Each time somebody complains that they do not make vehicles like they used to, we like to level them to fashionable crash exams achieved on outdated vehicles. Whereas we do not prefer to see a basic taken off the highway, the quantity of harm they will do to their passengers is all the time surprising.
The newest one comes from Germany. It sees a second-generation Volkswagen Golf after which a Mk VIII Golf each run via an NCAP offset frontal crash take a look at. The vehicles within the take a look at have been barely going at US metropolis speeds, however the outcomes are massively totally different. The driving force of the brand new Golf would have walked away. The driving force of the outdated automotive would have been taken out in a bag.
It is Cliché However These Outcomes Will Shock You
Ever for the reason that IIHS crashed a 1959 Chevy Bel Air right into a 2009 Malibu, these old-versus-new crash exams have gotten our consideration. Different “highlights” embody a 1993 Mitsubishi Diamante, a 1999 Toyota Corolla, and a 1997 Rover Metro.
This take a look at comes from DEKRA in Germany. It ran a Golf II, constructed from 1983-1992 into the identical wall because the current-generation Volkswagen Golf. This wasn’t even the most recent model of the take a look at, it was the one which went out in 2020. In that take a look at, the automotive is smashed right into a barrier with a 40% overlap at simply 40 mph.
The automotive is doing 40, nevertheless it’s designed to simulate two vehicles colliding at round 31 mph. It is what you’d consider as a light crash in fashionable visitors.
“Within the Golf II, occupants would have had little probability of surviving this head-on collision,” stated DEKRA crash take a look at researcher Markus Egelhaaf. A take a look at the image makes it clear why. The entrance tire is pushed again into the footwell, the door and roof have collapsed, and the steering wheel has been pushed up towards the driving force. It is unhealthy sufficient when the driving force hits the steering wheel, nevertheless it’s even worse when the steering wheel hits you again.
Within the fashionable Golf, “the occupants would probably have escaped with minor accidents.” In that crash, the passenger compartment remained intact, and the airbags, belts, and pressure limiters all labored as supposed.
Trendy Automobiles Can Higher Keep away from Crashes Too
The crash take a look at company needed to reveal that fashionable vehicles may higher keep away from a crash, too. The take a look at driver was in a position to do a double-lane-change (AKA Moose Check) at 40 mph within the outdated automotive and 47 within the new one.
Then, after all, there may be automobile lighting. DEKRA says that fashionable LED lights “are in a totally totally different league.” Even the taillights enhance security, as a result of they are much extra seen at midnight.
DEKRA did not submit footage of the crash, sadly. That is high quality, as a result of one other German security group, OAMTC, did submit a earlier run of the MK2 via the identical take a look at. We additionally discovered footage of a 2022 Golf going via the EuroNCAP take a look at. The variations are instantly apparent, with zero deformation of the passenger cell. A crumpling A-pillar is all the time an apparent signal of a nasty take a look at end result, and the trendy Golf stays intact.
Supply: DEKRA