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Hi Richard,

Thank you for contacting Fifth Gear with your opinions. I’m sorry to hear that you were disappointed with this feature but we greatly appreciate your feedback and all of your comments will be taken on board by the production team.

The purpose of the Fifth Gear crash test between the Land Rover Discovery and Renault Espace was not to discredit either vehicle but simply to find out which faired better in an off-set head on collision. It is very common for people to assume that a 4x4 is always a safer option than an MPV and we set out to investigate the factual accuracy of this generalisation.

In this instance we used a Discovery which, although older than the Espace, was made with the same chassis as a newer vehicle of the equivalent value to the Espace. Essentially the “ladder” design of the chassis was used in the Discovery up until mid 2004 and the crucial point was that a vehicle of this age would now be worth the same monetary value as the 2003 Espace. Our test, therefore was credible in that we used two vehicles that were comparable as an option for a family wishing to spend £10,000.

In no way did we suggest that a crash between different vehicles, for example a brand new 4x4 and a brand new MPV would end with the same results. I quote Jon’s closing comments in the piece…

“The result of the match is clear – in this crash between these two cars you’d be better off in the MPV. Which many 4x4-loving school run parents wouldn’t have expected. If you’re in the market for a new family motor, don’t automatically assume that bigger is better.”

Fifth Gear will be back next Monday at 8.00pm on Channel 5, but in the mean time don’t forget to visit the website for regular updates on our filming progress: it's the only place you'll get a sneak preview of what's still to come!

Best wishes,

Suzanne Tennant

Fifth Gear

fifth gear wrote:

Our test, therefore was credible