The rating is even more significant considering that since 2012 Euro NCAP has adopted even stricter access thresholds for the 5-star rating in relation to adult occupant, child occupant and pedestrian protection. The 5-star rating is also important as it puts Fiat back in the top bracket after the new Panda missed out on this award.

To guarantee the protection of passengers and the other road users, the new 500L is designed to satisfy all international standards guaranteeing consequently the highest safety level provided today.

Thousands of hours of virtual simulations facilitated the creation of the new “Small Wide” architecture – which is making its debut on the 500L – and the entire car without using prototypes. The quality of virtual design was later materially put to the test on the cars made at the plant by running 200 tests on components and sub-systems, over 100 shock test simulations and more than 100 crash tests taking all possible types of impact into consideration: frontal impact, side impact, rollover, pile-up and impacts with pedestrians. In addition, various speeds at which impact may occur were also taken into consideration as well as different types of obstacles and different types of occupants with greatly varying physical characteristics.

The end result is a car with a safety cell structure complete with twin pillars at the front designed in line with current US regulations as far as crash tests and dimensional specifications of the materials used are concerned. Specifically, the three load line front structure guarantees structural uniformity and consequently uniformity of response in the event of frontal impact regardless of the type of obstacle or vehicle the car crashes into. This is a breakthrough in partner protection, because the vehicle is less aggressive in the event of a crash into the front or side of another vehicle, and in self protection, because the uniform deformation makes the retaining systems more effective regardless of the type of crash.

For complete protection of its occupants, the new Fiat “City lounge” is supplied standard with front and window airbags - driver knee bags are available upon request - along with three-point seat belts with double pretensioners and load limiters. Without forgetting the contribution to occupant and pedestrian protection provided by the body, the bonnet, the doors and the dashboard crossmember, in addition to the seats and steering column. In case of impact, the steering column is designed to collapse protecting the driver and to avoid that mechanical components push the steering column upwards, especially for frontal impacts severer than the Euro NCAP standard.

In addition, as regards preventive safety, the Fiat 500L comes with front headlights with the Daytime Running Lights function as well as fog lights with the 'self-adaptive cornering' function.

The new model also comes standard with the following active safety systems: ABS with BAS (Brake Assist System) and the sophisticated ESC (Electronic Stability Control) that intervenes in conditions close to the limit, when the car's stability is at risk, and helps the driver control it.

The Fiat 500L ESC is equipped with several very useful functions:

ASR (Anti Slip Regulation) system, which optimises traction at any speed, with the help of the brakes and engine management, allowing the Fiat 500L to cope easily on low-grip road surfaces.

Hill-Holder: the system that helps the driver in starting off uphill by keeping the brake locked for about 2 seconds, thus making starting off easier without requiring the driver to press the brake pedal or use the parking brake.

MSR (Motor Schleppmoment Regelung): when there is a brisk gear change in poor grip conditions, the MSR function intervenes, restoring engine torque and preventing the wheels from locking and slipping.

DST (Driving Steering Torque): the system improves both driving safety and handling performance. The active electronic steering carries out corrections automatically and also controls oversteer over surfaces with low grip in all driving conditions.

ERM (Electronic Rollover Mitigation) is the function which intervenes when a wheel leaves the road surface: in fact, whenever an extreme dynamic movement is detected, the ERM helps to restabilise the vehicle and returns control of the car to the driver.

Last but not least, mention must absolutely be made of the brand new "City Brake Control" system which is capable of recognising obstacles in front of the car and of braking automatically when the driver fails to do so to avoid crashing into them. Depending on certain parameters (road surface conditions, dynamics and trajectory of the vehicle, position of the obstacles and condition of the tyres, etc.), the intervention of the system can avoid impact completely ("Collision Avoidance") or minimise the consequences of a possible impact ("Collision Mitigation").

The sophisticated device of the new 500L integrates three additional functions: Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), Prefill and Brake Assist. The former, while respecting the driver's wishes and leaving full control of the car in his/her hands, is triggered by emergency braking after carefully assessing the position and speed of the obstacles, the speed of the vehicle (below 30 km/h), lateral acceleration, the steering angle and pressure on the accelerator pedal and its variation. The "Prefill" function instead prefills the braking system to provide a quicker response both when Automatic Emergency Braking intervenes and if the driver brakes. Brake Assist, on the other hand, recognises emergency situations and alters the brake pedal's response to achieve quicker braking in emergency situations.

ItaliaspeedTV: Fiat 500L EuroNCAP Crash Testing