fool crunch

[Brett Dikeman]

On Sep 30, 2008, at 8:30 AM, Tony Hoffman wrote:
>And I'll second that. Having cut into plenty of cars, both old
> and new, I'll take an old German car (even my 1950lb jetta)
> over a modern japanese car.

Right, because the only thing that matters in crash safety is how the car
"looks".  Not what alloys are used, or the shape of the metal, or whether
the manufacturer used modeling and simulation to found out that part of
the car didn't NEED to be strong, or how that particular structure handles
shear versus compression versus ease of cutting, etc. Funny thing,
manufacturers are designing cars to be more rescue-crew friendly.

'94-99 platform Jettas were ranked "marginal" by IIHS.  It is extremely
unlikely that older jettas would fare better, as crash safety generally
improves over time (as has been true with Jetta models that followed; each
has been ranked progressively better.)

It's a worse rating, almost across the board, than a Honda Civic of
similar age.  The Jetta only outperformed the Civic in chest-area
injuries.  Why the poor rating?  Intrusion into the footwell area, and the
dummy's head hitting the side of the car because of poor seat/seatbelt
retention.  You'll note in the photos significant buckling of the door,
roof, and floor.  This was in a 40mph offset frontal collision.

94-99 Jetta:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=83

'96-02 Civic:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=77

(newer, '98-02) Corolla:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=87
(which, incidentally, does VERY badly in the side-impact tests.)

> Also remember, those modern cars have (seemingly) endless airbags to
> help out with those #'s. Take those away, and retest ;-)

I saw several vehicles that had been tested twice- with and without side
airbags.  Generally, they test the standard vehicle configuration, and 
then optional level of equipment.  Those pesky "seemingly endless" side
airbags that actually play a significant role in injury levels in side
impact collisions.

Go look at www.iihs.org and euroncap.com, and see how they evaluate a car,
please.  They provide overall "star" ratings, but also data down to
individual sections of the test dummies.  They also dedicate page after
page to explaining the methodology and reasoning behind the tests and
ratings.

Or, keep driving your supposedly superior Jetta.  Ignorance is bliss.

Brett