Subaru Outback beats rivals in crash tests

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently released new crash test results for selected model year 2005 vehicles. The agency also released new rollover ratings for several 2005 pickups.

All results, including previously tested vehicles, are

The 2005 Subaru Outback sport utility vehicle was the only vehicle in the latest group to earn the top rating of five stars for all seating positions in frontal- and side-impact crash tests. The 2005 Chrysler 300 and its corporate twin, the Dodge Magnum, received the highest scores for a passenger car - five Stan for frontal crash in both seating positions and four stars and five Stan, respectively, for side impact crash in the driver and rear-seating positions.

In rollover testing, the highest-rated pickups were the 2005 Dodge Ram 4x2, the Chevrolet Colorado 4x4 and its corporate twin, the GMC Canyon 4x4, each receiving four stars, a 17.9 percent chance of rollover, if involved in a singievehicle crash.

New 2005 ratings for frontal impact are available for the Chrysler 300 four-door, Dodge Magnum four-door, Dodge Ram pickup, Nissan Altima four-door, Pontiac Vibe four-door, Subaru Outback utility vehicle, Toyota Corolla fourdoor and Toyota Matrix four-door.

New model year 2005 ratings for side impact are available for the Ford Focus twodoor, Subaru Outback utility vehicle and Toyota Corolla four-door.

New model year 2005 ratings for rollover are available for the Chevrolet Colorado 4x2 pickup, Chevrolet Colorado 4x4 pickup, Dodge Ram 4x2 pickup, Dodge Ram 4x4 pickup, Ford Freestar van, Ford Ranger 4x2 pickup and Ford Ranger 4x4 pickup, GMC Canyon 4x2 pickup, GMC Canyon 4x4 pickup, Mazda B-Series 4x2 pickup, and Mazda B-Series 4x4 pickup.