RE: Forward opening hoods

["Ian J Haseltine" <Jim_Haseltine@classic.msn.com>]

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From: 	owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net on behalf of Igor Kessel
>For what it's worth, I heard that in a frontal collision the forward opening 
>hoods lift up and sheer the passenger's heads off, that's why they are almost 

>non-existant these days. Might be one of those horror hoaxes, tho.
Back in the 80's I owned a series of Rover SD1's which had forward opening 
bonnets. Somewhere in all the documents and handbooks is a statement that the 
bonnet was designed as a safety feature, in a frontal impact the force was 
transmitted through the bonnet hinges forcing the rear of the bonnet upwards  
along the windscreen pillars. I cant find the actual document at the moment, 
but I assume that the bonnet was to provide additional protection to the 
passengers by covering the windscreen!
When I first read it, I thought that it was a typical bit of vapour from the 
merchantising dept, but about 6 months later I saw a 3500 V8S in a scrap yard 
with its bonnet covering the screen.


Jim Haseltine
88 Ur quattro