Thread: Your 4WD and its crash protection

Yes the MPV was clearly the safer car in this video, but thats hardly surprising considering the difference in age between them! Perhaps if they used a early-mid 90s MPV the tables would have been turned...

These are tests in a lab enviroment and if you read the small print they do say that there is no reason to believe these will be real life results. Who reads the small print though? Certainly not a media which needs a head line to grab you so that someone will see the adds which is what there real business purpose is.

In the UK the government keeps records of real life crashes which are published each year. Problem for people who want to sell you a new car is that it only covers those which are more than 3 years old. They need a minimum of 150 crashes to be included in the stats hence the time delay. These figures show that out of the 10 'safest' cars on the road here 6 are 4x4. Land-Rover Defender is the safest! Range Rover Classic and Discovery are both in top 5. Most other cars fell into a ranking generally by size with smaller resulting in more deaths and serious injury as a percentage of accidents. Based on these stats I would not drive a car smaller than a Focus.

Exception for some reason was BMW 5 series of the early nineties which rated poorly for a large car. 3 series of the same vintage also performs poorly. Basicly eighties and nineties european cars were made with the least metal possible to allow them to move with very small engines and are not somewhere I would want to be in an accident. Remember as it is UK based info this is generally going to be comparing accidents against similar small cars not large v small car.

While a late convert to the concept of independent cash testing it did not take them long once they were involved for Europeans to decide that the whole process should naturally be controled and done from here. They were surprised when the rest of the world was not in support of the idea. Now they have changed the actual tests done and method of rating the results in Europe so the results are no longer compareable with those done elsewhere in the world.

Weren't there some UK crash statistics compiled recently (from REAL) crashes, that showed defenders were safest?

I think one thing that has made me a better driver is the fact that I have driven old, unsafe cars so far in my life.

At year 11, I got a hand-me-down 64 EH with a 179 bored to 186 after a rebuild, and made a fair few highway trips in it. I knew the brakes were poor and extremely touchy, the tyres had quite a few years under thier belt, and the car generally handled like a boat. But I was aware of this, and so was constantly on the ball when driving - scanning traffic ahead and quick to get on the brakes early as so they don't lock up. Then going to the series 3, which in a way was safer again, I was limited to 80kph instead of 150.

I honestly think that if I drove something more modern and comfortable with better brakes, tyres etc I would probably be more switched off behind the wheel, and be more dangerous on the road.

Maybe because cars are getting better, and driving is becoming easier, that drivers are perhaps mentally lazier and less equipped for when it does hit the fan.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Weren't there some UK crash statistics compiled recently (from REAL) crashes, that showed defenders were safest?

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Weren't there some UK crash statistics compiled recently (from REAL) crashes, that showed defenders were safest?

i believe Blknight.aus has a sticker on his deefer that says "YOUR car is my crumple zone"

Originally Posted by Shonky

Yes the MPV was clearly the safer car in this video, but thats hardly surprising considering the difference in age between them! Perhaps if they used a early-mid 90s MPV the tables would have been turned...

thats the nail on the head.
any new car from a large reputable company should fare better than a much older car or it would mean we are going backwards.
i'd also like to see an early espace in a similar test to see how it compares

Originally Posted by taff

thats the nail on the head.
any new car from a large reputable company should fare better than a much older car or it would mean we are going backwards.
i'd also like to see an early espace in a similar test to see how it compares

This is certainly true, however, generally people wont spend thousands on modifying their MPV in an effort to improve its performance like some people would on a D2. I'm sure there are people here who couldn't justify selling their 10+ year old 4WD due to the time effort and money they've put into it.

I guess things will change, people will move on to a D3 or RRS and become safer for it. It will just take longer than say the sports car market or MPV market.