Saxo banana'd by lamppost......

Saxo banana'd by lamppost......

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Discussion

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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so called said:
WinstonWolf said:
My kids are about to start driving, there's no way I'd ever let them buy a Saxo, they're made of reconstituted cheese slices. I tried to pick one up on the main chassis member once, it just started folding over the wooden packer on the jack. No structural rigidity whatsoever yikes
If its any help, my daughter roller her Corsa a couple of years back.
The Fire chaps were very impressed by how well the car held up.
It took them a while to cut her out with it still being on its roof.
Cant post pics right now due to company firewall but will try later.

Hope this lad lives to learn the lesson.
Funny you should say Corsa, that's what I intend to put my kids in. The OH's son put one through a (modern) lamp post, flipped it three times, went through a fence and ended up in a field. He climbed out with a few minor glass cuts but basically walked away.

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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I know it's popular to bash the safety of the Saxo (probably quite rightly) but few cars of that era would have stood up to going sideways into a solid pole much better and even if the cabin intrusion hadn't happened, the lack of curtain airbags would still make a serious head injury very likely. Three-point belts are pretty rubbish at stopping the driver from moving sideways and hitting their head on the door/A-pillar.

ezi

1,734 posts

185 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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Krikkit said:
Quite fast I would think - I know that road, and if you're misbehaving it would be a place to build up quite a bit of speed.

Problem is he hit the lamp-post, they're not very bendy, and much like hitting a tree a crash structure can only take so much. Even a roll cage probably wouldn't have helped there. frown
Can see in this video that a roll cage can only do so much frown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJA7V4YyQCI

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Monday 27th April 2015
quotequote all
kambites said:
I know it's popular to bash the safety of the Saxo (probably quite rightly) but few cars of that era would have stood up to going sideways into a solid pole much better and even if the cabin intrusion hadn't happened, the lack of curtain airbags would still make a serious head injury very likely. Three-point belts are pretty rubbish at stopping the driver from moving sideways and hitting their head on the door/A-pillar.
Given how hard he's clearly hit that lamp post - and with the driver's door, too - I think he's been pretty bloody lucky to only get a badly broken leg and serious/critical head injury out of it, tbh. I'd have expected him to be toast.

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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getawayturtle said:
I don't know of many cars which would hold up well to an impact like that, but Saxos are especially bad when compared to others!

Reminded me of this episode of traffic cops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A48gNSHIa_E Skip to about 44:00.

Another sideways impact involving a Saxo, different circumstances though, drunk driver loses control and gets t-boned by a people carrier. Not much left of it.

I remember seeing a PHers post in the "Show us your crash" thread of a black saxo with its entire front end ripped off with the dashboard hanging out of the car, was sobering to say the least.
Given the popularity of the E36 BMW on here, people should take a look at the Euro NCap report and compare it to the Saxo if they're worried about the Citroen hugely

JT361

68 posts

161 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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Seeing this makes me glad I sold my Saxo, I loved that car and knew it was like driving in a plastic bag but these pictures still shake me up.

0000

13,812 posts

190 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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Reminds me of watching a guy trying to get UK lamp posts changed on 5th Gear a good few years back.

I guess he didn't get much traction for his particular variant and neither did anyone else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrnoWZJFq9Y

Steve_F

860 posts

193 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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I kept my VTR for a year from new in 2002 and a lot of the reason I got rid was what was being discussed at the time about the NCAP rating of them.

Was very aware it would lift off oversteer and would have said (at the time) that I knew exactly how to handle it, until a scooter pulled out in front of me on a greasy roundabout. Was going fairly slowly but lifting off and touching the brakes sent it into snapping from one side to another with me trying to fight it like mad. If I'd kept on the brakes I'd have spun and wasn't sure there was room to floor it to straighten it out (chances are that would have ended in a faster accident anyway).

Seeing these pictures is pretty scary with all the signs etc around that roundabout.

My mate would have told me straight away if I'd been driving like a muppet but we both agreed heading up the road I wasn't going quick at all when it stepped out.

Hope the young lads makes it through that, very easy to see how that could have happened without him driving like a muppet too.

guru_1071

2,768 posts

233 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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getawayturtle said:
I remember seeing a PHers post in the "Show us your crash" thread of a black saxo with its entire front end ripped off with the dashboard hanging out of the car, was sobering to say the least.
that was me,





lord trumpton

7,321 posts

125 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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Holy st!

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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hman said:
Max_Torque said:
Don't think your "tank" will save you either:

XC90_pole_test

And that's just 18mph!!!

(although with an "immovable" pole, rather than a lamp post (but because the impact point is so close to the base of the post, a real lamp post is pretty immovable too....)
First, thats an xc60 - not an xc90

Second, that pole test resulted in a 5 star rating.

Third, so yes, that (little) "tank" probably would save you.
Well, you keep driving round like an idiot then and lets hope you're only doing 18mph when you collect "your" bit of road furniture...... banghead

Monty Python

4,812 posts

196 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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From the title of this thread it sounds like the lamp post jumped out in front of the car or carried out some form of ninja-style attack.

Driver101

14,376 posts

120 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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guru_1071 said:
that was me,

That looks really bad. Were you ok after that?

matt50

26 posts

145 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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Sixteen or seventeen years ago, I really wanted (an old-style) Mini for my first car, but my Dad stopped me, saying they weren't safe enough, so helped me buy a Saxo instead. I vividly remember the salesman in the Citroen garage hard-selling the fact that they had a 'safety cell' (pointing to a ridge in the roof-lining) which supposedly protected the passengers in case of an accident - something tells me he was telling porkies. I did love my Saxo, but am very grateful I never needed to test out the 'safety cell'.

In common with others on here, really hope the driver is ok.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Monday 27th April 2015
quotequote all
matt50 said:
I vividly remember the salesman in the Citroen garage hard-selling the fact that they had a 'safety cell' (pointing to a ridge in the roof-lining) which supposedly protected the passengers in case of an accident - something tells me he was telling porkies.
Not _quite_... That'd be roll-over protection. Not frontal-impact, and definitely not side impact.

And, blimey, if a Paxo/106 is viewed as lethally flimsy, then what the heck is an AX?

guru_1071

2,768 posts

233 months

Monday 27th April 2015
quotequote all
Driver101 said:
That looks really bad. Were you ok after that?
here is a link to my original thread

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...


I now walk with hardly any issues - just a slight 'rolling gaite' when im tired and I will never be any good at running, that's for sure

as for cars

ive raced my historic mini a couple of times and drive a classic mini as a (nearly) everyday car - I do get some back and hip pain, but when it gets too bad, I have a nice jaguar xjr with comfy seats that I use for a week or so, then its back into the mini / tiny little mini based kit car I also have.

Rangeroverover

1,522 posts

110 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
I was doing 53 mph in this footage, if the government/highways bought more of these far fewer injuries, shame it didn't really take off

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Monday 27th April 2015
quotequote all
guru_1071 said:
here is a link to my original thread

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Mother.

There ain't much going to stand up to losing it at ~70 onto wet grass, then pole-vaulting from a ditch into a bridge...

skyrover

12,668 posts

203 months

Monday 27th April 2015
quotequote all
0000 said:
Reminds me of watching a guy trying to get UK lamp posts changed on 5th Gear a good few years back.

I guess he didn't get much traction for his particular variant and neither did anyone else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrnoWZJFq9Y
My sisters attempt at a lamp post.

Before



After



Damage (yellow one on the left) you can see the new bumper just fitted. £20 ebay jobbie




fausTVR

1,442 posts

149 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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Bodo said:
SuperPav said:
Before someone else says it... That's what happens when you fit mismatched budget tyres.
Not sure if budget is an issue, but they are certainly mismatched on both, front and rear axis.


front


Add an expectation that the car would handle as any car with matching tyres on each axle, then you won't need to drive like a knob to crash.
Am I right in saying the front tyres are on the wrong sides anyway? I know it's not applicable to this crash, but those treads would channel water to the center of the tyre.