crash test piccies

[hertsbiker]

Thought you might like to see the horrendous results of a Smart car hitting a full size Mercedes at 40mph..


www.whnet.com/4x4/Smart_crashtest.html


Yeah, well I said it was bad. The Merc got well trashed didn't it?

Carl

[marki]

Hi Hert

Well its not as bad as you would think is it,,,,

[hertsbiker]

quote:
Hi Hert

Well its not as bad as you would think is it,,,,

I actually meant it with a bit of irony! most people assume wrongly that the Smart will fold up into nothing at first hint of an impact. Been trying to tell people for ages that it is built like a tank under the plastic !!

[marki]

Yeah it really did come out of it ok imo , but then think about who is behind the whole idea.

[campbell]

Its the best looking merc ive ever seen

[ninja_eli]

The E Class looks F**cked! No playing Chicken with any Smart cars anyway...Forewarned is forearmed so thanks for the warning!!!

[go-go]

Ted, did I posted something wrong or simply my answer was lost for some software malfunction ???

(It was sarcastic, but not evil, the answer I mean)

By the way, what's the value of acceleration on driver's head in Smart ? Such a small car can't make any miracle, because his energy absorption is ....small. I think that Smart is an unsafe car for that reason, even when photo looks good. Remember that we usually don't wear 4 point racing seat belts.

>> Edited by go-go on Wednesday 6th February 09:56

[Fatboy]

Just to echo what go-go said - and the fact that both Carl and I posted replies that seem to have got eaten by the gost post monster The e-class deforms a great deal, the Smart not much at all - Carl brought up the idea that F1 cars have very small crumple zones (18 inches?) and their drivers are generally OK in crashes at silly speeds , but the point is, the F1 cars (and maybe the smart) use a different material in their crumple zones that absorbs more energy/cm than standard steel? (Plus 6 point harnesses help as well )

[kevinday]

F1 cars do not have crumple zones at all. The tub is made to withstand enormous forces without damage. However all the ancillaries such as wheels, suspension, wings, engine and gearbox are designed to be ripped off in the event of an accident thus absorbing (using) some of the forces.

[hertsbiker]

cheers for reiterating those points Fatboy !

Well, I don't know - I'd hate to be in an accident of any kind, but my father had some big ones in army vehicles (ie, into tree / ditch), these had no crumple zones --- but he survived !

I'd guess that the forces involved would be pretty darn big, but isn't it also nice to know that atleast the metal won't fold in on you?

Thought it may shock a few people as to how tough they are..!

Carl

[Bombjack]

Regarding Smarts and crashes...

There's a notorious T-junction on my old route to work, used to get accidents there at the rate of about one a week. People pulling out and getting t-boned usually.

One morning last summer, I'm approaching the junction when all the traffic ahead starts to slow rapidly, hazards going, and a MASSIVE plume of smoke begins to appear from the area of the junction.

Picture the scene: cars are stopped everywhere, people getting out, looking around. Parked 1 yard over the white lines at the T-junction is a Smart, with its front third crushed from a colossal impact, but driver's cell completely intact. 60 yards down the road is a 12-tonne lorry, upside down in the woods having sprayed a full load of shingle all over the road, spewing smoke from its still-racing engine.

All participants unharmed, by some miracle.

[go-go]

Kevinday:F1 HAS a crumple zone attached on the nose made of carbon fibre (once was alluminium honeycomb).
Hertsbiker:Try to hit a mountainside riding armoured car, then call me...
Bombjack:You saw only the smoke...

Physics is clear: The energy in some sort of impact HAS to be dissipated. It's better to destroy a car instead to have internal organs ripped off. Period.

some book on physics.

>> Edited by go-go on Wednesday 6th February 12:22

[hertsbiker]

I guess the longer-bigger cars are *supposed* to be safer, as they have more room to deform?

Well, check out some of the links from that page I posted, and see what happens to a BIG 4WD at 40mph, and then tell me what you think ! (link attached)

www.whnet.com/4x4/crashes.html

I get the point about armoured cars and mountainsides ! Someone once said that if two Cheiftain tanks collided, the occupants would die...

cheers!

Carl

[hertsbiker]

actually take a look round mateys site - you should see what happens to a Golf, and a Corsa in the same test.

Virtually nothing left of them, whereas the Merc is still almost car like.

[go-go]

Sorry but i have no time to spend lurking in whole site. There's a risk to get merc-sick. Give me the clue. Where are those pages ?

And bigger and WELL PROJECTED is better. Oh yes mate.

>> Edited by go-go on Wednesday 6th February 13:48

[JMGS4]

N.B. chap´s - Dr. Wolfgang Henke is one of mercs "safety" engineers and as they only build tractors they can't get away from the "bigger the better" mentality. Although to be fair, they do do rather well in smashes of even sizes even against OVLOVs

[Bombjack]

go-go, I didn't see the accident, you're quite right. My assessment was that the Smart had pulled out on the lorry and it had run over the front of it, before the driver lost control and turned it over.

I have a degree in Physics, if that helps

[go-go]

Me too.

[go-go]

Huh, another site...

www.car-accidents.com/pages/accident_story/3-18-01_nsx.html

...this guy is a real criminal, and he has too much money as I see...