Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:42:05 -0800
Reply-To: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: VW bus and beetle on Yahoo's 10 deadlies car list. Any
thruth? Bay vs. Vanagon
In-Reply-To: <8CB5DBAC949FCD0-1118-1E43@WEBMAIL-DY09.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Dear proud owners with knowledge
the writer of this piece of drivel is so unresearched he doesnt even refer
to his own work for reference
http://autos.aol.com/article/general...30133009990001<http://autos.aol.com/article/general/v2/_a/best-car-names/20081230133009990001>
this article goes to top 10 cars and the very porche he decries as a death
trap
he lists as the # 9 car to own
he is not a person who deserves any discussion --
sadly -- he will continue to exist on the web as a source of information...
i have already sent his outfit a note telling him and them he is a not
knowing kind of guy --
yours
On Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 11:28 AM, Frank Grunthaner <frankgrun@aol.com>wrote:
> This typical media ill informed regurgitation of popularly accepted wisdom
> does contain a kernel of truth. The attack on the beetle and the bay is not
> totally unfounded. The splittie and the bay designs had little if any
> frontal impact protection. The rear swing axle designs of the beetle, bay
> and splittie all offered problems for the inexperienced or ignorant driver,
> as did the Corvair and many contemporary european designs. The Renault
> Dauphine and various Fiat rear engine designs come to mind readily. The high
> center of gravity in the bay and design exaggerated the roll under rear tire
> problem. The splitty couldn't go fast enough in stock form to be rollover
> prone, so safety was achieved through moderate performance.
>
> I came to appreciate the drivelive geometry limitations when I built a 178
> HP at the wheels version of the corvair engine and 4 speed transaxle and
> installed same in my Safare Bay Window Camper. Fortunately after the
> adrenaline rush, my experiences racing Porsches at Riverside and Willow Glen
> helped save my bacon. At speeds above 70 mph, steering could only be
> described as tacking. Accelerating from 70 to pass completely changed the
> front steering characteristics as the front of the bus would rise and
> seriously capture air nearly lifting the front tires. I retired that
> experiment quickly. Purchased a Peugeot 504 Diesel Wagon for the family
> after being treated to a design session at the factory and spending two days
> watching their high speed frontal crash tests. The car was built to transfer
> as much of the net crush energy to the other offending vehicle as physically
> and economically feasible. Superb safety design.
>
> As noted by Martin (Poppie?) Jagersand, the T3 or vanagon is actually a
> very safe design for a forward control vehicle as demonstrated in the
> technical paper on the safety design of the Vanagon in the files I have
> alluded to previously on Alistair's site. Note that the figures and the
> abstract are in English! The VW approach and that of the 504 come from the
> same school of tank design.
>
> Frank Grunthaner
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Snow <slowmachine82@GMAIL.COM>
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Sent: Sun, 15 Feb 2009 8:17 am
> Subject: Re: VW bus and beetle on Yahoo's 10 deadlies car list. Any thruth?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 15, 2009, at 7:34 AM, Poppie Jagersand wrote:?
> ?
>
> > Both the VW bus and beetle are nr 10 and 4 respectively on the?
>
> > deadliest car list, prominently flashed on Yahoo's Canadian home page?
>
> > this morning. (maybe time to switch email provider?)?
>
> >?
>
> > http://ca.autos.yahoo.com/p/1145/deadliest-car-designs?
>
> >?
>
> > Is there any objective truth to this? I once saw an article that?
>
> > despite the obvious challenges in making a forward cab vehicle safe?
>
> > in head on collisions, the T3 bus/vanagon is in fact one of the least?
>
> > accident prone vehicles in the insurance statistics. Obviously?
>
> > accidents are caused by vehicle plus driver. (The no 6, Corvette,?
>
> > on the list might have been safer if marketed as an "Oldsmobile" to?
>
> > that segment of GM customers.)?
>
> >?
>
> > My guess is that the list is a product of a clueless journalist?
>
> > who did little real research. If someone can find true statistics?
>
> > on vehicle models and deaths and then enough of us email Yahoo,?
>
> > with these facts maybe they would feel compelled to up their quality?
>
> > of journalism??
>
> >?
>
> > Martin?
>
> >?
> ?
>
> The original article is from askmen.com, and received boatloads of?
>
> negative comments questioning research methods and data. Must have?
>
> been a slow news day.?
> ?
>
> http://www.askmen.com/top_10/cars/top-10-deadliest-car-designs.html?
>
--
roger w
From Proverbs:
Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a
servant who becomes king ...
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