Crash Test Your Car!
Ever wanted to see what your car would look like if a dummy drove it into a wall (a dummy other than the cousin who borrowed your car for a joyride)? Admit it, you think about it when you get a lousy trade-in price. Thankfully, there's the Consumer Reports Crash Test videos, where you can see how your car will hold up against things like short concrete walls and other typical objects found along a highway.
The Consumer Reports blog announced crash results today on several new convertibles. It's always nice to see cars you can't afford damaged so badly that no one else can have them either.
The sturdiest of the newbies turned out to be the Volvo C70 and the Saab 9-3. You can check out the Institute for Highway Safety's results and watch the always-enjoyable horrific crash videos for 150-plus cars on the Consumer Reports website.
Since I don't own a car, I randomly selected the Honda Civic, model year 2001-2005, just as an example. The video ends with a young guy superimposed over the image of the wreckage. "Hi," he says with a barely concealed smile, "I'm Jeff from Consumer Reports. Now, let's look at that again in slow motion." Thank you, Jeff, thank you.
By the way, if you own a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder, you might want to skip this. Ouch. —BRIAN FAIRBANKS
Read more on the Consumer Reports blog.
(Photo: Getty)
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Comments:
To paraphrase P.J. O'Rourke..... The best car to do this with is a RENTAL CAR
.....They let me watch several, with no problems, and I don't subscribe. Make sure and use the first "videos" link above.
.....It seems that if I take a direct front hit, my legs will be crushed, and a side hit will turn me into a vegetable. Yay. Moral is that I need to watch the hell out and try to maneuver if a collision is imminent in my Mazda! My wife's a little safer in her Camry, but not from the side.
Wow. I knew when I bought my Jeep Wrangler that it wasn't built like a tank, but watching the crash test video for it scares me a little. Oh well, I guess that's what I get for buying a car where the roof, doors and windshield can all be removed in less than fifteen minutes.
I am comforted. My husband's Honda Fit and his mother's Honda Civic are both Good.
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It's always nice to see cars you can't afford damaged so badly that no one else can have them either.
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C'mon...Please don't lower the Consumerist's standards with spiteful comments like this.
They didn't have any RX-8s so I had to watch my girlfriends Mazda3 get crash tested instead.
I hope she never gets hit via the side while at a dead stop by a large test ramming apparatus.
@Mojosan: C'mon...Please don't lower the Consumerist's standards by not having a sense of humor like this.
Watch the honda element one - gets some great air.
Wow. Good thing I don't own a 2001 Dodge Neon. Bad thing I own a 1995 one. Think there's any possible way the older car has a higher crash rating? No? Damn.
This is a good resource for telling off those people who claim they don't want to get a small car that completely suits their needs because they fear small cars are not safe. Finally, I can shut up my cousin who keeps saying I'm putting my life on the line by driving a Prius.
On another note, seeing the side impact tests on the Crown Vic, I think it's a great thing from a safety standpoint that NY is switching to hybrid taxis, seeing as to how all hybrids are currently very modern vehicles built for a market where consumers want modern safety like vehicle stability control and side airbags.
Excellent video to watch and makes me glad my 07 Element has side airbags. But I have one question. Is that dude really sporting a mullet or is it just my imagination?
Ugh, looks like I have to be a subscriber to be allowed to view them... Screw that...