RE: Crash Test Results for Older Audis, and a Dodge Colt

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> 
> No bars like late model cars. The side molding was reinforced 
> with some kind of
> alloy metal. They didn't do much good though. I have seen 
> some 44's hit bad in the
> side.

Remember that accidents are horrific events, and the whole idea in current
cars is to sacrifice the car to keep the occupants as safe as possible.
Side impacts are the most difficult to protect from as there is so little
buffer between the occupants and the outside.  While the car may look awful,
you can imagine it would have looked much worse without the beams in the rub
strip.  The final pass/fail exam is how did the passengers fare.  I've seen
some badly twisted Audis that had occupants who were not seriously injured.
Perhaps the most amazing one was an '84 4kQ that went sideways into a Giant
Sequoia ... with four occupants who learned a lesson about cars not being
toys and lived to tell others about it.  Even though there was intrusion
into the passenger compartment I was impressed to see how the propshaft
tunnel compressed to absorb some of the impact.  The door beams looked
pretty wimpy IMO, but they did deform without breeaking and kept the door
from getting pushed in farther.  The occupants walked away from the
accident.  

Personally, I think that placing the door beam inside the "rub strip" was a
novel idea.  I don't know that Audi though up the idea or if other
manufacturers do the same, but putting the beams as far away from the
occupants as possible gives you the maximum amount of buffer.

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)