eraser13bt

I have seen airbags do a ton of damage to people mostly powder burns and snapped necks. The las two low speed impacts i have run both drivers have been hurt pretty bad by the air bag. we actually had to send one out Via Helicopter cause the air bag caught her chin and snapped her neck back. She is in a Halo for a while with a Fractured C6 and C7.

hurleysurf24

iTrader: (3)

70mph ... hitting a dead stopped car. rolled on the roof for about 400 feet. yes, the top was down. if it was any other car, i think i may have been dead.

nicked my head ... and then opened the door and walked out while i was upside down.

RB_eater

iTrader: (1)

Man every time I see the damage to your vert I'm just amazed.

And as far as I know FC's are more than decent safety wise.

SE7ENS_GARAGE

i based my thoughts on the several burnt (knock on wood) FCs sittin on junkyards in my hometown...i feel a lil ignorant now

Turbo II

iTrader: (1)

Same here man.

w0ppe

If you're looking for safety, why not get a Rotary Volvo?

Turbo II

iTrader: (1)

If I wanted safety I wouldn't be on the roads period! Then again maybe they wouldn't allow me on the roads?

rhscare

First off, if you are concerned with crash test saftey ratings, buy a Prius or something...second, I wouldnt come into a 2nd gen forum and say "but obviously an FD is nicer(looking)"

Obvious to who?

LogicFoxX

iTrader: (2)

If you think the FD is too pricey, than I wouldn't buy an rx7 period. The fact that the base price is nothing of what you'll actually put into the car near the end to get it to run reliable, both FC and FD.

If you want safety, than I wouldn't suggest buying a car from the country who has one of the highest, if not thee highest suicide rate in the world.

And agreed, airbags suck, wear your seat belt :P

Acesanugal

iTrader: (5)

The airbag bashing here is shocking...

Injury due to airbag deployment is usually the fault of the driver. People simply sit too close and do the stupidest things where this airbag resides.

New cars go under extremely paranoid testing to ensure that the airbag will not deploy unless it is absolutely necessary! If you're going fast enough for the airbag to deploy, then you're slowing down fast enough to NEED the airbag.

I know all of you have probably watched recent crash test videos. The crash test dummies are sitting a proper distance away from the airbag for their height. And this is what you should practice. You will notice in these videos that the human 'substitutes' begin their rapid deceleration, the airbag deploys and gives them more time to decelerate before possibly hitting something hard. It's violent, it's unpleasant, it may break your nose and burn your hands, but you will be alive. You will not go through the windshield and you will not make a face shaped imprint on your dashboard.

Seat belts are your first line of defense. Airbags are your supplemental restraint. Drive safe, use them both.

Azn_Boi

iTrader: (1)

Psh, I rather have something like form that hardens after filling the whole inside of a car than an airbag shooting at me at 160-200 mph. (I remember this from a movie) Lol they should think of a better and safer second line of defense. Well anyway back to topic. Every car is safe, it's the person behind the wheel that makes the decision Thus the FC is safe, for several other reasons too.

SpeedOfLife

iTrader: (16)

Only a seatbelt can guarantee that at any speed below probably 200mph. Any faster and your body might be torn in half (just a guess at the speed it would take to generate those kind of forces in a worst case scenario).

TalkSick

well its be no stretch a scientific method of deduction, but id say after seeing that vert flattened out like that.. obviously toasted, but still wearing a big goofy grin on the grill... is proof of how sfe these cars are. Took all that with a smile an even decided to let the driver live

Acesanugal

iTrader: (5)

Without an airbag, you can still hit the steering wheel and/or the dash. Even the windshield! With an airbag, you may actually bottom out (airbag) if you're going fast enough, but you'll be moving at a substantially slower speed.

SpeedOfLife

iTrader: (16)

I would have thought (in most cars) if you're wearing your seatbelt properly and sitting at least 12" from the wheel you shouldn't be able to hit the windshield and probably not the wheel.

I also have a habit of tightening my seatbelt, as I hate how loose it feels. It's not just my cars, it's anyone's car. I want it to catch ASAP if I'm in a wreck, not let me fly forward 4"+ before STARTING to stop me. Why do they make seatbelt springs that weak?

Acesanugal

iTrader: (5)

Force limiters.

They give you a bit of leeway before they dig into your chest. It's a safety feature, not a death sentence.

You'd be pretty surprised how far you move forward in an accident.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=8

Now, would you rather have an airbag deploy that helps to slow you down and reduce the risk of more serious injury? Or just plow right into the front kit?

That's at a relatively low speed compared to what most of us are booking on the way to work each morning..

BklynRX7

I believe the FC is damn safe compared to the build of cars today. I was in a civic that hit a pole doing 80 ish, the whole damn car folded up, , the driver seat twisted I was in the rear and my foot got pinned by the front seat that pulled out of the floorboard. We couldnt open the doors and we all crawled out thank God, but we were F'd up.

However I spun my fc into a wall doing 70 a few weeks ago, the front his dead on, and the rear hit twice. Both A-pillars were fine and the entire cabin was untouched, just banged my leg on the wheel.

I am a bit weary of s5's though, I got in a low speed (25mph or so) head on crash in my '91 and the seatbelt ripped right out of the a-pillar. I smashed my face into the steering wheel. This may have bene a one time thing because, the belt in my '89 mentioned above worked perfectly at a higher speed.

LogicFoxX

iTrader: (2)

Man that bites, sticking to my 4 point from now on =\

SpeedOfLife

iTrader: (16)

I already understood those three statements, however the force limiter will act the same if the seatbelt is more taught than not, except you shouldn't travel quite as far forward. That's why I do it, the force limiter will act the same, but start acting sooner and finish sooner.

beefhole

iTrader: (29)

The FC is a damn tank. You're talking about a 20 year old sports car that weighs 2800LBS (average i'd say). That's a lot for the age and type of car! It's got it where it counts. These cars are built solid.

jdmsuper7

iTrader: (1)

FCs are best at avoiding accidents versus surviving them. Besides, why would you buy a car based on how safe it is? Do you plan on crashing it? Thats like buying a house based on how fireproof it is.

MaczPayne

iTrader: (5)

Safety is only as good as the person that follows it.

1. Always wear your seatbelt, even if you're driving a short distance.
2. Learn to threshold brake. I wouldn't trust the FC's ABS system as far as I can throw it.

Everything else is common sense.

**** happens, but if you're following #1, your chances of surviving is that much better in a collision, no matter what vehicle you're driving.

Acesanugal

iTrader: (5)

No one plans on having an accident. That's why it's called an accident.




Bottom line: Airbags, seat belt tensioners, force limters, ABS, Traction Control, Stability programs....they're all there to give you the best chance at reduced injury in the event you do crash.

Saying that ABS sucks is like saying that you enjoy near misses. ABS stands for Anti-Lock Braking System. It's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. The wheel sensors detect impending lockup and reduce hydraulic pressure in pulses to keep the wheel from locking. This means you can still steer properly under panic braking to avoid the obstacle. Locking your wheels also leads to greater stopping distances. That's not a good thing.

Vehicle Stability programs are constantly monitoring steering angle and the movements of the car. If the computer senses potential loss of control, it calculates everything together along with the steering angle to brake individual wheels and reduce engine power as needed to keep you on your intended line.

Seat belts are your first line of defense against the damaging effects of rapid deceleration. Our bodies just simply cannot cope with rapid deceleration. They keep you from moving freely. You see, when your car hits an immovable object or something that does give, the car decelerates rapidly. Unfortunately, you and everything else inside the car that's loose is still traveling at the same speed the car HAD been moving. Your seat belt holds you back from going the way of the car.... Without them, you'd obviously impact everything in your path until you stop moving. These forces are intense.

Force limiters are your next line of defense against rapid deceleration related injuries. Giving you a bit of movement before they really begin to hold you back. This gives your body a fraction more time to slow down before that act is intensified.

Airbags deploy just before you hit them as a third line of defense. They do not simply pop out at 200mph and smack you in the face. If you look at any crash test video, you will see that the airbag deploys at just the right moment so that you hit it like you would a pillow. It hurts, and it's violent, but it gives you even more time to decelerate to again, reduce injury.

The FC is over 20 years old. Back then, car manufacturers were not mandated to crash test their vehicles and place a star scale rating with each vehicle they produced. It's a good car, but it's behind the times.


Anyone who is preaching that a crumpled car is to be deemed less safe after the fact is a complete idiot. You WANT the car to deform as much as it can without cabin intrusion to absorb as much of the energy as possible so that it is NOT sent through your body. This is why they introduced crumple zones! Crumple zones deform at a set rate to absorb as much energy as possible in the slowest time available.

When you see a car that has just gone through an frontal offset test at 40 to 45mph and it looks completely crushed, but the cabin is still intact, then that is a very good thing. It means that the body and the chassis took the brunt of the impact and sent it AROUND the cabin to protect YOU.

Would you rather walk away with your car, or with your life? The choice is up to you.

But before anyone comes back here complaining about new cars crumpling up in crashes and feeling cheaply made...look at the safety rating. The people who gave it that rating know better than you. The higher it is, the less chance you have of dying when that complete dumbass pulls out in front of you on the highway.

End of discussion.

SpeedOfLife

iTrader: (16)

"Saying that ABS sucks is like saying that you enjoy near misses. ABS stands for Anti-Lock Braking System. It's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. The wheel sensors detect impending lockup and reduce hydraulic pressure in pulses to keep the wheel from locking. This means you can still steer properly under panic braking to avoid the obstacle. Locking your wheels also leads to greater stopping distances. That's not a good thing."

You said a lot of stuff I can agree with, but there are plenty of us here that know and are living proof that threshold braking will stop you faster while still giving you handling control versus cheap ABS like most cars have. A good ABS would be seen from a performance race team that has millions of dollars at their disposal. Few production cars have ABS that can come close to something like that.

ABS EXISTS to create near misses in place of wrecks where your average Joe Dipshit wouldn't have known or trained himself how to properly brake when the heat is on.

Acesanugal

iTrader: (5)

Proper modulation of your brakes (threshold braking) can be superior. I never said otherwise and I agree with that statement full stop.

But not everyone can threshold brake, and a lot that do don't do it properly. Hence ABS.

And to further reinforce safety systems....Toyota has worked out that all of these systems combined reduce accidents up to a HALF! This is the reason they are to be fitted on all cars in the coming years.