumer watchdog Which? has called for manufacturers to publish the average braking distance of their cars.
Which? measured the average distance a range of new cars took to stop from 62mph. In the supermini category, Volkswagen’s Polo took 34.16 metres to come to rest, whereas the Suzuki Alto was over eight metres behind, taking 42.52m.
The worst performing car tested was the Chrysler Grand Voyager, taking 43.49m, while other slow stoppers included the Mercedes A-Class (41.61m) and the Land Rover Freelander (42.04m)
To ensure a realistic result, Which? fills the car to half load (with two adult passengers) and ensures tyre pressures are correct. They then perform 10 emergency stop tests in quick succession and the average of these tests is the overall braking distance figure quoted for each car.
This highlights any tendency of the brakes to fade as they heat up. Which? tests 160 cars a year and puts them through identical road tests.
Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive of Which?, said, “Car manufacturers are good at telling us how quickly cars get from zero to 60 miles per hour, but they’re not so good at telling us how quickly they get from 60 to zero.
“We think people should have this information before deciding whether to buy a car. This could be a matter of life and death.”
Photo used under a Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user zimpenfish.