Top Gear Safety Tests
Discussion
The bit that worried me was on the 2 or 3 star cars (eg the freelander) how much the steering wheel came forward (eg into your chest) and also the pedals, how much they came up (leg damage wasn't the bit that particularly worried me though, it was more the thought of getting trapped in the car).
Also, remember the guy in audience that said he had an Escort Cosworth, and Jeremy Clarkson said "bye bye". I used to have one. That's quite worrying!!
Seems worrying that the modern family saloons etc (eg the new megane) are great in crashes, yet the traditional sports cars still owned by many people in England (and Europe) today.....TVR's.....Ferrari's...Porsches...Cosworths etc that are capable of very high speed and, more importantly, high cornering speed are the cars which would end up more crumpled and dangerous in a crash.
If it makes every driver sit back and take things into perespective, then I think it could be a good thing!!
Also, remember the guy in audience that said he had an Escort Cosworth, and Jeremy Clarkson said "bye bye". I used to have one. That's quite worrying!!
Seems worrying that the modern family saloons etc (eg the new megane) are great in crashes, yet the traditional sports cars still owned by many people in England (and Europe) today.....TVR's.....Ferrari's...Porsches...Cosworths etc that are capable of very high speed and, more importantly, high cornering speed are the cars which would end up more crumpled and dangerous in a crash.
If it makes every driver sit back and take things into perespective, then I think it could be a good thing!!
Hmmm..... just looked at www.euroncap.com. The TVRs are not listed, but all the other roadsters are 4 star. Both our (current) shopping trolleys are 3 star.... 
It got me wondering too as to how a TVR may be rated in the NCAP tests. I feel slightly happier that my Tuscan has roll over bars - which my old Chimaera didn't have. But saying that, I'd still rather not find out personally how it would fair in a crash. The only thing I can say in defence of TVR on this, is that they crash test alot of chassis in the racing they do - so must learn alot from that. The pedal arrangement in the Tuscan/Tamora/T350 is that of floor mounted hinged pedals - so heopefully they would not be as risky in a hard frontal shunt. The rather solid steering wheel and the seat belts may lead to quite a few bruises if stopping (very) quickly into something solid.
Where can we get NCAP test results like the printout that Clarkson had?
Where can we get NCAP test results like the printout that Clarkson had?
TUS 373 said:
Where can we get NCAP test results like the printout that Clarkson had?
I found the details here:
www.euroncap.com
zumbruk said:
Also, remember the guy in audience that said he had an Escort Cosworth, and Jeremy Clarkson said "bye bye". I used to have one. That's quite worrying!!
Naah. He used to have one and has always said he missed it ...
which is quite lucky really because if he hadn't have missed it, it would now be a crumpled heap (2 stars)
Yeah, I've been out in the car he used to own (Blue Escort Cosworth, Reg K38 FMC, it was an ex-press car if I remember rightly).
He does love the Escort - he put it at number 4 (or was it 5?) in his all time top 100 cars.
HOWEVER....getting kind of back to the point in hand, it shows that an awful lot of cars still out there and considered high in value (I sold my 10yr old Esc Cos with 90,000k for £14k !!!) aren't really going to protect you as much as you'd hope in the unfortunate event of an accident.
He does love the Escort - he put it at number 4 (or was it 5?) in his all time top 100 cars.
HOWEVER....getting kind of back to the point in hand, it shows that an awful lot of cars still out there and considered high in value (I sold my 10yr old Esc Cos with 90,000k for £14k !!!) aren't really going to protect you as much as you'd hope in the unfortunate event of an accident.
Glass Fibre actually has superb energy absorbing properties. Rather than deforming like metal, it splinters and cracks which takes a lot of energy to do - energy that is not transmitted to you if you crash.
I'm quite happy driving a TVR for this reason.
BTW, you won't find TVR in the NCAP list as they are a low volume car and as such go through SVA rather than full Type Approval, so are exempt from having to undergoe crash testing.
I'm quite happy driving a TVR for this reason.
BTW, you won't find TVR in the NCAP list as they are a low volume car and as such go through SVA rather than full Type Approval, so are exempt from having to undergoe crash testing.
Stig said:
Personally, I think there's too much emphasis on making cars safer to crash and not enough on getting people to avoid crashing in the first place!!!
Educate the average driver and improve their skills and everyone will be a lot better off!
Also, when I was a kid, you could not avoid the green cross code adverts on the tv educating people to cross roads safely. Now, don't get me wrong, drivers have to be careful, as driving a car carries responsibilities, but surely educating kids not to run out in the road would be a good thing too?
ouch, tripped and bumped me head getting off me
JonRB said:
Glass Fibre actually has superb energy absorbing properties. Rather than deforming like metal, it splinters and cracks which takes a lot of energy to do - energy that is not transmitted to you if you crash.
I'm quite happy driving a TVR for this reason.
BTW, you won't find TVR in the NCAP list as they are a low volume car and as such go through SVA rather than full Type Approval, so are exempt from having to undergoe crash testing.
I'll second that. After an incident yesterday (see other thread) I was amazed how superficial the damage was (or at least appeared) after hitting Mr VW Numpty.
JonRB said:
Glass Fibre actually has superb energy absorbing properties. Rather than deforming like metal, it splinters and cracks which takes a lot of energy to do - energy that is not transmitted to you if you crash.
I'm quite happy driving a TVR for this reason.
BTW, you won't find TVR in the NCAP list as they are a low volume car and as such go through SVA rather than full Type Approval, so are exempt from having to undergoe crash testing.
Personally I think I'd be happier in a TVR than in either of our euro-box shopping trolleys.
edited to add: and not just because of the safety discussion
>> Edited by kdd on Monday 23 June 11:27
N17 TVR said:It will be interesting to gauge how influential Top Gear is by the number of classifieds for Freelanders going on sale over the next few days.
I've just bought a Freelander for Mrs N17 TVR so was a bit worried by last nights program.
It's a big old beast (the Freelander not Mrs N17 TVR) so you just assume it would be a category 5.
theboymoon said:
Just being nosy, as someone the same age as you I have to ask how much was your insurance for the (360Bhp) escort?
Well.....the first year I owned the car I was 19 with 2yrs n c b. I paid £4500, and that included a deal with my insurance company that they could use my name/picture/details etc on adverts. This was through Privelege. The second year (I had turned 21 by that point though, as I took the car off the road for 6 months as I went to work in the States) I paid £2200.
By comparison, I've recently got a few quotes for a 4.2 cerbera or 4.5, and I'm looking at around a similar value - £2k to 2.5k.
Oh, these are all limited mileage policies (about 5000miles) as I do not use for work or general "jitting about".
(PS: sorry to go off topic on you all!).
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