I don’t know if this craziness is staged or real, but it sure is funny. Grandma Vs. the Mercedes Benz… Grandma wins. Mercedes airbags set off by Granny hitting the car with a shopping bag. Go Granny.
Well, can it? From the size of this lunchbox sized car the most obvious answer would be… are you kidding. However, with U.S. gas prices now at around 5 bucks a gallon where I live, I believe more people will be leaning towards the smart car and far away from those giant Hummer monstrosities that became so popular in recent years.
Since the smart car is an electric car, we may see its popularity rise. Check it out, they are small
can be fun
economical and easy to park
Ok, so now for the toughest test, car safety. In this video, the team sets up some crash challenges for the smart car to see how it stands up to auto accidents. The biggest test is at the end where they crash the smart car into a 20ton concrete rail at 70MPH. There are no crash test dummies for these safety tests, however, I doubt they were really needed here.
I don’t think I’ll be exchanging my already small car for this one any time soon, not that I think that my small Dodge can survive the same test… but I guess I just feel a bit safer with a few extra feet of metal around me.
WOW, I would have expected to find more American Cars in the list. The IIHS actually has crash safety figures for the last 10 years on all domestic and imported vehicles. The auto safety report below is for 2008 and previous years are below that as a link.
Many of the safety tests are for both 40mph frontal crashes and low speed crashes, here are a few note worthy ones…
Minivan bumper test results: Nissan Quest is by far the worst performer (2007)
Bumpers on luxury cars aren’t luxurious: worst is Infiniti G35; 4 of 11 cars sustain more than $10,000 damage in 4 minor bumps (2007)
most car bumpers don’t work in low-speed crashes; 3 cars sustain $4,500 damage in 6 mph test while old Ford Escort sustains little damage (2007)
And the 2008 car safety all around winners are…..
Large cars
Audi A6
Cadillac CTS
Ford Taurus with optional electronic stability control
Mercury Sable with optional electronic stability control
Volvo S80
Midsize cars
Audi A3
Audi A4
Honda Accord 4-door models
Saab 9-3
Subaru Legacy with optional electronic stability control
Midsize convertibles
Saab 9-3
Volvo C70
Small car
Subaru Impreza with optional electronic stability control
Minivans
Honda Odyssey
Hyundai Entourage
Kia Sedona
Midsize SUVs
Acura MDX
Acura RDX
BMW X3
BMW X5
Ford Edge
Ford Taurus X
Honda Pilot
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Veracruz built after August 2007
Infiniti EX35
Lincoln MKX
Mercedes M class
Nissan Murano
Saturn VUE built after December 2007
Subaru Tribeca
Toyota Highlander
Volvo XC90
Small SUVs
Honda CR-V
Honda Element
Subaru Forester 2009 models
Large pickup
Toyota Tundra
Below are the automobile safety, collision ant theft reports for the last years I could find from the auto insurance industry.
