How safe are air cooled 911s in a crash?
Discussion
NJH said:
Graeme I have also seen many of the body shells of these cars in prep, the frontal area of the torsion bar 911s is nothing like as well built up and strong as a 944, 968, 928 or any of the recent cars or for that matter just about modern car. You also have a bar in the cage up front jokingly called the knee breaker because its so low. Personally I wouldn't fancy my chances in a heavy front end collision in an old torsion bar car and no amount of your rose tinted 911 blinkers and mystery guru noname dropping is going to change that.
Totally spot on - a 928 is a lot stronger than a 911 from the same period....mollytherocker said:
mft said:
Not sure about that. This video is rather eye-opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDyeWofcLY
How exactly is that relevant to a 911?
I was responding to the post I quoted, which suggested that if a 993 was "as strong as a contemporary mercedes e class or volvo 700 series" it would be "quite impressive". So I posted a video showing how a supposedly robust car (a Volvo) from ~1991 fared when crashed head on into a modern car: not awfully well.p5hrr said:
Pretty tough old cars, this was a 100 MPH spin into a hedge after hitting black ice. Walked away, with a bit of a stiff neck and dented pride. The estimate for parts alone was £15,000 and that was back in 1996
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6dI5ewOmHPQ
Its all got to go somewhere........
Not Porsche but metal is metal at 120mph
Its all got to go somewhere........
Not Porsche but metal is metal at 120mph
graemel said:
I heard from a very reliable source whilst out at the factory on a structural body work course.
A pre 996 was driven remotely into a brick wall at 100mph. The front screen fell out. A new one would still fit and you could still open both doors. They are immensely strong cars.
Yet the photos of the 993 turbo further up show that in an offset 30-40mph crash (a heavy glancing blow by the looks of it), the roof has bent above the doors. A pre 996 was driven remotely into a brick wall at 100mph. The front screen fell out. A new one would still fit and you could still open both doors. They are immensely strong cars.
braddo said:
Yet the photos of the 993 turbo further up show that in an offset 30-40mph crash (a heavy glancing blow by the looks of it), the roof has bent above the doors.
Suggest you read the post fully - the person involved in that crash explained the damage to the roof was done by the recovery company post accident.The 100mph into a wall thing is clearly nonsense though, sorry! :-)
Regardless, cmoose's point still stands. Essentially, the newer it is, the safer it will be. Suggesting that the 911 in any guise is at the forefront of safety against its contemporaries is simply not true.
It's a very personal decision, depending on how risk adverse you are. All i'll say is that UK roads are very safe and unless you are doing mega miles, the chances of you having an accident of any kind is very slim. If you're the kind of guy who wraps cars around lamp posts for fun, then i'd imagine you are not particularly risk adverse and therefore wouldn't care about the robustness of an air cooled 911 anyway!
It's a very personal decision, depending on how risk adverse you are. All i'll say is that UK roads are very safe and unless you are doing mega miles, the chances of you having an accident of any kind is very slim. If you're the kind of guy who wraps cars around lamp posts for fun, then i'd imagine you are not particularly risk adverse and therefore wouldn't care about the robustness of an air cooled 911 anyway!
hondansx said:
Regardless, cmoose's point still stands. Essentially, the newer it is, the safer it will be. Suggesting that the 911 in any guise is at the forefront of safety against its contemporaries is simply not true.
Actually, I'd disagree entirely, but I suspect it may be because you've mis-worded what you meant.The contemporaries of any 911 are cars from the same era that are broadly comparable (i.e. high end sports cars) and I'd be pretty certain that a 991 will not be much different to an R8 or F458 in a crash, whereas I'd expect a 996 to be better than a F355.
thegoose said:
The contemporaries of any 911 are cars from the same era that are broadly comparable (i.e. high end sports cars) and I'd be pretty certain that a 991 will not be much different to an R8 or F458 in a crash, whereas I'd expect a 996 to be better than a F355.
What he said. Contemporaries of whichever 911 you are considering. As opposed to contemporary vehicles.As has already been stated. Never is generally safer and bigger is generally safer.
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