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Hatchbacks Smart Car Smart Fortwo
491 messages, Last post on Oct 07, 2009 at 6:46 AM
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Replying to: houdini1 (Jun 10, 2009 2:00 pm) Impressive, but I still wouldn't like to be in it.
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Replying to: verdugo (Jun 10, 2009 3:09 pm) I don't think too many passengers would survive, it any car hit the wall dead on at 70mph. Very few accidents are right on. When you see how much destruction there is in that clip, just imagine two cars coming together - both going 70 mph. That would be like hitting the wall at 140! Impressive, but I still wouldn't like to be in it. See all those parts in the passenger compartment that break and come loose. Imagine bones and muscles being torn apart. That little Smart car might be safer than a lot of bigger cars, especially ones from a few years ago without airbags and crumple zones.
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Replying to: driver100 (Jun 11, 2009 4:44 am) That would be equivalent to one car hitting a stationary item at 70 mph. If cars are different in mass and the other car is a larger mass the Smart car would end up being accelerated more and might even bounce backwards, giving a much larger change in velocity to its poor occupants. A problem with comparing a fixed block at 45 degrees collision with one against another car is that the parts of the cars aren't going to mesh solidly against each other, so there's going to be more intrusion in places and less slowing. Hitting the solid concrete probably uses the design of the Smart car to its maximum to absorb the forces without extreme disintegration and intrusion occuring. A real life incident is more likely to give worse-looking results. Remember that the occupants only had the time it took for the car's left front to collapse approximately 30 inch to decelerate to zero forward velocity and the approximately 25 mph sideways velocity. You can calculate an average acceleration rate using the 70 mph initial speed. That means higher deceleration rates than in a larger vehicle with a longer crush zone and longer crush time; that's better on occupants generally.
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jun 11, 2009 5:27 am) Wow, I forgot I am dealing with Physics experts here. Although the Smart does well in crash tests, I guess what you are saying is, in the long run, it isn't going to matter much to the occupants any way. |
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Replying to: bumpy (Oct 19, 2007 3:49 pm)
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Replying to: graphicguy (Jun 10, 2009 6:16 am)
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Replying to: tidester (Jun 10, 2009 10:24 am) |
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Jun 11, 2009 4:08 pm) Hi gregg, In gg's defense, we were posting on another forum, but we were off topic. So all the posts got moved over here. |
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Replying to: vgoff (Jun 11, 2009 11:59 am) Compare the features, safety items and weights of those cars to today's cars. Back in 1993, you didn't have airbags, crumple zones, side door beams, electronic abs, skid control, et al. All those things add weight. |
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Replying to: kelly1st (May 29, 2009 7:43 am) The problem is that my daily commute is 36 miles of city roads with speeds between 45-50 mph and 12 miles of Interstate with speeds of 70-75 mph. Outside of this I rarely go more than 5 miles out of my way and usually on just city streets to visit stores or the theater. I'm not concerned about the city roads at all of course, but I just want to be sure the Smart ForTwo can handle the 12 miles a day (6 there and 6 back) of speeds around 70-75 mph. I really am not concerned about safety but rather about the car being able to perform well enough. This stretch of Interstate is in OKC and is actually pretty rural with more grass than concrete(I240 East of Sooner Rd if curious) I'm also not too concerned about a smooth ride. I'd just like to know if someone with an 08 or 09 model can let me know if the car would handle this sort of commute well or not. Also, the only part of driving in my short 7 years on the road that I hate is driving in heavy snow or ice. Oklahoma has been getting hit very hard these last few Winters and I just hate losing any control of my vehicle. However I keep hearing that the car handles this stuff suprisingly well. Is that really the case. I really would appreciate as much feedback as possible. Just keep in mind that I'm cool with the passenger/storage space, the safety, the fuel consumption, the jerky acceleration, and slightly rough ride at higher speeds. I'm just want to know if the car will get me from A to B(outlined above) and anything else to know positive or negative. |
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