This isn’t a simple piece to put in writing though the premise is easy. Previous automobiles are merely not protected for you and your loved ones. They arrive nowhere close to to fashionable crash security requirements and any new automotive, even the most affordable ones on sale right now, are gentle years forward in occupant security. On your personal sake, get a brand new automotive.
The above paragraph is a reality, one which was seared into my thoughts earlier this week once we witnessed the crash take a look at of a Proton Wira, reside on the Miros PC3 lab. Understanding one thing in principle is one factor, seeing the carnage with your individual eyes is one other altogether.
Right here’s some background. This isn’t an official ASEAN NCAP take a look at and there’s no score to be earned, though we’re in the identical facility in Ayer Molek, Melaka that fingers out the stars and factors we’re accustomed to. The identical high-speed cameras and lights, the identical background, the identical gear and the identical wrecking crew, however with a vastly completely different topic.
One which’s from the previous. We’ve right here a 1993 Proton Wira from the primary batch of the tremendous fashionable sedan based mostly 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 pal bought the Wira with the intention to revive it, however the man has method too many autos to work on/play with, and had a superb thought.
Crash it! He received in contact with Miros and right here we’re with a few different media shops Hezeri invited to witness the loss of life of a automotive in actual time. He solely has one Wira to present so there’ll solely be one crash – the complete frontal – as a substitute of the standard entrance offset and NCAP’s gamut of assessments. Additionally, we’re utilizing probably the most primary of dummies (that are very pricey issues by the way in which), as the principle intention is to point out the harm to the automotive.
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 pace 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 fully 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 automotive that was alive moments in the past.
Maybe not as pronounced in footage, 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 automotive and an older automotive constructed within the period the place crash assessments weren’t a factor. The engine bay of a contemporary automotive acts as an enormous crumple zone, designed to effectively, crumple upon impression, absorbing the vitality of the crash, so to talk. With out this large, precise ‘absorber bumper’ (bear in mind the Nissan Sunny 130Y?) the huge vitality is transferred to the cabin, as demonstrated by this Wira wreck.
The most secure automobiles on the highway right now are intact aft of the A pillars, that are strengthened to face up to the entrance offset crash take a look at. The latter, the place just one facet of the automotive’s entrance finish makes first impression, is a harder take a look at than the complete frontal, the place the impression is unfold over a bigger space. This is the reason you don’t see any A pillar harm right here, however surprising 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 specialists 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 direction of his shin. The steering wheel is not spherical as a result of the dented half ‘went into’ the dummy’s stomach.
Doable 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 total face collided with the stiff steering wheel. There’s additionally color on the passenger facet of the dashboard, which implies that the top of the kid – secured in a toddler seat – smacked the sprint. Sure loss of life in the event that they have been each human, we have been instructed.
The ultimate nail within the coffin is that each one 4 doorways couldn’t be opened by a crew of 5 grown males, who had instruments and no scarcity of expertise with mangled automobiles. The compression of the passenger cell will need to have sealed the doorways in place. If this was an actual accident, it could be inconceivable for passers-by to assist extricate the occupants earlier than the bomba arrive with their Jaws of Life. The doorways of contemporary automobiles are designed to be openable within the occasion of a crash.
Talking of doorways, should you occur to recollect the facet impression beams touted by Proton for the Wira (a brand new function that wasn’t within the Iswara), they’re current – we peeked into the crevice and noticed the horizontal steel tubes.
As confessed in the beginning, this wasn’t a simple story to put in writing as a result of fairly just a few of us love outdated automobiles right here at paultan.org. PT BM colleague Farid drove to Melaka in a slammed Volvo 240 and yours really’s earlier two-door automotive was a Toyota MR2 three years older than the departed Wira. Many people automotive guys have dream automobiles 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 automobiles, even probably the most primary ones, have been designed to satisfy fashionable crash security requirements that weren’t there within the Nineties, which implies 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 automobiles – there aren’t any two methods about it.
And whereas we’re utilizing the Wira for instance, it could be the identical for a Honda Civic EG, Toyota Corolla SEG or any mannequin from the period – the notion of ‘outdated automobiles are extra strong’ or that they’re made from ‘more durable metal’ is apparent fallacious.
Are we telling you then to ditch the outdated automotive and exchange it with a contemporary rent buy mortgage ASAP? No, however if you’ll be able to afford a contemporary automotive to function household transport, security is all the time cash effectively spent. For those who’re holding an outdated automotive for fanatic or sentimental causes, get pleasure from your outdated buddy responsibly with the realisation that its shell received’t supply a lot safety in a crash. Be sure that your brakes and tyres are in good situation and don’t take an excessive amount of liberties. See the Wira’s loss of life blow from all angles within the video under.
GALLERY: 1993 Proton Wira frontal crash take a look at
GALLERY: Fashionable automotive wrecks at Miros PC3
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