Mad_Maxxx

oops, sorry, I was thinking about another car(It's too early for me!). Actually I have a picture of the vette I was talking about from the museum, the vette wasn't too bad, except it looked like the radiator and front of the engine were toast!
[IMG][/IMG]

Stealthy4

The pictures that blacksedan87 posted are of the Corvette at the NCM. As you can see the passenger tire is almost where it was before the crash. The corvette is an extremely safe car. Not only does it incorporate the panel shedding, and hydroformed frame rails, but it also incorporates energy absorbtion in the seatbelts (EA Loops) and also has the traction control, active handling to "prevent" accidents. Furthermore, I believe the airbags were updated to incorporate reduced inflation force (I'm not sure about this but my dad thinks they did based on the seatbelt revisions, he was the 2nd engineer on the program). The doors have the side impact beam that run diagonal across from the top front of the door to the rear bottom. The weight of the car is also favorable. Also, you have a long hood and a lot of area infront of the driver that can be "compacted" in the event of a crash...nothing is a guarantee but having all this technology around you sure helps! The new C6's have even more technology and the also have pretensioning seatbelt buckles...

5.0_CJ

I dont think I could hit the button to start the crash sequence.

...just like porsche couldn't on the 959... thats why it was never legalized in the US, they wouldnt crash test them.

talon90

Here is a link to a similar thread from a month ago. Included you will find a link to the video of the actual crash of the white C5 pictured earlier in this thread. The car held up quite well considering it is a 30 mph head on impact into an immovable barrier. You will see the car's outer shell dissipate much of the force of impact and the passenger compartment remains relatively unscathed.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...o&forum_id=103

I have not been able to find any NHTSA data on the C5 Corvette, but it is obvious that it was tested by the GM team anyway.

Paul

fdxpilot

NHTSA doesn't test vettes. Either they won't buy one, or GM is unwilling to give them one (I don't blame GM.) But as mentioned above, check the insurance ratings on vettes, and you will find they have very good injury/fatality ratings. I know that is cheaper to insure than my wife's PT cruiser.

edensknight

Awesome.

b_mouzakis

I don't know about fiberglass verses steel. But what I do know is fiberglass wont bend in an accident. It will break apart while not providing you any protection like steel will. This is my opinion only. I could be wrong!!!

2FAS4UU

I personally can attest that Corvettes are a safe vehicle when in a accident !! In 1976, a day before Easter weekend, a friend and I, with me driving my 64' Corvette roadster at night along the Colorado River on the Cal. side. When I was approaching a curve to the left, a speeding car (unknown type) came across the line and was headed straight towards me, blinded by it's high beams I turned the Vette to the right enough to avoid the head on. All I remember was seeing blue dots and blinded as the car went by me and jumping on the brakes, long story short, we went off the road and landed nose first into a 15 foot revine hitting the steep hillside at 37 mph. I still believe to this day the fiberglass absorbed a great deal of the impact and softened the abrupt stop which saved our lives. We did sustain some moderate injuries, but we lived to tell the story. This incident in my life made me a firm believer in the Corvette as a safe vehicle, if we had been in a metal car the concussion of the impact would have been far more severe. This is my belief !!

cor28vettes

Data compiled since the original 2005 posting...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=3362140

95wht6spd

It has a strong cage built around the cabin. If you see pics of even very bad accidents, where the front/rear is pushed all the way in, the cabin area is still whole.

roadbike56

Interesting comment considering that Indy cars and F1 cars now are built to shatter upon impact. The concept is that energy is dissipated when the body parts shatter and leave the car during impact thereby saving the driver. Corvette did not use fiberglass for this reason but the GM engineers may have been on to a safety factor going all the way back to the first Corvette.
IMHO the total mass of a vehicle and the safety engineering mean a whole lot more than fiberglass or steel skin.