Roll Over Survivability - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

Belleveu1 · 08-20-2009, 07:41 PM

I saw today that the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety did simulated roll over tests of 6 small cars.

The highest rated was the Smart For Two.

YouTube - Small Car Roof Strength Tests

bigcritter · 08-20-2009, 09:53 PM

Very interesting! Also.....for ONCE, there were no disclaimers at the end stating how, even though the smart fortwo scored the best, it's still inadvisable to drive such a small car, and how you'd be much better off in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle!!

Dunerunner · 08-20-2009, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigcritter

..... you'd be much better off in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle!!

You would....Bigger Guns!!

Carl242 · 08-20-2009, 10:50 PM

Wow, AWESOME vid. Ever since they did the one on the SUV's I was really looking forward to seeing how well the Smart would do. And it amazes once again. We probably had to wait this long because the smart the IIHS ordered to crush was on a 12-month backlog! hehe

Did anyone else notice it looks like they destroyed two smarts for the test? I saw clips of them doing one with the wheels removed and no dummy inside, as well as one with wheels on and a dummy. Doesn't that seem like a bit of excessive smart destruction? Please. Think of the smarts.

SuperGeek · 08-20-2009, 10:56 PM

9000 pounds of force compressed into one corner, and it only deformed 5 inches. That's really really good. To get 9000 pounds on the roof, you'd have to have a smart fall off a bridge, or have it crushed by a tractor trailer. My Explorer only weighs about 5000 lbs. There's no way its roof will hold 4x = 20000 lbs on a corner. Designs are about to change again, expect bulkier A pillars.

I now thank the IIHS for these tests. The next time someone tells me they'd be crushed in the little thing, I can say only if whatever falls on me weighs more than 9000 lbs.