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Car Tech: What are the pros and cons of plastic cars?
- 6/6/07 1:57 PM
All but one thing
by Andy77e - 6/9/07 12:21 PM In reply to: *C-R-U-N-C-H* You're dead! by tek-edOne thing that isn't true. If you get hit by a Honda Insight, your both likely to die, not neither.
See metal verses metal, they bounce off each other, and it's the safety features inside the car the make the difference.
Metal verses plastic, and the metal one slices through and the plastic driver dies.
Plastic verses plastic, both cars disintegrate and both die. The idea that if everyone else is driving just as unsafe a car as yours, somehow means you're safer, is crazy.
Observe please
by batman823 - 6/14/07 6:18 AM In reply to: All but one thing by Andy77eI'm not hunting you or trying to pick on you, but the metal vs metal comment bothered me. I've seen metal vs metal, they do not just bounce off each other like rubber balls. They crush.
Even Hummers and escalades lose to a light pole or a tree. But I've never seen a tree move at 60mph and go head on with a humV.
I agree that the smaller, lighter metal or plastic car gets crushed. But depending on the impact, the lighter car gets moved rather than crushed. A lot of it depends on the angle and the difference in heights between the frames.
Also, bigger vehicles like SUV's are much more likely to turn over than the smaller cars. So even if the SUV crushes the del sol, it's pretty likely that the suv driver will lose control and die from the roll.
lol
by Andy77e - 6/14/07 6:07 PM In reply to: Observe please by batman823I didn't think anyone would actually respond to that since it was mostly in jest.
Of course they do not bounce off, but I think my point was clear, if not let me know.
Plastic cars simply disintegrate. I once watch a video of a crash involving two small cars at highway speed. One of the two cars was so oblitrated, there was not enough left to identify the model.
I seen the results as well.
by batman823 - 6/15/07 4:56 AM In reply to: lol by Andy77eI wish you used some manner of indication when you are sarcastic or if you are just kidding. I thought you were really saying that.
I agree about the plastic and pop-together cars. My father drives a truck. A Kia Rio tried to cut him off on the freeway when he was changing lanes. The results were pretty bad. When the front-passenger bumper hit his rear-most driver-side tire, the whole car basically exploded, without the fire. The hood, three tires, and various panels popped off and flew down the road at the same time. That was only because of a simple frame twist, similar to how an Indy car is designed to separate in a collision. This woman is still alive because of that. She finished out the ride on the frame of her car and the fourth tire simply bent the rotor and axle while skidding sideways.
But if that had been a real collision instead of a terribly mismatched lovetap, then she would have been dead.
If cars went all plastic,I probably would still buy one the next time I buy a car. But that's my risk, and I am aware of the safety differences.
lol Again
by Coloboma - 6/25/07 7:19 AM In reply to: lol by Andy77eIf cars were 100% plastic, you would be correct.
However, no manufacturer in their right mind would construct a car from 100% plastic. Current plastic technology has not yet produced compounds that are suitable for replacing steel passenger cages. So you won't be seeing any large volume vehicles that rely on plastic for crash protection any time soon.
50/50 plastic/steel (by weight) 75/25 (by volume)are possible now, with safety on par with current vehicles. I have no doubt that some day, a 95% plastic vehicle will be possible. New compounds and composites are coming out all the time, and eventually one of them will be equal or better steel for impact protection.
I'm not convinced
by Andy77e - 6/30/07 8:12 PM In reply to: Observe please by batman823I was in an S-10 pickup and rolled it twice, I was not hurt at all, other than a blood nose. That pickup was a tiny little thing, I highly doubt an SUV rolled twice would yield a more injured driver unless we are referring to something more flimsy like a tracker.
C-R-U-N-C-H i'm unhurt!!
by sheppo - 6/16/07 1:50 AM In reply to: *C-R-U-N-C-H* You're dead! by tek-edThe Smart 4-2 is one of the safest cars on the road, the black surround is a tridium shell (like an indicar safety cage) which will withstand a 70mph impact without buckling. Sure if you hit it hard enough, you may get injured but the same can be said of a rich mans tractor ( hummer etc) or a challenger tank.
I would rather be hit in my Smart car, than a POSH "farm vehicle" at least i will be pushed along, rather than rooted to the spot watching my tailgate getting closer to my windshield.
When the new smart goes on sale in the states, you will be amazed at all the safety features it has.After all it is a mercedes.
Just because it's plastic...
by mack_dg - 6/20/07 9:33 PM In reply to: *C-R-U-N-C-H* You're dead! by tek-edA lot of people here need to understand what composite materials are. These aren't the same plastics used in toys. Most composite materials are much stronger and lighter than the tin used in conventional cars. However, these materials are probably not as cheap as tin and aluminium is.
So 'plastic' cars are not really plastic per se, but rather a type of SPECIAL plastic that is stronger and lighter than the current metals used in cars. In the event of a collision, these materials won't simply shatter or crack -- instead they flex and bend. If you have two composite cars colliding, then the damage would be absorbed better. If you have a "metal tank" colliding with your composite car, you won't get a shattered plastic toy, but rather the same twisted wreck you'll get with a tin and aluminium car -- except there won't be any metal to sever your limbs. Engineers aren't idiots. They'll give you something that is safe, not something that breaks.
I don't like cars, so I don't own one anymore - but...
by edge_bit - 6/20/07 9:31 PM In reply to: Re plastic cars by sheppoI think the fear most people have is completely irrational.
I mean, I understand that everyone wants to roll around town in a tank but that's just not reasonable these days.
Smart cars (or "Dumb Cars" as my friends call them) look much safer than most people give them credit for.
The reason cars crumple so much these days is because they are ultra-thin for economy. They are so thin, in fact, that if they were not designed with strength-enhancing shapes and folds in the metal they would be rolling death traps (much more so than they are).
The cabin in a modern unibody car is a marvel of engineering. There is barely any steel around you these days at all but it's still strong enough to withstand tons of pressure.
The engine compartment and trunk are designed with fewer "rails" (folded sections that add strength) so they crumple like an accordian and absorb the crash energy.
A smart car would simply bounce and the plastic panel would shatter all over the pace.
Like the above person said, you'd need to buy a new body panel and you'd likely walk away fine if you were seatbelted properly.
Move to all cars being plastic, and we'd all be safer.
by dhchiang - 6/20/07 10:17 PM In reply to: Re plastic cars by sheppoPeople used to think that the big heavy cars of the sixties and seventies were safer, just like people think SUVs are safer. I used to work investigating serious and fatal motor vehicle accidents and a high percentage of them involved SUVs. Statistics have shown that they aren't safer than cars. People only think they are. They are more likely to get into accidents and more forceful accidents. Due to the higher mass of the vehicle, there is more momentum (mass x velocity). Changing speed and/or direction takes more force (force = mass x acceleration).
If we all drove lighter cars, we could stop more easily and avoid collisions. And if we all had lighter cars, when we collided, there would be less energy transferred from car to car and their occupants.
Not relevent.
by Andy77e - 6/30/07 8:19 PM In reply to: Move to all cars being plastic, and we'd all be safer. by dhchiangThe problem with "high percentage of them involved SUVs" is that there is a high percentage of SUVs on the road.
So it is not relevant. It would be like pointing out that the number of 8-track tape players reporting problems is a mere fraction of CD-players reporting problems. Well duh, no one uses 8 tracks anymore.
A high percentage of crashes involve SUVs, well duh there's a large number of SUVs on the road. A high percentage of non-SUVs are in accidents too... figure that out.
Plastic Cars
by drummonr - 6/7/07 9:36 AM In reply to: What are the pros and cons of plastic cars? by wcunning
I would not be interested in buying a plastic car. The present design of metal car shells offers almost perfect protection in a thunder and lightning storm. Anyone in the interior of a metal car has little to fear in such a storm. It is not the rubber tires that provide the protection but rather the metal shell. Plastic cars simply would not provide the same protection. Although it might seem to be a little bit of paranoia it is not. In states like Florida and Georgia there would be a real danger of driving around in a plastic car.
Bob
Plastic and lightning
by mwooge - 6/7/07 8:23 PM In reply to: Plastic Cars by drummonrOkay, so tell us. How many people driving plastic cars get elecrocuted each year in thunderstorms?
Plastic Cars
by enawn - 6/8/07 10:32 AM In reply to: Plastic Cars by drummonrBob, that is not true. In fact if you are in a lightning storm and you get hit by lightning in a car, you are probably toast!!! The first thing you should do is seek shelter!!!! It does not matter if you are in a plastic car or not. Lightning (if your car gets struck)will kill you!!!! If there is enough voltage and amps you're toast baby!!!!!!
Lightning
by mwooge - 6/8/07 2:01 PM In reply to: Plastic Cars by enawnNo, you're safer in a metal car if lightning strikes it. The electricity will go through the metal of the car, and -around- the passengers. The metal body forms a Faraday cage.
The real question, to whoever started this sub-thread, is if plastic cars are somehow less safe than metal ones in thunder storms. My opinion is that getting hit by lightning is so rare it's not worth bothering with.
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