Freddy Freeloader wrote:
Mitja Podreka wrote:
Freddy Freeloader wrote:
Ummmm.... Have a head-on crash with a Hummer, or 3/4 ton 4-wheel
drive pickup and see who survives....
Then let's try a head on crash with a concrete wall. A 4-wheel car
which is made for driving it off road (like Hummer) has very rigid
structure which doesn't absorb a lot of impact forces thus
transferring a bigger portion of them to the passengers. On the other
hand a small car (not a Yugo off course!!) is made to deform on
impact and thus absorbing a lot of impact forces. The fact that it
weights about 1/4 of Hummer also helps the passengers to survive.
I guess you haven't seen the statistics, or the real life results of a
compact car head-on crash with a large SUV. The little car loses
every time. The fact that it has much less mass means it has less
energy and means it absorbs much more damage than the vehicle with the
large mass and therefore greater total energy. It's like swinging a
40 lb ball and and a 10 lb ball on the end of cables so that they
strike each other. The 10 lb ball will have much greater damage to it
than the 40 lb ball will. That's just basic physics. A crumple zone
doesn't mean much once a certain total energy level in a collision is
exceeded. Those crumple zones are really only effective up to certain
speeds. After that, they afford very little protection and probably
add to the total number of injuries and/or fatalities just because the
entire mass of the front end of the car is pushed so far back.
I know a lot about cars and also basic things about physics. What you
say is of course right, but by upgrading the masses in your rationale, I
can say that large SUV against a truck looses every time. Does this
means that driving a truck is safer? Well. probably it is, but should we
then all drive trucks?
Also, this idea that having a large vehicle is all related to ego is
pure bull. I know of lots of people who drive small cars that drive
them for ego purposes.... There are a lot of small cars around that
guys have hot-rodded, i.e. added turbo's, exhaust systems,
performance chips, suspension kits, etc....
That's exactly what I was saying. A big ego needs a lot of additional
power, excesive luxury or something else that differs it from others.
A car is a tool to drive from point A to point B. What it lies in
between this two points should influence the choice of a car. So a
SUV for driving in a city is (by my opinion) a sign of oversized ego.
Once again you're way off base. Safety is a reason for driving the
large vehicle. Also, so is the size of the person driving it. I'm a
person who needs a lot of space and a small car is very uncomfortable
for me to get into, to sit in, and to drive. I have some disabilities
that make a small car very unsuitable for me to get in and out of. My
spinal column has fused itself together so that my back will not bend
as it used to. A large vehicle is much more suited to my needs. I
can't imagine how badly I'd be broken up in head-on collision just
because the small car interior would be so compressed in size. Third,
the size of a person's family has a great deal to do with need for a
large vehicle. Fourth, many people have RV trailers and/or boats and
no small car is going to pull those in any manner which could even
come close to being safe or not damage the car itself.
I can keep on going, but you ought to get the point by now.
Well I'm 1.95m tall and driving a small car. Sometimes I feel crammed,
but that feeling usually fades when I have to park it in the city centre
or when I'm driving it home on a narrow twisted road. So for now I'm
happy with what I have. But if I had to drive 200km daily on motorway,
then for sure I would buy bigger car. As I said car is just a tool (very
nice though). You don't use 10kg hammer to nail the picture on the wall.
Maybe I didn't make it clear in the previous posts. For me there are two
groups of big cars:
1. Big cars with moderate engine power, long about 5 meters, suitable
for 5-7 persons aboard, ...
Suitable for driving persons of all kinds
2. Cars like Hummer, 18 meters long limos, excessively "pimped" group 1.
cars,...
Needed for driving oversized egos
Regards
Mitja
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