F! your new car and it's 5 star crash rating

[wagon mafia]

so i went to the derby this week to watch a friend in the compacts, and stayed for the fullsize wagon carnage. after wating these wagons beat on each other for a half hour or so (both ford and chevy box wagons) i have realized, i will always drive one. as much of a beating these cars can take, and still run, and not have the frame shoved in two is just amazing. yes i know some stuff here and there is beefed up but still. some new peice that you pay $30-40,000 will take one MINOR hit, and will most likely be salvaged. i have seen it done, but these old wagon just take a beating, and i believe are still safer on the road then most anything new! wife feels the same way. i told her that if i had won the lottery (wasn't telling her how much i had been playing) i was just going to bring her home a magnum, and she said no thanks! she would rather stick with her 86 CS wagon. am i just crazy, and like to pay for the extra gas i use, or pay the extra $ for something not as safe, but with good milage?!?!

[86GmLsCoupe]

Nothing wrong with an older solid car. New cars have lots of technology that help protect the occupants but when up against large car with a frame and 10mph bumper, physics will still prevail.

[GoodSamaritan]

Wagon Mafia, I'm with you all the way. Until the day they come out with force fields, a Vic, will still eat a prius for lunch any day of the week, with one exclusion.

Lets say you are driving a Magnum and you hit a bridge support at 65mph. The crumple zones and (as much as I hate to say it), the airbags will help slow down YOUR deceleration. Whereas, in a crown vic, you will experience a more rapid deceleration. (i.e. Higher G forces) The trade off is a no brainer for me. Which is more likely for me to be involved in an accident with? I have been run into, side swiped, rear ended, multiple times. I have yet to crash into any stationary object other than a tree, and I smacked into that with my passenger side door*. (I average 70k a year, and have logged over a million miles, so I have had plenty of opportunities.)

Judging by experience, I am much more likely to be involved in a vehicle on vehicle collision than running into a random stationary object. I'll take my chances with a Vic, or my ton truck over any new plastic hippie's wet dream of a green wonder car any day.

[1987cp]

plastic hippie's wet dream of a green wonder car

:lol:

:banana:


That's just great!

[GoodSamaritan]

<Takes a bow.

[Bob]

Well, just because a car can take a beating doesn't mean it's safe. If I hit a wall at 30 mph I'd rather my car fold and absorb the impact rather than just smash into it and not fold and cause me some injuries.

Don't get me wrong, I love the old big cars and all but I see why the new cars fold to get their 5 star rating.

[torquelover]

Well, just because a car can take a beating doesn't mean it's safe. If I hit a wall at 30 mph I'd rather my car fold and absorb the impact rather than just smash into it and not fold and cause me some injuries.

Don't get me wrong, I love the old big cars and all but I see why the new cars fold to get their 5 star rating.

I agree. I got hurt a lot more in my Panther taking on a Saturn with a 20 MPH speed differential versus my late Subaru taking on a fully loaded 4-axle dump truck with a 50 MPH speed differential.

Newer cars are getting heavy, BTW. Only one newer vehicle out of the 5 or so I looked at buying last year was lighter than my old Panther. I was looking at used 2WD Magnum R/Ts (4200 lbs), 4.4 X5s (5000 lbs), Gen1 and 2 LS400s (4100 lbs), Gen1 Q45s (4200 lbs) and Odyssey Tourings (4700 lbs) but ended up getting a new economy car. Even for an economy car 3200 lbs is not what I would consider light.

[Bob]

I agree. I got hurt a lot more in my Panther taking on a Saturn with a 20 MPH speed differential versus my late Subaru taking on a fully loaded 4-axle dump truck with a 50 MPH speed differential.

Newer cars are getting heavy, BTW. Only one newer vehicle out of the 5 or so I looked at buying last year was lighter than my old Panther. I was looking at used 2WD Magnum R/Ts (4200 lbs), 4.4 X5s (5000 lbs), Gen1 and 2 LS400s (4100 lbs), Gen1 Q45s (4200 lbs) and Odyssey Tourings (4700 lbs) but ended up getting a new economy car. Even for an economy car 3200 lbs is not what I would consider light.

You are 100% correct. My 1991 Honda Civic got like 50 mpg with it's 90hp motor. But with today's safety and EPA standards these manufacturers have to load the cars down with air bags, emissions gear and such. Making the cars heavier and decreasing their mpg.

[1987cp]

Even for an economy car 3200 lbs is not what I would consider light.

Nope, economy cars should weigh more like 2700 pounds like our Cavalier. Sure, your old Vic nominally weighed 1000 pounds more than that when new, but it's a LOT roomier and came with a 530 pound lump of iron under the hood. And if your claims of a 3800 pound weigh-in with 200 pounds of driver were accurate, it could be as light as 3500 pounds these days. Oddly, even on the Cavalier, the "all aluminum" Ecotec is a lot heavier than I would think it should be.

3200 is only 100 pounds less than I was once predicting my '81 LTD to weigh once it's driving again. Chevy killed the Cavalier and replaced it with the Cobalt, which is 200 pounds heavier and not as good a car. Where's the sense in that?

[P72Ford]

Panthers still fold up pretty good in an accident. I've seen some that have been pretty mashed. But, I'd rather take a hit in a panther than a Smart.

My daily is an '04 Ram 1500 4WD... I guess I feel safe, but I'm not really the type that worries about safety in a vehicle. Not really sure why. But, I've seen some of these trucks really folded up from seemingly light hits. They don't make stuff like they used to.

I wouldn't be afraid to take a hit in my truck, or run into someone else for that matter. But, its not as bulletproof as I'd like to think.

What I really miss about cars with bumpers... is creeping up on friends at a stoplight and bumping them. Of course, with air bags these days... they'd deploy if you bumped someone hard enough.

[Bob]

Panthers still fold up pretty good in an accident. I've seen some that have been pretty mashed. But, I'd rather take a hit in a panther than a Smart.

My daily is an '04 Ram 1500 4WD... I guess I feel safe, but I'm not really the type that worries about safety in a vehicle. Not really sure why. But, I've seen some of these trucks really folded up from seemingly light hits. They don't make stuff like they used to.

I wouldn't be afraid to take a hit in my truck, or run into someone else for that matter. But, its not as bulletproof as I'd like to think.

What I really miss about cars with bumpers... is creeping up on friends at a stoplight and bumping them. Of course, with air bags these days... they'd deploy if you bumped someone hard enough.

I know it's hard to think about bu the SMART car is SUPER safe. I saw them do a 70mph crash in one right into a block wall. The car was crushed to crap but the inside compartment was still good.

[marquisman]

i think they re-tested the not-so-smart car and its not as good as they say since it was one test. you dont want to be caught in a pile up with that shit box.

[85crownHPP]

so lets set up a Smart vs box 60mph head on collision and see which test dummy suffers more damage.