This isn’t a straightforward piece to put in writing though the premise is straightforward. Outdated vehicles are merely not secure for you and your loved ones. They arrive nowhere close to to fashionable crash security requirements and any new automobile, even the most affordable ones on sale right now, are gentle years forward in occupant security. To your personal sake, get a brand new automobile.
The above paragraph is a truth, one which was seared into my thoughts earlier this week once we witnessed the crash check of a Proton Wira, reside on the Miros PC3 lab. Understanding one thing in principle is one factor, seeing the carnage with your personal eyes is one other altogether.
Right here’s some background. This isn’t an official ASEAN NCAP check and there’s no ranking to be earned, though we’re in the identical facility in Ayer Molek, Melaka that palms out the stars and factors we’re conversant in. The identical high-speed cameras and lights, the identical background, the identical gear and the identical wrecking crew, however with a vastly totally different topic.
One which’s from the previous. We’ve right here a 1993 Proton Wira from the primary batch of the tremendous well-liked sedan primarily based on the fourth-generation Mitsubishi Lancer. This white 1.5 GL was donated by Hezeri Samsuri, veteran motoring journalist and founding father of Careta. Our buddy bought the Wira with the intention to revive it, however the man has manner too many automobiles to work on/play with, and had a superb thought.
Crash it! He acquired in contact with Miros and right here we’re with a few different media shops Hezeri invited to witness the demise of a automobile in actual time. He solely has one Wira to provide so there’ll solely be one crash – the complete frontal – as an alternative of the same old entrance offset and NCAP’s gamut of checks. Additionally, we’re utilizing essentially the most fundamental of dummies (that are very expensive issues by the best way), as the primary intention is to point out the harm to the automobile.
After a nervous wait from the viewing platform, we heard the countdown after which the sound of the Wira arrowing into the constructing at a recorded velocity of 62 km/h (64 km/h is the norm). It hit the wall with a muted ‘doosh’ sound, making a combustion of glass and trim.
We rushed down to examine the now-departed Wira (RIP, hero), and what instantly struck me wasn’t the utterly crushed 1/3 of the three-box sedan, however the truth that the remainder of the Proton – now minus the engine bay – appeared visibly shorter than the automobile that was alive moments in the past.
Maybe not as pronounced in photos, however the wheelbase of the sedan has been shortened, and the wrecked physique seems barely curved, like a Mercedes-Benz CLS. The crew later lifted the wreckage and pointed us to the damaged weld factors on the undercarriage.
This compression of the passenger cell must be the largest distinction between a contemporary automobile and an older automobile constructed within the period the place crash checks weren’t a factor. The engine bay of a contemporary automobile acts as an enormous crumple zone, designed to properly, crumple upon impression, absorbing the power of the crash, so to talk. With out this large, precise ‘absorber bumper’ (keep in mind the Nissan Sunny 130Y?) the large power is transferred to the cabin, as demonstrated by this Wira wreck.
The most secure vehicles on the highway right now are intact aft of the A pillars, that are strengthened to face up to the entrance offset crash check. The latter, the place just one aspect of the automobile’s entrance finish makes first impression, is a more durable check than the complete frontal, the place the impression is unfold over a bigger space. For this reason you don’t see any A pillar harm right here, however stunning scenes greeted us upon nearer inspection.
And not using a crumple zone, the impression of the collision pushed the firewall – and dashboard – again into the cabin, drastically decreasing what consultants name the ‘cabin survival zone’. The grownup driver dummy’s legs are pushed again to the seat base and his foot is flipped again in the direction of his shin. The steering wheel is now not spherical as a result of the dented half ‘went into’ the dummy’s stomach.
Potential impression areas have been painted to actually spotlight contact factors with the dummy, and we see the colors on Mr Orange’s forehead, nostril and chin – with no airbag to cushion the blow, the dummy’s complete face collided with the stiff steering wheel. There’s additionally color on the passenger aspect of the dashboard, which signifies that the top of the kid – secured in a baby seat – smacked the sprint. Sure demise in the event that they have been each human, we have been instructed.
The ultimate nail within the coffin is that every one 4 doorways couldn’t be opened by a crew of 5 grown males, who had instruments and no scarcity of expertise with mangled vehicles. The compression of the passenger cell should have sealed the doorways in place. If this was an actual accident, it will be unimaginable for passers-by to assist extricate the passengers earlier than the bomba arrive with their Jaws of Life. The doorways of recent vehicles are designed to be opened within the occasion of a crash.
As confessed in the beginning, this wasn’t a straightforward story to put in writing as a result of fairly just a few of us love outdated vehicles right here at paultan.org. PT BM colleague Farid drove to Melaka in a slammed Volvo 240 and yours really’s earlier two-door automobile was a Toyota MR2 three years older than the departed Wira.
Many people automobile guys have dream vehicles from that period, or on the very least, a fond reminiscence of the household saloon that we grew up in. They don’t make them like they used to, proper?
Certainly! At the moment’s vehicles, even essentially the most fundamental ones, have been designed to satisfy fashionable crash security requirements that weren’t there within the Nineteen Nineties, which signifies that even the Perodua Axia/Bezza or right now’s Proton Saga – small and lightweight as they’re – will maintain up higher in a crash than outdated vehicles – there aren’t any two methods about it.
And whereas we’re utilizing the Wira for instance, it will be the identical for a Honda Civic EG, Toyota Corolla SEG or any mannequin from the period – the notion of ‘outdated vehicles are extra stable’ or that they’re made from ‘tougher metal’ is obvious mistaken.
Are we telling you then to ditch the outdated automobile and exchange it with a recent rent buy mortgage ASAP? No, however if you’ll be able to afford a contemporary automobile to function household transport, security is all the time cash properly spent. For those who’re preserving an outdated automobile for fanatic or sentimental causes, get pleasure from your outdated buddy responsibly with the realisation that its shell gained’t supply a lot safety in a crash. Be certain that your brakes and tyres are in good situation and don’t take an excessive amount of liberties. See the Wira’s demise blow from all angles within the video beneath.
GALLERY: 1993 Proton Wira frontal crash check
GALLERY: Trendy automobile wrecks at Miros PC3
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