In the competitive world of B-segment sedans in Malaysia, the 2023 Honda City facelift still stands as the safest option to consider when pitted against its closest rival, the 2023 Toyota Vios.

Both the Honda City and Toyota Vios have garnered 5 stars from ASEAN NCAP, with the City scoring 86.54 points overall, while the Vios scored 78.70 points.

However, there's more than meets the eye when it comes to these ratings. The key difference lies in the testing protocols as ASEAN NCAP changed their testing methods between 2017 and 2021.

Understanding the ratings

The Honda City was a pre-facelift model that was assessed based on the 2017-2020 protocol, which didn't include Motorcyclist Safety. The new ASEAN NCAP Protocol 2021-2025, on the other hand, factors in this element.

The updated protocol also conducts dynamic testing on the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking (AEB), which Toyota refers to as the Pre-Collision System (PCS).

As with any transition to a new testing protocol, results from different protocols can't be directly compared. A 5-star rating from 2017 doesn't necessarily make a vehicle safer than a 4-star-rated car tested in 2021 under the updated protocol. Only same-year tests are directly comparable.

Standard safety equipment

That being said, ASEAN NCAP takes into account curtain airbag fitment rates in other major markets in Southeast Asia, including Thailand and Indonesia. The Toyota Vios comes with 6 airbags as standard is majority of the market, while the pre-facelift Honda City only had 4 airbags with curtain airbags limited to higher range variants.

However, as Malaysians, the standard curtain airbag fitment in Thailand or other ASEAN markets is not a concern for us. Our focus should be on Honda Malaysia's offerings, where all variants of the 2023 Honda City facelift come equipped with six airbags and Honda Sensing.

This is part of Honda's commitment to implement Sensing features in all new vehicles worldwide by 2030. Honda does not differentiate between models designed for emerging markets, and Malaysia's adoption for Sensing is ahead of other regional markets.

What's considered "good" or "poor" remains consistent

While the transition in NCAP protocols did affect scoring and weightage, it's essential to note that the individual safety performance analysis remains consistent. The shift in protocols doesn't alter what constitutes poor, weak, marginal, adequate, or good safety performance in individual aspects.

To put it simply, the change in testing methods only affected how safety scores are combined, not what's considered "good" or "poor".

With that in mind, one area in which the Honda City shines in comparison to the Toyota Vios is the side impact test. The City received high marks in the upper body area with the crash-test dummy outlined in green for the upper body area.

In contrast, the Vios received criticism for its weak protection of the driver's chest during the same test, as noted by ASEAN NCAP and prominently highlighted in brown in the assessment report.

Also read: After April's Daihatsu fiasco, ASEAN NCAP verifies AC100 2023 Toyota Vios' side-impact performance

Conclusion

Admittedly, we can't state whether the 2023 Honda City facelift will still outscore the 2023 Toyota Vios due to the differences in ASEAN NCAP protocols these two cars were tested in.

But what we can say is that the 2023 Honda City facelift protects you better against frontal- and side-impacts than the Toyota Vios.

Also read: Facelifted 2023 Honda City in Malaysia: Summary of differences between the 5 variants, we select the best choice for you