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What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?

9838 messages,  Last post on Feb 07, 2013 at 10:28 PM

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What is this discussion about? Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, smart fortwo, MINI Cooper

Messages Page 832 of 985

#8303 of 9838 from USA Today by nippononly

Apr 14, 2009 (8:16 am)

the Smart Cars president is saying this test is so violent that less than 1% of real-world crashes would be equally bad:
 
Dave Schembri, president of Smart, says, "If you carry this to the nth degree, we'd all be driving 18-wheelers." And, he says, fewer than 1% of crashes are as violent as the IIHS test.
 
(IIHS President Adrian) Lund says the car vs. car tests are meant to mimic killer crashes, not fender benders. He also says that the only difference between the barrier test, in which Smart got a "good," and the latest test is the size of the obstacle the Smart ran into.
 
Basically, the usual test is 40 mph into a fixed barrier, and this one is twice the net speed: a 40 mph car into another 40 mph car going in the opposite direction. Still, it can't be good for PR.
 
• Fit vs. Accord. The Fit crash-test dummy registered severe leg injuries. The dummy's head also slapped through the air bag and whacked the steering wheel.
 
• Toyota Yaris vs. Camry. Yaris nearly lost a door. Its driver's seat tipped forward. The dummy's head hammered into the steering wheel.
 
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-04-14-big-cars-safer_N.htm

#8304 of 9838 Re: from USA Today [nippononly] by ateixeira

Apr 14, 2009 (8:19 am)

Replying to: nippononly (Apr 14, 2009 8:16 am)
The problem is if they start designing cars to protect you at these speeds then they would be less safe in more common, lower speed incidents.

#8305 of 9838 Re: from USA Today [nippononly] by andre1969

Apr 14, 2009 (8:33 am)

Replying to: nippononly (Apr 14, 2009 8:16 am)
(IIHS President Adrian) Lund says the car vs. car tests are meant to mimic killer crashes, not fender benders. He also says that the only difference between the barrier test, in which Smart got a "good," and the latest test is the size of the obstacle the Smart ran into.
 
Also, the dynamics of HITTING something at 40 mph are different from BEING HIT by something at 40 mph. If you run into a parked Camry at 40 mph in a Smart, chances are you'd be better off than if you were in a parked Smart, and got hit by a Camry doing 40 mph.

#8306 of 9838 Re: from USA Today [ateixeira] by nippononly

Apr 14, 2009 (8:49 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Apr 14, 2009 8:19 am)
Yeah, it makes me think: what if I ran a Camry into a Sequoia at the same speeds, or ran the Sequoia into a city bus? Would all the results be equally bad? I believe they would.
 
No matter how gargantuan a vehicle one buys, there will always still be PLENTY of much larger vehicles on the road for one to tangle with, and there is some chance under 1% that the vehicle will not be able to protect you from serious injury or death.
 
Of course, I believe that the smaller and more agile the vehicle, the more likely the accident can be entirely avoided in the first place.....

#8307 of 9838 Re: from USA Today [nippononly] by ateixeira

Apr 14, 2009 (8:51 am)

Replying to: nippononly (Apr 14, 2009 8:49 am)
I'm sure a Camry could avoid more than a few situations that the Sequoia could not...

#8308 of 9838 Re: from USA Today [nippononly] by andre1969

Apr 14, 2009 (9:57 am)

Replying to: nippononly (Apr 14, 2009 8:49 am)
Yeah, it makes me think: what if I ran a Camry into a Sequoia at the same speeds, or ran the Sequoia into a city bus? Would all the results be equally bad? I believe they would.
 
Yeah, they would. Actually in some situations, the bigger cars might come out worse. For example, if you ran a Yaris into a parked bus at 40 mph, it might come out better than a Sequoia, because there's so much less mass to have to decelerate. When you run into something that's not going to budge, all that extra mass can work against you as it shifts forward and puts more force into the impact. And a city bus does start to approach the immoveable, although I do remember seeing pics of an H2 that rear-ended a school bus. The impact was enough to throw the bus about 10 feet forward and to the right, making it hop a curb. The H2 was penetrated on the passenger side back to roughly the passenger seat.
 
Years ago, in Baltimore, there was a high-speed chase involving an OJ-style Bronco, which ended up hitting a 1991-96 era "whale" Caprice copcar head-on at high speed. The Bronco pretty much disintegrated ahead of the firewall. However on the Caprice, everything ahead of the rear axle pretty much ceased to exist, as it was stripped from the frame and, for lack of a better term, mulched. The cop died instantly, while the Bronco driver only received minor injuries.
 
So basically, no matter what you're driving, there's always something bigger out there. And even if you're in the biggest, you can still get hurt. I know I've told the story before about one of my Mom's friends, back in the late 70's, who was in a VW Bug and got into an accident with an Impala wagon, a tractor trailer, and another car...it was a mess, but the only one who got hurt seriously was the tractor trailer driver.

#8309 of 9838 Re: from USA Today [andre1969] by ateixeira

Apr 14, 2009 (10:03 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 14, 2009 9:57 am)
Death rates for the Miata are average, while numbers for the Corvette and Mustang are far worse, though they are much bigger and heavier.
 
Still, it's funny how many people warn me that the car is so small and not safe, and some of those people own vehicles that do far worse.
 
There are so many factors. Weight is one, for sure, but just one.

#8310 of 9838 Checker at the market... by plan_man

Apr 14, 2009 (10:06 am)

explained she was getting her daughter a used Exploder to drive as her first car, citing crash safety as her prime criterion.
 
Not much thought process there, IMO.

#8311 of 9838 Re: from USA Today [ateixeira] by andre1969

Apr 14, 2009 (10:10 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Apr 14, 2009 10:03 am)
Death rates for the Miata are average, while numbers for the Corvette and Mustang are far worse, though they are much bigger and heavier.
 
That's probably demographics more than anything else. I'm guessing a lot of people who buy Corvettes and Mustangs like to get the testosterone pumping, and then the next thing you know the paramedics are peeling them off an oak tree.

#8312 of 9838 Re: Checker at the market... [plan_man] by ateixeira

Apr 14, 2009 (10:11 am)

Replying to: plan_man (Apr 14, 2009 10:06 am)
Honestly the buyer would be better off looking at braking distances as the #1 criteria.
 
When did people throw in the towel and decide accidents cannot be avoided?

Messages Page 832 of 985

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