Crash test ratings?

3560 Views 17 Replies 9 Participants Last post by carfansince73, Oct 18, 2007

carfansince73

Discussion Starter · Oct 16, 2007

I am hoping that NHTSA and IIHS will conduct crash tests of this car. Safety is very important to me. After looking at safercar.gov, there are many cars that do not get tested, Corvette, G35 Coupe, XLR, and many Audi's and BMW's. I think because it sells so many, the Mustang did get tested, so I am hoping that this car will too. I know the IIHS get cars given to them right off the lot, so I hope Chevy steps up and donates a car from one of their dealerships for testing. :thumbsup:

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

USA1Camaro

· #2 · Oct 16, 2007

I think they crash more than one. It's several like front, rear, sides, offset impact. I suspect a roll over test of some kind as well.

AJC

· #3 · Oct 16, 2007

carfansince73 said:
I am hoping that NHTSA and IIHS will conduct crash tests of this car. Safety is very important to me. After looking at safercar.gov, there are many cars that do not get tested, Corvette, G35 Coupe, XLR, and many Audi's and BMW's. I think because it sells so many, the Mustang did get tested, so I am hoping that this car will too. I know the IIHS get cars given to them right off the lot, so I hope Chevy steps up and donates a car from one of their dealerships for testing. :thumbsup:

I also wondered why they did not test those cars? The Mustang did very well in all the tests and I hope the Camaro also rates as good.

OctaneZ28

· #4 · Oct 16, 2007

I can guarantee that the 2009 Camaro will carry a 5-star crash rating.
GM will accept nothing less.

Will be interesting to se how the G8 gets rated as that is our first taste of Zeta.

$¢'s 5th Gen

· #5 · Oct 16, 2007

carfansince73 said:
After looking at safercar.gov, there are many cars that do not get tested, Corvette, G35 Coupe, XLR, and many Audi's and BMW's. :

I do not think that all is listed on that website. I have a Subaru Legacy and it has the highest safety/crash ratings all the way around. It does not show all the ratings for my car, so I dont believe everything on that website.
I have heard that Bill Gates has some old rare car and he cannot drive it on the public streets cause it has not been crash tested

Not sure if there is any truth to that but i have always thought that every car had to be tested.

altoid

· #6 · Oct 16, 2007

$¢'s 5th Gen said:
I have heard that Bill Gates has some old rare car and he cannot drive it on the public streets cause it has not been crash tested Not sure if there is any truth to that but i have always thought that every car had to be tested.

1988 Porsche 959 Coupe (Wikipedia page).

He can drive it, courtesy of President Bill Clinton.

CUONCRS

· #7 · Oct 17, 2007

Because computer modeling is so much better now, crash testing can be done in the computer at a pretty high level, then far fewer actual cars need to be wrecked. Just a few to confirm certain tests.

If I see a Camaro crash test video before I have mine, I'm going to cry. And I haven't cried since Armageddon came out, and Bruce Willis sacrificed himself to save the world.

$¢'s 5th Gen

· #8 · Oct 17, 2007

yes, that was a real tear jerker. I am getting choked up just thinking about it.

carfansince73

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 17, 2007

$¢'s 5th Gen said:
I do not think that all is listed on that website. I have a Subaru Legacy and it has the highest safety/crash ratings all the way around. It does not show all the ratings for my car, so I dont believe everything on that website.

That begs the question WHY. How is a consumer supposed to choose a safe car if they can't find the crash test ratings. :BangHead: The Corvette is a great car, but I would not buy one until I knew how good or bad it did in a crash test. Unfortunately, I suspect the tests probably lean more towards bad.

CUONCRS said:
Because computer modeling is so much better now, crash testing can be done in the computer at a pretty high level, then far fewer actual cars need to be wrecked. Just a few to confirm certain tests.

I would like to see what those results are before I buy. With computers today, there's no excuse for not getting top crash test scores. I REALLY hope that is the case with the Camaro. I suspect it will be.

Dirtfarmer

· #10 · Oct 17, 2007

carfansince73 said:
That begs the question WHY. How is a consumer supposed to choose a safe car if they can't find the crash test ratings. :BangHead: The Corvette is a great car, but I would not buy one until I knew how good or bad it did in a crash test. Unfortunately, I suspect the tests probably lean more towards bad.

I don't know if it's related to what's actually being tested, but I don't think people are thinking "safety" when they purchase a Corvette. That being said, I'll bet the Corvette would do pretty well in crash testing. It's occupants seem to do pretty well in real crashes, except for those that drive up under a truck trailer.

$¢'s 5th Gen

· #11 · Oct 17, 2007

Have any of you seen the episode of cops or deadliest police chases where they are chasing a Vette at well over a 100 mph and it slams into the back of a tractor trailer? The car comes completely apart goes of the road and the guy sits up when it is done. I am sure it was mostly luck. That being said, if i could pick the car to have a wreck in it wouldn't be the vette.

carfansince73

Discussion Starter · #12 · Oct 17, 2007

Dirtfarmer said:
I don't know if it's related to what's actually being tested, but I don't think people are thinking "safety" when they purchase a Corvette.

That's probably true.

Dirtfarmer said:
That being said, I'll bet the Corvette would do pretty well in crash testing.

Pretty well to one person may not be good enough to another. That's why I like the 1 - 5 star ratings NHTSA uses. That way we can compare how one car does with another in the same weight class. I am betting since the Mustang has a rating, this one will too. Otherwise you can bet Ford will be stating their car is safer to drive.

I'd still like to see how some of those cars with no rating actually did.

CUONCRS

· #13 · Oct 17, 2007

You guys are making me scared talking about Corvettes crashing....

OctaneZ28

· #14 · Oct 17, 2007

Corvettes are pretty safe, have been for a while.

This weekend my car club rented out Road America, a 4-mile road course, one of the fastest road courses in North America.
A driver in a 1997 Corvette hit the wall head-on at about 60mph, and escaped with just a sprained ankle, and the passenger had not a scratch.

carfansince73

Discussion Starter · #15 · Oct 17, 2007

CUONCRS said:
You guys are making me scared talking about Corvettes crashing....

Sorry, I won't talk about that anymore. I will just hope to see some pictures/video of a Camaro in a crash and the dummy (of the crash test variety :lol

in the driver's seat with hardly a scratch.

Luwinkle

· #16 · Oct 17, 2007

I don't even want to see a Camaro in a crash

.

$¢'s 5th Gen

· #17 · Oct 18, 2007

I didn't even like seeing bumble bee getting his ass kicked on Tranformers much less seeing a Camaro getting wrecked :lol:

carfansince73

Discussion Starter · #18 · Oct 18, 2007 (Edited)

$¢'s 5th Gen said:
I didn't even like seeing bumble bee getting his ass kicked on Tranformers much less seeing a Camaro getting wrecked :lol:

Me neither, and I watched the movie again last night. It was almost like I hadn't even seen it in the theatre. I was glued to the TV screen.

I guess I just want to know the car is as safe as possible for when I take my son for a drive. A recent example is the all new Tundra. With Toyota's record on safety, I would expected nothing less than 5 stars in the frontal crash tests. It only got 4. Yeah, that's still pretty good, but it should have been 5. Chevy and Ford full size pickups got a 5, and they have been advertising the fact their truck is safer.

Here's the reply I got from NHTSA.

Thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Vehicle Safety
Hotline Information Center.

Every year the agency chooses those new vehicles which are predicted to have high sales volume, those which have been redesigned with structural changes, or those with improved safety equipment. This allows us to provide star rating results that best represent what is actually being purchased in the marketplace. These vehicles are purchased from dealerships from across the country, just as you the consumer would. The vehicles are not supplied directly to NHTSA by the manufacturer – a common misperception. Since NHTSA selects vehicles for testing based primarily upon sales volume, not all vehicles can be tested. Those with smaller sales volume may not have been selected. Even though a vehicle may not have been tested under the New
Car Assessment Program, all vehicles sold in the U.S. are certified by the manufacturer as complying with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards.

We hope that you find this information helpful. However, if you need additional information on our services please feel free to contact us at 1-888-327-4236.

Thank you,

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