Elise and Exige safety.
Discussion
With respect to the deceased and their families.
Following on from another thread, regarding the safety of the Elise and Exige.
What crash tests stats do you look out for when buying a push bike? You could buy a loaded Lexus with a good Euro N.CAP and the accelerator pedal will stick, wiping out a family.
It won't put me off ownership and enjoying the Elise any less than if I'd have bought a Hummer knowing some had been killed in them.
Bike, Mini or 4x4 you can still be killed, I lost my uncle who was driving a 4x4, when a Saxo coming at speed in the other direction mounted the central reservation and landed on top of him, his 4x4 has a good Euro N.CAP safety record.
From my point of view, I feel quite safe in the tub of the Elise, I reckon a side impact would be minimized due to the fat rails compared to a saloon.
I ask this: In the same vain as a pilot, how much is driver error to blame in these incidences compared to the reliability/safety of the car? Truth is, who knows unless there is a black box in the car!
Would the recent fatalities involving the Exige and Elise put you off owning or buying one?
Following on from another thread, regarding the safety of the Elise and Exige.
What crash tests stats do you look out for when buying a push bike? You could buy a loaded Lexus with a good Euro N.CAP and the accelerator pedal will stick, wiping out a family.
It won't put me off ownership and enjoying the Elise any less than if I'd have bought a Hummer knowing some had been killed in them.
Bike, Mini or 4x4 you can still be killed, I lost my uncle who was driving a 4x4, when a Saxo coming at speed in the other direction mounted the central reservation and landed on top of him, his 4x4 has a good Euro N.CAP safety record.
From my point of view, I feel quite safe in the tub of the Elise, I reckon a side impact would be minimized due to the fat rails compared to a saloon.
I ask this: In the same vain as a pilot, how much is driver error to blame in these incidences compared to the reliability/safety of the car? Truth is, who knows unless there is a black box in the car!
Would the recent fatalities involving the Exige and Elise put you off owning or buying one?
Edited by LOTUS F1 on Thursday 4th February 19:02
ah this is a better thread to discuss this type of thing
Isn't the Elise story on DVD available? They discussed how much testing theyd done at MIRA rather than NCAP as they wanted to make sure their car was safe.
The sides are very high for a convertible it has a huge amount of protection around the driver and passnger compared to a true soft top
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
That one in Putney, one report said the road was sheet ice, it looked like it had flipped, hit the barrier with the middle of the roof = no protection , then landed upside down on the road where the roll bar did it's job, leaving the car relatively unscathed
Isn't the Elise story on DVD available? They discussed how much testing theyd done at MIRA rather than NCAP as they wanted to make sure their car was safe.
The sides are very high for a convertible it has a huge amount of protection around the driver and passnger compared to a true soft top
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
That one in Putney, one report said the road was sheet ice, it looked like it had flipped, hit the barrier with the middle of the roof = no protection , then landed upside down on the road where the roll bar did it's job, leaving the car relatively unscathed
No, it dosent put me off, they are as safe as any 900Kg car can be...and safer than some full size cars IMO
You cant beat the laws of physics - if you hit a 2.5 ton Range Rover in a Mini Cooper, I wouldnt like to bet on the outcome either, just as if you hit an Elise with something 2x as heavy
How many other lightweight trackday cars are daily drivers? ...thats what ups the stats on the ELise/Exige ...the fact that people drive them daily, for lots of miles, and they are a 1/3rd lighter than most things out there
if 30,000 Caterhams or Atoms were in use as daily drivers, im sure we sould hear about more incidents with them too ....
as usual, the human mind naturally looks for patterns, that may or may not be there, and recent events have got people jumping to conclusions based on tragic recent events
the Elise was the first car ever to be able to drive away from a 30mph impact test IIRC from the "making of" DVD....
I dont want to post pics on this thread, but if you want an example of how the crash cell on an Elise works, search "bogie accident pics" on SELOC ...im not posting them on here, its not right today after the tragic news of a friend
You cant beat the laws of physics - if you hit a 2.5 ton Range Rover in a Mini Cooper, I wouldnt like to bet on the outcome either, just as if you hit an Elise with something 2x as heavy
How many other lightweight trackday cars are daily drivers? ...thats what ups the stats on the ELise/Exige ...the fact that people drive them daily, for lots of miles, and they are a 1/3rd lighter than most things out there
if 30,000 Caterhams or Atoms were in use as daily drivers, im sure we sould hear about more incidents with them too ....
as usual, the human mind naturally looks for patterns, that may or may not be there, and recent events have got people jumping to conclusions based on tragic recent events
the Elise was the first car ever to be able to drive away from a 30mph impact test IIRC from the "making of" DVD....
I dont want to post pics on this thread, but if you want an example of how the crash cell on an Elise works, search "bogie accident pics" on SELOC ...im not posting them on here, its not right today after the tragic news of a friend
Edited by bogie on Thursday 4th February 19:36
RE: NCAP, they don't do any tests that would cover rolling the car over, or for that matter, driving under a truck, the other problem is being a points based system, it's skewed by things such as airbag counts etc, none of which would help if you flip a convertible car over.
problem with any crash tests is that can only simulate typical stuff, not one off weird ones.
problem with any crash tests is that can only simulate typical stuff, not one off weird ones.
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