On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 4:38 AM, Martin WINLOW via EV <[email protected]> wrote:
> Have you any evidence to suggest there is a problem with rear impact > performance? MW > I agree with Martin that there is no reason to believe there would be any problems with a rear-end crash until we see one. Especially because those are typically with the front and rear of the two cars aligned, not oblique as the front-end crashes shown in the videos. I believe Mercedes has done their homework. In the interest of full disclosure though, I don't like some of what I see in the 64kph C-class crash. Most of the driver's area remains intact, but there appears to be substantial encroachment in the footwell. (I couldn't help noticing that an ad pops up to cover that area just as it twirls into view in the second angle slo-mo at around 1:30.) There are plenty who rant that you can't argue with physics and the heavy car always wins. That's a big steaming pile of Baloney Sandwich. It's a far more complex question than that, and these videos demonstrate that drivers of both large and small cars can do just fine in a truly wicked accident - IF the manufacturer of the smaller car does their homework. The footwell encroachment we see here is not a case of heavy vs. light. It's all about distance from driver to front bumper. There just isn't enough crumple space there in the severely length-challenged Smart. Cars only a little larger than the Fortwo do much better. I think Mercedes did a terrific job, and I'd probably buy a Fortwo if I lived in an area where parking was scarce. I've been in that situation before. Having a car that can use parking spaces no one else can almost makes city life bearable. Chris -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20140727/00a3ffc3/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
