R50/53 Size Schmize!!
5th Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,057
Likes: 0
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people out there are rather dumb!
Ok, let me try that again:
the vast majority of people who think a small car has to be unsafe are rather dumb!
Ok, sorry, let me try to put my other foot in my mouth:
The vast majority of people out there do not understand that your own choice of car and it's size has far less to do with your likelihood of surviving a crash, than a factory that is beyond your control: the size of the car you crash with.
How does that work?
A simplified example:
Let's say 40% of cars are small (say a MINI), and 60% large (say a GMC Envoy):
Let's next say (an admitted simplification): smaller passenger cars usually have higher crash test ratings than even larger SUVs. In this example, the MINI has a top rating of GOOD, the Envoy has the second lowest rating of POOR.
Let's next look at matched vs mis-matched frontal collisions at 45-50 mph and make a simplified assumption on survival chances, the car you decide to buy is #1, the car you collide with is #2:
Case 1: MINI-1 vs MINI-2:
both OK
Case 2: MINI-1 vs Envoy-2:
MINI-1: BAD DEAL, Envoy-2: OK
Case 3: Envoy-1 vs MINI-2:
Envoy-1: OK, MINI-2: BAD DEAL
Case 4: Envoy-1 vs Envoy-2: Envoy-1:
both BAD DEAL.
Finally, let's see what your chances are of doing OK vs BAD DEAL, based on your decision which car you buy:
You buy a MINI:
40% Case 1, 60% case to, or a 40% chance of OK, 60% chance of BAD DEAL.
You buy an Envoy:
40% Case 3, 60% Case 4, or a 40% chance of OK, 60% chance of BAD DEAL!
You chances of doing well are not improved if you buy an Envoy vs a MINI, because the chances are largely determined by the vehicles taht are out there, and far less by what you buy! This is a simplification, but people forget that there is a reason most SUVs have much lower crash test ratings, and that is because in a dual SUV collision (which is what frontal crash tests simulate: equal mass collisions), there is a lot more energy to kill on account of the larger vehicle mass.
Finally, there are a large numer of cars out there that are also very small:
Miatas, MR2s, Golfs, Matrixes, Civics, etc..., there is not much difference between them and MINIs. Statistics show that they are very safe.
Any day, I'd rather have the active safety of a MINI that the incorrectly perceived passive "safety" of a large SUV!
Ok, let me try that again:
the vast majority of people who think a small car has to be unsafe are rather dumb!
Ok, sorry, let me try to put my other foot in my mouth:
The vast majority of people out there do not understand that your own choice of car and it's size has far less to do with your likelihood of surviving a crash, than a factory that is beyond your control: the size of the car you crash with.
How does that work?
A simplified example:
Let's say 40% of cars are small (say a MINI), and 60% large (say a GMC Envoy):
Let's next say (an admitted simplification): smaller passenger cars usually have higher crash test ratings than even larger SUVs. In this example, the MINI has a top rating of GOOD, the Envoy has the second lowest rating of POOR.
Let's next look at matched vs mis-matched frontal collisions at 45-50 mph and make a simplified assumption on survival chances, the car you decide to buy is #1, the car you collide with is #2:
Case 1: MINI-1 vs MINI-2:
both OK
Case 2: MINI-1 vs Envoy-2:
MINI-1: BAD DEAL, Envoy-2: OK
Case 3: Envoy-1 vs MINI-2:
Envoy-1: OK, MINI-2: BAD DEAL
Case 4: Envoy-1 vs Envoy-2: Envoy-1:
both BAD DEAL.
Finally, let's see what your chances are of doing OK vs BAD DEAL, based on your decision which car you buy:
You buy a MINI:
40% Case 1, 60% case to, or a 40% chance of OK, 60% chance of BAD DEAL.
You buy an Envoy:
40% Case 3, 60% Case 4, or a 40% chance of OK, 60% chance of BAD DEAL!
You chances of doing well are not improved if you buy an Envoy vs a MINI, because the chances are largely determined by the vehicles taht are out there, and far less by what you buy! This is a simplification, but people forget that there is a reason most SUVs have much lower crash test ratings, and that is because in a dual SUV collision (which is what frontal crash tests simulate: equal mass collisions), there is a lot more energy to kill on account of the larger vehicle mass.
Finally, there are a large numer of cars out there that are also very small:
Miatas, MR2s, Golfs, Matrixes, Civics, etc..., there is not much difference between them and MINIs. Statistics show that they are very safe.
Any day, I'd rather have the active safety of a MINI that the incorrectly perceived passive "safety" of a large SUV!
3rd Gear
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
From: Mililani, Hawaii
>> What's the deal?
Calvin, there have been many articles written about this. We are the land where a "Jumbo" box of detergent is the smallest size.
Not only are the streets smaller in Europe and the rest of the world, but the living spaces, storage, markets, and just about everything else are smaller. Most Europeans would not have room in their flats for the big box of detergent Americans buy.
A recent article asked why, in America, everybody buys a 64-oz. "Big Gulp" drink when the human bladder can hold only 12 oz. of fluid. This is one of the outward signs of the Americann obsession with size. Mini drivers are obviously the exception and thanks to BMW for giving us a safe car to express our displeasure with this size obsession.
Yet, the most complaints about the cupholders come from American MINI owners, so they haven't completely taken the "small is better" pledge....
I, too wish the MINI was smaller, lighter, and more like the original.
Calvin, there have been many articles written about this. We are the land where a "Jumbo" box of detergent is the smallest size.
Not only are the streets smaller in Europe and the rest of the world, but the living spaces, storage, markets, and just about everything else are smaller. Most Europeans would not have room in their flats for the big box of detergent Americans buy.
A recent article asked why, in America, everybody buys a 64-oz. "Big Gulp" drink when the human bladder can hold only 12 oz. of fluid. This is one of the outward signs of the Americann obsession with size. Mini drivers are obviously the exception and thanks to BMW for giving us a safe car to express our displeasure with this size obsession.
Yet, the most complaints about the cupholders come from American MINI owners, so they haven't completely taken the "small is better" pledge....
I, too wish the MINI was smaller, lighter, and more like the original.
6th Gear
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 4,831
Likes: 1
From: Phoenix, AZ
>>
I bet all occupants of the H2 walked away from it. Look at the crumple zones on it. If they built it like cars back in the 50's with everything sooo stiff, then all the enegy absorbed by the crumple zone would've been transfered right into the human beings inside.
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