Re: RS2 (was: final note about porsche discussion

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

> but guess what: no airbags!

> I'm not sure if the car is available with them, and that alone
> would prohibit its importation.  But if one could be obtained that has
> the US-spec airbags, AND is structurally identical to a model sold in
> the US, it would be possible to bring it into this county.

with procon ten i really don't care about airbags, but for the US it is
either that or mouse belts.. i can't imagine that fitting airbags be
difficult at all. 

> The problem is that the DOT wants crash data, and if the car is not
> structurally the equal of an approved vehicle, they'll want to crash
> the one you're trying to bring in!  

what i was told by the dealer is that the s2 and rs2 have very crowded
engine compartments and that if they were crashed tested into a concrete
wall, there will be passenger compartment intrusion by some engine bits.
so even if you do find a sacrificial rs2 to crash test it might flunk!

now, flunking official crash tests is like being labelled a gas guzzler
by the epa.. largely nonsense as i'm sure john will testify that the
german cars are optimized more for offset collisions.

eliot