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RE: tales of overreaction...

A Suburban is a nice heavy car to be in in a collision, but I'm quite sure 
the also-very-heavy BMW 750iL is also quite safe, and I'm sure the BMW has 
a better designed crumple zone, and will do well in offset impacts and side 
impacts also.

I'm not sure how much faith to place in some of the safety numbers the 
various agencies spit out.  The Audi 100 may have had an exceptionally low 
number of losses in part because Audi 100 drivers aren't such a reckless 
bunch.  I was just looking at some NHTSA numbers today (from a link on 
MSNBC about the Isuzu Trooper and Acura SLX tipping over at 35 mph), and 
their results show the E34 5 series having higher g-forces and head injury 
numbers in a crash than little Japanese econoboxes.  Hmmm....

The European and U.S. crash tests are at complete odds with respect to 
their results; U.S. cars do better on the U.S. tests, and European cars do 
better on the European tests.

Interestingly, the main (German) BMW web site (www.bmw.com) has a great 
excerpt on Auto Motor und Sport's crash test of the E39 5 series.  The 
magazine found that the occupants would walk away with no injuries in a 
55.1 kph offset crash into a 100 ton block.  Here's an excerpt from that 
excerpt:

"The passenger cell was only slightly compressed in
the impact, the survival space and - unusually - the
footwell were almost entirely preserved. The highly
stressed door sill showed slight buckles both at the
front and rear, suggesting a controlled conduction
of energy to the rear. Both left-hand doors could still
be opened unaided with increased application of force.

In addition to the very favourable deformation response
of the body, the restraint systems also functioned
very effectively - the main reason for a high degree
of equally distributed passenger protection. All the
test figures are so far below the injury levels that
there is in fact almost no risk of injury as such.
Apart from the airbags and seats, the two dummies had
no contact with vehicle parts. And their course of
movement during the crash, as shown by the 5 high-speed
cameras, was exemplary - this also applies to the
two child dummies."

Now if only my 3 series were that safe.  Alas, it weighs only around 3100 
pounds.

Details, pictures, and graphs can be found at:

http://www.bmw.com/compass/htdocs/BMWe/kompass/5ERCRASH1E.shtml

From: Chris Nolke/HNS <Chris_Nolke@domain.elided>
Date: 20 Aug 96 16:16:19 EDT

...

The 1994 Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) said that the Audi 100 was the 
2nd
safest car in existence.  I couldn't handle the #1 mercedes S-class long
wheelbase sedan, so we bought an Audi S4 (100 with a fun engine).  If I
couldn't have afforded the Audi, I would have bought a 2 year old suburban 
3/4
ton.  I saw an accident where a suburban 3/4 ton was involved.  It won.
Period.  I can live with whatever lack of reliability exists if I know that 
my

...