> >It's designed precisely to take the impact and sacrifice itself for the
> greater good of the passenger :-)
>
John,
You have started believing the hype again. NO, they are designed to
sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the CRASH TEST. Big difference.
When you invest all the time and money into computer modelling for
survivability of a 35mph crash test, you can do an awesome job of making
things so that they absorb that particular impact very well. Now ask
yourself what happens when the actual impact is at 55mph? That same crumple
zone keeps right on crumpling right through those passengers you thought it
was protecting. When you design to a benchmark, you lose a certain amount of
real-world value. I agree that some accidents will leave me more injured in
a Spridget than I would have been in my 2002 GTi. OTOH, other accidents
could kill me in my GTi and leave me injured but alive in my Spridget. No, I
am not interested in doing extensive research in the field; I prefer the
avoidance approach.
BTW, they might not have been intentionally designed as crumple zones, but
take a look at what happens to the front frame rails in a Spridget during a
front end collision and you will find very functional crumple zones.
David L
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