300 MPG anyone?

[surfcam]

I agree that some small cars are safer than other small cars. But when any of them tangle with a 5000lb car the people in the small car tend to come out worse. You just have to read crash stats on what the safest cars are. Big wins out. If their were more small cars on the road that would maybe change slightly. Most accidents are between other vehicles. Its the guy on your bumper and running the red light you have to worry about. Or maybe drunk cement truck drives. Last week in Calgary he wiped out a whole family. Never seen a car so totally flattened.

[Harry]

CoolAirVW, Good flic from youtube. There is an implied point at the end of the flic. Although the well designed small car can take it, the humans can't. Therefore, from some of the reasoning that may, or may not, go on here, if the humans all acquire more mass, as in increasing the girth of their big fat a$$e$, then said humans will survive better? Of course they will not have the perils of the wreck, they will already have deceased from coronaries and/or diabetes. Try adding mass to your Beech Bonanza or King Air and see what happens. Perhaps alert defensive non-emotional driving might help? Speaking of flying, probably classifying drivers with the old Stanine test and other ability classifiers and then allowing the drivers(those that pass at all that is) to drive only in their classification, or below, would be in order, like a pilot's license with various ratings. It's a privilege, not a right. Or would we want non Med School graduates do our heart, or whatever, surgeries?

While a big vehicle seems automatically safer in the mind, as it has been said, the fact is the big gas sucking pigs are biting us in the a$$.

Can an Abrams A-1 tank run on veggie?

[Fatmobile]

Sometimes the smaller cars are better at avoiding an accident.
Many of the big vehicles roll over when they let off the gas, brake and turn.
A lady was killed here when that happened. Large vehicle, slowish in-town traffic.
I am talking about big vehicles hurting themselves. If they land on a small car, the small car would lose.

[libbybapa]

I would also make the point that if two cars, one heavy, one light were in an offset head-on collision, the lighter car will "bounce off" the vehicle with the heavier mass due to the smaller mass having less inertia. The same situation with two heavier cars will often result in both vehicles caving in and becoming a mess of pieces. Having a lighter car in the equation in those circumstances can result in the saving of lives in both vehicles.

Andrew

[lyeinyoureye]

You just have to read crash stats on what the safest cars are. Big wins out. If their were more small cars on the road that would maybe change slightly.

I think safety correlates strongly with design as opposed to size. For instance, in this pdf SUVs are just as dangerous for the driver as most cars, while being more dangerous for other drivers than most cars. Otoh they are not as safe as luxury sedans or minivans where safety is likely considered a greater priority and acounts for a substantially larger portion of the vehicle's cost. Similarly, something like a Smart costs more than an Aveo because much more was spent making it much safer.

Having a lighter car in the equation in those circumstances can result in the saving of lives in both vehicles.

Andrew

I've often wondered about this and the only conclusive thing I can say is that the vehicle that transfers the smallest impulse to it's occupants under a wide variety of conditions is likely the safest. If the small car's frame crumples and distributes the force over a much greater time than the large vehicle can, then it's probably safer even if the force on the smaller vehicle is disproportionately greater.

[Brian Rages]

I think the American ideal for a "1-liter car" would be to transplant the motor from a 1000cc GSX-R in that thing...


would probably still get very good fuel economy.

[A1-2-A3]

A gsxr engine in a car would get maybe 35mpg and be almost undriveable. They do not produce much low rpm torque to really work in a car. Unless the car weighed under 1000lbs and still a 3000lbs polo blue motion with a 3cylinder tdi capable of 75mpg and a top speed of 167kph would double the mileage of the inline 4 -1000cc race bike engine in a car.
I might make a hybussa gocart someday that would be fun.

[CoolAirVw]

I would also make the point that if two cars, one heavy, one light were in an offset head-on collision, the lighter car will "bounce off" the vehicle with the heavier mass due to the smaller mass having less inertia.........

Andrew

Look at this for "Bounce off"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02eghIfyHP0

[A1-2-A3]

Would that not be a wild ride! I think everyone would survive that crash but what about being knocked in front of a semi after being bounced off the other car?

[Brian Rages]

A gsxr engine in a car would get maybe 35mpg and be almost undriveable. They do not produce much low rpm torque to really work in a car. Unless the car weighed under 1000lbs and still a 3000lbs polo blue motion with a 3cylinder tdi capable of 75mpg and a top speed of 167kph would double the mileage of the inline 4 -1000cc race bike engine in a car.
I might make a hybussa gocart someday that would be fun.

I said "that thing" - the VW 1-liter car... which weighs 650 lbs with the current 1-cyl, 9-hp diesel motor. My comment was really about the American obsession with speed... (doesn't a Camry have 260+ hp now? wild!)

[82vdub]

libbybapa wrote:
I would also make the point that if two cars, one heavy, one light were in an offset head-on collision, the lighter car will "bounce off" the vehicle with the heavier mass due to the smaller mass having less inertia.........

Andrew


Look at this for "Bounce off"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02eghIfyHP0

Well, the two cars looked like they came out well. I guess the key item that I noted was that the smaller (ie: lighter car) went from about 30-40MPH in one direction, to about 20MPH in the opposite direction nearly instantly. The forces on the human body are compounded by the sudden stop and change in direction. The larger car of course slowed down, but it still maintained it's forward speed while the smaller car bounced in the other direction.

[vwtyp133]

Though I'd worked on a wide variety of vehicles for several years, the first small car I actually owned('66 Ford Cortina GT) quickly showed my that, with less bulk to control, it could actually move out of the way and around many 'accident situations' in which a larger car probably would have been involved.

OTOH I pity the sap that clobbers the rear of my Ford stake-body with its thick iron liftgate, even if the guy is driving a large 'SUV'.

J.R.

[A1-2-A3]

Sorry Brian was too quick to pull the trigger AGAIN!!