crash test, 4k/5k

[The Balakrishnans]

I was in a wreck once with my 1988 500 csq sedan, the last car in a 5 car
pile-up on a winter morning in Chicago.  I rear-ended the car ahead of me, a
small Plymouth (predecessor to the Neon, I cant remember the name)  pushing
his rear bumper to almost to the back of his car's rear seat.  Both cars
were totaled.  Both it seemed on the surface that the Audi was not in as bad
a shape as the Plymouth was.  We both  got out of our cars without a
scratch. He had air bag, I did not, but the seta belt worked extremely well.
The speed limit on I-290 going into Chicago (at 6:15 am, on my way to work
in Indiana) is 55 mph.  I am guessing that I was going at about 60 mph when
I braked hard to avoid hitting the Plymouth in front of me which had come to
a halt because he had rear-ended the car ahead of him.  I have had a 4000
sedan, and 3 quattros, a 1987 5kCSQ (which I drive even now), a 1988 5kCSQ
(which I wiped out ) and a 1990 200 TQW which my wife drives now.  I feel
very safe in them.  I guess that the newer cars are even safer, with air
bags from all directions, self-tensioning belts etc.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ti Kan" <ti at amb.org>
To: <auditude at neta.com>
Cc: <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 11:04 PM
Subject: Re: crash test, 4k/5k


> auditude at neta.com writes:
> > What the heck is up with the crash test results for 4k's and 5k's on
> > http://www.crashtest.com?!  "Poor" ratings for the driver on both
> > cars, and a "poor" for the 4k passenger.
> > I thought these were safe cars.  Aren't they?
>
> They were some of the safest cars at the time they were introduced.
> If you were to judge their crash performance based on today's standards,
> then it's a whole different story.  Crash performance definitely has a
> lot to do with unit body design and crash energy dissipation in various
> parts, and with each new generation of new Audis they raise the bar
> considerably, and so it goes for many other marques.  However, the biggest
> boost to crash test results was the introduction of airbags and
> self-tensioning seat belts.  The 1989 Audi 100, which is basically
> the same as the 5Ks before it except for the addition of Procon-ten and
> airbags, got 5-star ratings for both front passenger and driver in the US
> government crash test.  That was the highest score for a passenger car in
> the US at the time, exceeding even Volvo and Mercedes.  4Ks, of course,
> never got airbags.  That said, the government or insurance institute crash
> tests only test one particular crash scenario.  Real life accidents are
> far more varied and complex, and even the old 80s Audis generally do well
> compared to many other cars.
>
> -Ti
> 01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
> 84 5000S 2.1 turbo
> 80 4000 2.0
> 96 A4 2.8 quattro (sold but not forgotten)
> --
>     ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
>    ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
>   ///    ti at amb.org
>  //////  http://www.ibiblio.org/tkan/
> ///
>