Date:         Mon, 8 Apr 2002 16:14:43 -0700
Reply-To:     phil stanhope <napszeerf@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         phil stanhope <napszeerf@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon crash safety
In-Reply-To:  <p04330113b8d7c6072b56@[192.168.99.102]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

"You can conjecture what a 2-ton front-engine SUV
> will do when it
> meets a 2-ton Vanagon. One has a 1/2-ton engine in
> front of the
> passengers. The other has scarce sheet metal. It
> doesn't take an
> Einstein to figure out the *probable* outcome."

This is not always the case,
In head-on collisions Subarus are designed so that the
engine breaks free and travels under the passenger
compartment instead of landing in the drivers lap like
big V-8's often do. Having an engine up front can be
just as deadly to the driver. V-6 and V-8's are
notorious for breaking the engine mounts and
catapulting into the drivers seat so it can be a
double edged sword indeed. I had a friend in
highschool that wrecked his 86' Mustang Gt head on
into another car and his Small block 302 V8 landed
into his lap crushing his pelvis/legs. Luckily he was
not paralized.

Phil 84' Westy




--- DaveC <voicebox@DNAI.COM> wrote:
> >  >You don't have to believe in pillows and springs
> and socialism to know
> >>that the Vanagon is not very safe in a frontal
> collision.
> >
> >The only thing that would be of value is hard data,
> and I haven't seen any
> >yet. Anything other than that is pure conjecture.
> There are many vehicles
> >that a Vanagon would run right over the top of, so
> there is no way the
> >above statement has any merit.
> >
> >It certainly looks to be unsafe, but then so does a
> vanagong going around
> >a corner, but in truth, its pretty stable. SUVs
> look safe, but we have
> >learned that they are not. Looks can be, and
> usually are, deceiving.
> >
> >>It's all about mass. The Vanagon has precious
> little where it counts.
> >
> >Its all about guessing what will happen, but not
> really knowing.
>
> -=-=-=-
>
> There will never be any new hard data on a
> long-discontinued model
> such as the Vanagon. So conjecture and model physics
> will have to do.
>
> You can conjecture what a 2-ton front-engine SUV
> will do when it
> meets a 2-ton Vanagon. One has a 1/2-ton engine in
> front of the
> passengers. The other has scarce sheet metal. It
> doesn't take an
> Einstein to figure out the *probable* outcome.
>
> I like the Vanagon. But I don't delude myself on
> it's capability to
> protect my body in a worst-case scenario.
>
> Dave
> --
> Dave Carpenter
>
> Whatever you wish for me,
> May you have twice as much.
>
> "Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and
> sometimes I think
> we're not. In either case the idea is quite
> staggering." -- Arthur C.
> Clarke

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