Technical If safety is a concern...

[MikeSalt]

Now I am a great advocate of the mk1 Punto, but even I found these videos shocking. If safety is high on your list of priorities, and you are considering a mk1, then this video may tempt you to spend the extra £500 to get a mk2. The difference between mk2 and Grande isn't that vast though, particularly that RHD Grande Puntos without the plate modification only score four stars.

As for driver aids such as ABS, ESP etc.. I still uphold my belief that they just breed a bunch of idiots that can't really drive. The car and driver that doesn't crash in the first place is the safest of all.

 

[Ffoxy]

Lol FAIL on the vids Mike!

 

[DaveMcT]

Paste the url into NotePad (with word wrap off).
Now put (url) and (/url) at each end using square brackets.
Copy and paste that into the post and the link should display shorter but work ok.

 

[MikeSalt]

Paste the url into NotePad (with word wrap off).
Now put (url) and (/url) at each end using square brackets.
Copy and paste that into the post and the link should display shorter but work ok.

I was trying a proper embed, but I'll post as a URL until I figure it out. Cheers

 

[MikeSalt]

Ahh, it does it automatically. Thanks WhiteSei

 

[MikeSalt]

Lol FAIL on the vids Mike!

This reinforces my point. Because this forum embeds Youtube videos automatically (like ABS and ESP sorts out a slide automatically) it made me, the editor (or in the analogy, the driver) into a bumbling fool

 

[Brin]

What star rating is a mk2?

How fast do they test these car at 30mph or 40mpph?

 

[MikeSalt]

It's somewhere between 30 and 40 Brin. Punto mk1 is 2 stars, mk2 is 4 stars and Grande RHD is 5 stars (but only later models, and those older ones that have been recalled to have the plate fitted, otherwise 4 stars)

 

[Ffoxy]

This reinforces my point. Because this forum embeds Youtube videos automatically (like ABS and ESP sorts out a slide automatically) it made me, the editor (or in the analogy, the driver) into a bumbling fool

Not at all... the vids are great, not in terms of protection!

The GP seems to do what it should, the crash looks notably less violent, no driver / passenger flying about, far less passenger compartment distortion... in fact the crumple zones do a good job!

I would worry though if my kids had a Mk 1.....

 

[MikeSalt]

Frontal impacts are at 40MPH (64KPH). That strikes me as odd actually because I would have expected it to be rounded to the nearest metric value. Rule Britannia and the Imperial units of measure!

 

[MikeSalt]

I would worry though if my kids had a Mk 1.....

I love my little Punto, but after that, considering the number of motorway miles I do, I might just take up my dad's offer of his 2002 A4 (4 EuroNCAP stars). And I'm not typically a scaredy cat either.

 

[Ffoxy]

I love my little Punto, but after that, considering the number of motorway miles I do, I might just take up my dad's offer of his 2002 A4 (4 EuroNCAP stars). And I'm not typically a scaredy cat either.

Scary thing is that a Head on, on an A road, is more likely to have a closing speed of 80 - 100Mph! At least on a M/way traffic is usually going in the same direction or into a static target.

Hang on... would that mean you'd bug*er off to a VAG Forum?

 

[MikeSalt]

Hang on... would that mean you'd bug*er off to a VAG Forum?

Hell no, my girlfriend still has a mk2 Punto to play with I dread to think how unimaginably boring and sterile those forums must be. It's not a car I would 'love', but after sinking £1400+ into my car over the past 12 months, it may be time to move on.

Of course, seam-welding and caging the Punto with four-point harnesses and seats would soon make it the equivalent of four-stars of safety

 

[bredsticz]

what's VAG? and geez I think I'm going to drive that bit more carefully from now on after watching that!

 

[MikeSalt]

what's VAG? and geez I think I'm going to drive that bit more carefully from now on after watching that!

At least you've got a mk2 (or three mk2s it would seem). VAG is Volkswagen-Audi Group

 

[Ffoxy]

what's VAG? and geez I think I'm going to drive that bit more carefully from now on after watching that!

Volkswagen Audi Group Mr Bredsticz.

Yes those NCAP vids are a real eye opener... riding a motorbike for 30 years is too... it should be mandatory that all drivers are reminded that the feeling of warmth & protection a car provides is false....

 

[bredsticz]

I've only had 2 incidents and both were around 10-15 MPH, that was bad enough!
And indeed I do have 3! Maybe if i combine them all I would be 3 times as safe! Haha

Also the mk2 is better than the mk1 I agree but theres still alot of damage, was the side impact that worried me the most!

 

[Andy Monty]

its all well and good a car having 5* but what happens if a big 5* car hits a small 5* car????

 

[bredsticz]

Ooooh! Engine in your face!!
Always like to see a 500 get destroyed!

 

[MikeSalt]

Scary thing is that a Head on, on an A road, is more likely to have a closing speed of 80 - 100Mph!

It's a funny concept this 'closing speed' malarky because many people do transform it into the frame of a car hitting a stationary object at twice the speed. However, to do so would result in violating conservation of energy. When two (equal mass) cars collide at 40 MPH, the damage caused is roughly equal to twice the kinetic energy of one car, which is 2 x (0.5*m*v^2). However, the dissipation of the energy is divided between the two cars, so the energy is actually identical to hitting a solid stationary object at 40 MPH (although the dynamics are less predictable).

When you hit a solid object at twice the speed, because it is a v-squared relationship, doubling the speed (to 80 MPH) increases the collision energy by a factor of four! And since you are the only car involved, your car takes all the energy.

So, in conclusion, you are going to be subject to four times more damage hitting something solid at 80 MPH, than hitting a car of equal mass head-on, both doing 40 MPH.

Of course, if the car you hit is much heavier than yours, due to conservation of momentum, your car will absorb the largest proportion of the energy. This is because you don't just decelerate from 40 to 0 MPH, but you actually get pushed backwards, effectively increasing the deceleration range (e.g 40 to -10 MPH).