A Small Car Such As This Should Have Advanced Active Safety Systems

[BiloxiGeek]

Six point harnesses and quarter million+ dollar roll cages do work well.

In F1 I think it's much more about the carbon fiber tub the driver sits in and the highly engineered crumple zones and breakaway parts of the car.

 

[johnsnownw]

You're right!, I don't thing the Elio will top out at 229 mph.
Maybe with some fine tuning you could get closer to that..

Sure, and they are designed to act differently in a crash. You don't have to go 229 miles an hour in an Elio to experience similar forces (think head-on crash).

I don't think it's really debatable that they aren't comparable, but if you read the article I posted and come back with a different viewpoint, so be it.

 

[bowers baldwin]

Sure, and they are designed to act differently in a crash. You don't have to go 229 miles an hour in an Elio to experience similar forces (think head-on crash).

I don't think it's really debatable that they aren't comparable, but if you read the article I posted and come back with a different viewpoint, so be it.

I don't think the delta-v would be similar @60mph, also the impact is not the same if you hit a brick wall or another car head-on, the forces (mph) don't add up, you are better off hitting head-on the other car then a brick wall actually.
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/10/01/mythbusters-on-head-on-collisions/

 

[WilliamH]

Sure, and they are designed to act differently in a crash. You don't have to go 229 miles an hour in an Elio to experience similar forces (think head-on crash).

I don't think it's really debatable that they aren't comparable, but if you read the article I posted and come back with a different viewpoint, so be it.

I think the issue is that the design principals are similar.
Double wishbone suspension.
Space frame roll cage passenger area.
Crumple zones.
Of course there are differences, but I guess we will see when we see the crash tests.

 

[johnsnownw]

I don't think the delta-v would be similar @60mph, also the impact is not the same if you hit a brick wall or another car head-on, the forces (mph) don't add up, you are better off hitting head-on the other car then a brick wall actually.
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/10/01/mythbusters-on-head-on-collisions/

I wan't implying they add up, I was simply stating the forces would be similar. An F1 car doesn't generally hit stationary objects at 229 either.

 

[johnsnownw]

I think the issue is that the design principals are similar.
Double wishbone suspension.
Space frame roll cage passenger area.
Crumple zones.
Of course there are differences, but I guess we will see when we see the crash tests.

Sure, it has wheels and a passenger compartment. That doesn't mean they are comparable from a safety standpoint.

I would like to see some real world data though, just speculation at this point.

 

[Rickb]

I was always impressed by the narrow 2 seater Tango's roll cage that meets or exceeds FIA race car regulation designed to protect the occupants of cars crashing at over 200 mph. Note the door with two additional horizontal bars providing over 4 X more side door protection bars than found in the largest SUV's. Technically, a narrow 2 seater can beat a 5 start safety rating.

 

[Ty]

I don't think the delta-v would be similar @60mph, also the impact is not the same if you hit a brick wall or another car head-on, the forces (mph) don't add up, you are better off hitting head-on the other car then a brick wall actually.
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/10/01/mythbusters-on-head-on-collisions/

I wouldn't want to hit a car head on and THEN a brick wall! Jeez. Unless you meant the comparison word "than" instead of the time related "Then". I could see hitting a car head on would be better THAN hitting a brick wall. THEN, I could relax knowing that no bricks were harmed.

 

[bowers baldwin]

I wan't implying they add up, I was simply stating the forces would be similar. An F1 car doesn't generally hit stationary objects at 229 either.

 

[johnsnownw]

This is why I used the term "generally." Even so, as that crash shows, we're not talking about the vehicle crashing head first at 229...it lost a lot of speed when it went airborn, and much of the impact was lessened by the fence and the fact that it didn't hit square.

A head on collision with another vehicle is going to have similar forces applied...although I'd say the centrifugal force was probably pretty insane in that crash.