Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

[cjforumadmin]

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Shocker-Tiny-Cars-Cannot-Defeat-the-Laws-of-Physics.html

[prlafayette]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

They really needed to mix in a an F-350 or two against the Nano & FIT.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

Ohhhhhhh....now that would be near pornographic destruction.

Brian

[VTJUNK]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

The thing that gets me is that people get PAID to do this sort of test, or report on it.

Not that I would mind smashing a few of those cars, but I'd do it for free, and could probably, maybe, predict the results.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

Plus you get to wear one of those snappy white coats.

Brian

[A/Fuel]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

they are trying to scare or shame people that drive normal sized cars into buying one of those things.....so it's fair.
i drive a semi-truck sometimes and one of my biggest fears is running over a miata or something. well these little cars take this to a whole new level.

[Darren N.]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

I had a little discussion with my family about this after watching the NBC report together. Sure, take one large mass and smash it into a significantly smaller mass, guess what happens? Like Brian said, we "cannot defeat the laws of physics". So, I pose a question to you all: what if we all drove smaller vehicles? I know I'm bordering a Utopian goal here, but definitely food for thought.

There will always be large vehicles on the roads such as buses, big rigs, fire trucks, trucks for businesses hauling stuff etc. but if the average size of vehicles was reduced then everyone would be on a similar playing field. No one really wants to be in a Smart if you're facing a Suburban head-on.

Also, since we're discussing automotive crash safety: what about the fact that most of us like to drive older vehicles with outdated safety features? I really like old Beetles and would make a daily driver out of one but it's not even on the same safety level as a contemporary well engineered compact car, such as the Smart.

Interesting contrast here for crashing some old Beetles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRbwTutw-Hk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piWXpa3C3Ik

Some Mercedes Smart car crash test footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnVNUvixWUQ

There was an interesting episode of 5th Gear where they were discussing the safety of small and compact vehicles. They basically just smashed the crap out of a bunch of small cars including the Smart.

Bah, we BangShifters and hotrodders know that there's an easy solution to this: full cage and a 5 point harness! :P

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

That's assuming you get everyone in a small vehicle. Lets talk about the shear number of stationary objects, sure even big cars get stopped by them, but typically you have how much more "give" room between the front bumper and you in the bigger car?

Suddenly my old cars with out crumple zones become a bit safer with these on the road ;D I bet they bounce ;D

[Darren N.]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

That's assuming you get everyone in a small vehicle. Lets talk about the shear number of stationary objects, sure even big cars get stopped by them, but typically you have how much more "give" room between the front bumper and you in the bigger car?

Suddenly my old cars with out crumple zones become a bit safer with these on the road ;D I bet they bounce ;D

LOL! Good point. I bet your Centurion could plow through a street full of Smart's, Nano's, and Fit's.

[A/Fuel]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

see....it's not fair when you people in your big gas guzzling cars rule the roads, when i'm trying to save the world in my little bitty eco-friendly, green, rubberband powered machine. now, if all of you would change (cause it's the right thing to do) the world would be a better place. :

[Darren N.]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

see....it's not fair when you people in your big gas guzzling cars rule the roads, when i'm trying to save the world in my little bitty eco-friendly, green, rubberband powered machine. now, if all of you would change (cause it's the right thing to do) the world would be a better place. :

LOL ;D That's definitely the bulk of the argument for some folks but not me. On the whole there's still plenty of ways we can improve commuter vehicles: reducing weight, improving aero, material selection, etc etc. I'm not hung up on the tiny car deal: if you've got a family of 4+ a small eco-box really won't work, especially if you plan on only having one vehicle.

Our lifestyle here in North America doesn't seem to accommodate a tiny car, but that doesn't mean we can't build quality cars that are slightly smaller than usual in the name of fuel economy and pollution.

Right now, I'm talking out of my ass here, but one day I'd like to start a car company. If there's a way I can make a small car sustain a crash of 200kmh into a brick wall, I'll do it! :P

Now, if you really want to teach those long haired Smart car driving hippies a lesson, you're going to buy the biggest land yacht you can find, remove the catalytic converter, make it run pig rich, and fill its enormous steel bumpers with cement in the event that you should collide with them. hahaha

Not that I'd accuse anyone of being such a person, but there's no reason not to build high quality and safe small(er) vehicles... or is there?

[RyanWalker]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

So to be safe, we need to be a bunch of shitkickers and drive F-250's.

[Darren N.]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

So to be safe, we need to be a bunch of shitkickers and drive F-250's.

Automobile soccer anyone? :D

[Gerrit]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

I drove this tiny lighweight some months ago.



Very dangerous according to many but I had the ride of my life.

Gerrit
Netherlands

[A/Fuel]

Re: Shocker: Tiny Cars Cannot Defeat the Laws of Physics

I drove this tiny lighweight some months ago.



Very dangerous according to many but I had the ride of my life.

Gerrit
Netherlands

thats cool, i'd like to drive that too!
as a matter of fact, drive what ever you want.