2010 Toyota Venza

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Safety - What the Auto Press Says

The federal government gives the 2010 Venza top five-star scores for driver and passenger safety in frontal crash tests as well as front- and rear-seat safety in side crash tests. It also gets a four-star rollover score, which is excellent for an SUV. The insurance industry gave the similar 2009 model top scores of "Good" in frontal offset, side impact and rear crash protection tests, and designates it a "Top Safety Pick."

The Venza comes standard with plenty of safety features, including Enhanced Vehicle Stability Control, Traction Control, an Anti-Lock Brake System with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Brake Assist, driver and front passenger front seat-mounted side airbags, front and rear side curtain airbags and even a driver's knee airbag. A rear backup camera is optional with the Security Package. Another unique option is the optional Lighting Package, which comes with High Intensity Discharge headlamps and an Automatic High Beam feature to improve night vision.

• "Venza's traction control was well-tuned. In FWD models, it let the front wheels spin a bit before the electronics kicked in. But by then it was moving forward, so the system didn't need to swipe big chunks of engine power to get the wheels under control. Thus, FWD models merely accelerated straight and hard, accompanied by some tire commotion." -- USA Today
• "The available Automatic High Beam system can determine if there is an oncoming car and switch from high- to low-beam headlights, then back again when the car passes, without driver involvement." -- Cars.com
• "Toyota offers an optional backup camera, but the display on the Venza's small information screen is too tiny to be useful. If you opt for the navigation system, the backup cam uses the nav's larger display screen." -- About.com
• "Several high-tech features set the Venza apart from competitors. One is an automatic hill-start system that keeps the vehicle from rolling backward when you take off from a stop on an incline. Another is an intelligent headlight system, which reacts to oncoming traffic and automatically dims the brights. The system works quite well, though it occasionally -- and inexplicably -- dims the lights when there is no oncoming traffic." -- Business Week