From the Business & Economics Desk Published 12/10/2002 2:24 PM

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 10 (UPI) -- For the first time all five passenger cars tested in high speed front end crashes into an offset barrier won the top "good" rating from the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety Tuesday.

The mid-sized Honda Accord and Audi A4 and the small Suzuki Aerio, Toyota Corolla and Mini Cooper were named "best picks."

"This is the first time we've had a release where all the cars tested were "best picks," said Institute president Brian O'Neill.

The cars were driven into a deformable offset barrier at 40 mph in tests conducted by the Virginia-based insurance industry group. The vehicles sustained major front-end damage but absorbed the energy of the impact with little or no intrusion into the passenger compartment, protecting the test dummy from likely severe injury in all the crashes.

The latest tests included the 2003 Accord, the 2002 Audi A4 and three small cars -- the 2002 Suzuki Aerio, 2002 Mini Cooper and 2003 Toyota Corolla.

The 2,694-pound Aerio and 2,496-pound Mini received good ratings for structure/safety cage and protecting a driver from head and neck, chest, leg and foot injuries.

"The Mini's front end is stiff but it's body is stiff so it bounces off the wall pretty good," O'Neill said.

Corollas manufactured before Jan. 3, 2002, received one marginal rating for protecting a driver's right leg and foot but the resigned 2003 Corollas earned a "good" rating for protecting the right leg and foot.

"This set of crash results continues to demonstrate the effectiveness of consumer safety information in improving frontal crashworthiness," said O'Neill. "When we completed our first set of offset tests of 14 midsize cars in 1995, only 3 earned good ratings. So far this year, all small and midsize car designs we've tested are rated good."

The Institute indicated it would test fewer cars in crash tests in the future because of the significant safety improvements.

"In fact, it's now unusual for us to test a new passenger vehicle design of any type or size and not get a good rating," O'Neill said.

The mid-size 2003 Toyota Camry and Subaru Legacy were named "best picks" in previous tests of high-speed bumper crashworthiness.

The redesigned 2002 Nissan Altima received a good rating in an earlier test and the Volkswagen Passat, Toyota Avalon, Volvo 860/870 and Acura TL previous were selected "best pick."

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2002