Poor build quality of American cars....

[yeager]

Impressive display from the Mini Cooper. Scarily poor effort from the Ford:

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150

And the rest of the tests:

http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ratings.htm

[VS14a]

IMO American cars are very strange things. In Canada a few weeks ago my hire car was a Buick Century :hurl: . Costs about $18,000 (so about £10k) for something the size of a 5 series with 3.8 ltr V6, auto, air, seats six etc etc. But built so poorly that it was looking knackered despite being only 6 months old. The really amazing thing was the detail design. Many of the plastic parts in the interior were so mis-shapen that they couldn't have fitted in their apertures properly even if they had been correctly fitted.

Handled like a water bed, only good thing was reasonable thrust from the engine.

It's really strange that what is expected from a car over there (low price, big engine, lots of space) differs completely from the european market (tight build, neat handling).

Very glad to get back to the 200!!

[Dave_S]

Kin ell :eek:

Dave

[SX Me Up]

Haha I had a go with a Buick Century in a car park in Florida, soggy as hell, and for a huge V6 engine it was a lot less responsive than it should be. I turned it sharp and it felt like it was going to roll over! Quite funny!

The funny thing is how a lot of American parent types buy these huge 4x4 type things for two reasons that don't apply.

- Safety: Most are actually more vulnerable in a crash, not only do they break easy, if they're in a crash they're more likely to roll etc.
- Space: You don't usually gain extra space from the 4x4 design, an estate type car gives comparable space to most 4x4's really.

To be honest I would support if the government heavily taxed them for non-commercial use. Like Ken Livingstone said (who I don't like just so you know but he was bang on here) there should be none of these 4x4's in London at all, there's no use for them. I think in any urban area there's not really any use for them. The US is invaded by them for no reason other than the "mine's bigger than yours" factor, they have better roads than us by far!

[teamcapsule]

That's scary. Those F150's look big and bulky, never thought they were so pooey. :eek:

[Jonnybump]

I remember reading a review recently stating that American legislation means that their cars must meet a very high level of safety :confused:
I would expect their cars to have a much better result than this.

[Bayside Blue]

there so inefficient too! Get some bloody turbos! :smash:
figures like 190 brake outa a 3.6 litre Come on! thats rediculous! :no:

[John D]

With the engines, its all about longevity, highly detuned to last for ever. :nod:

Last year whilst in the states i hired a Cadillac Deville and drove a few thousand miles in it, it was very alarming around corners to say the least, floating along like a boat. But then again very comfortable over long long journeys.

I doubt i would have been able to do the mileage i did in that, driving my 200.

SUV's/full size pick-ups are crap in accidents, they're harder to make safe than normal cars, thats a lot of the reason why they cost a fair bit more. Anyone see that crash test they did with that Land rover Freelander at 25mph? some scary results for such a relatively slow speed. :eek:


they have better roads than us by far.

Not too sure about that by a long shot, really depends where you are... varies alot from state to state.

[yeager]

they have better roads than us by far!

I disagree, in general US roads are appauling... Head over to Germany for a week and see what decent roads are all about!

[SX Me Up]

I had no problems? Other than the bloody tolls all the time. Toll toll toll toll.

[Codemonkey]

That's scary. Those F150's look big and bulky, never thought they were so pooey. :eek:

Hell yeah, have you seen one in the flesh? They're fookin' HUUUGE.

[kirkster]

I disagree, in general US roads are appauling... Head over to Germany for a week and see what decent roads are all about!

Where abouts would that be then?

I've covered over 5000 miles in the states and never came across any bad roads, and that including roads going through the Nevada desert.

Their roads are far better than ours IMO.

But the german roads are very very perfect :smitten:

[kirkster]

I disagree, in general US roads are appauling... Head over to Germany for a week and see what decent roads are all about!

Where abouts would that be then?

I've covered over 5000 miles in the states and never came across any bad roads, and that included very remote roads going through the Nevada desert.

Their roads are far better than ours IMO.

But the german roads are very very perfect :smitten:


Hell yeah, have you seen one in the flesh? They're fookin' HUUUGE.

Could that be why it crumpled so much?? Surely the weight difference would count in a crash?