Larry Cable

what 911?

stratocaster69

Mine too, I nearly flunked my Physics class in community college. I can kinda understand, but I just don't see a Porsche making it out of a black hole. Given the power of gravity! lol

stratocaster69

Chuck dont do it! Think of all the cool accessories, and putting a coat of wax on the Hummer is good but putting a coat on the Porsche makes it purr!

Larry Cable

Maybe one of the new turbo cars?

ignacio

Porsches are not listed. Volume is too low.

Just look at the German cars vs US and Japanese SUV's. The smallest BMW's, Audi's and Mercedes often have better safety ratings than large SUV's.

The simplistic posts which equate vehicle weight to safety are wrong.

stratocaster69

LOL Yes

yashagrawal

Liked this thread...here's a nice link to study

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/presentations

See the one on Vehicle Safety: Where It’s Been and Where It’s heading

garudatwo

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2471423

Saw this car in person yesterday (NYPD left it next to a parking lot)...not a pretty sight.

yashagrawal

This is interesting too...looks like Porsches do well
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/47/7/1


Injury losses
When it comes to injuries in crashes, medical payment insurance pays for injuries to an at-fault driver or passengers in that driver's vehicle, while bodily injury liability insurance pays for injuries that an at-fault driver causes to occupants of another vehicle. A third type of injury coverage is personal injury protection (PIP), which is used in the 17 states with no-fault insurance systems. This coverage pays for injuries to occupants of the insured vehicle, no matter who is at fault.

Losses for both medical payment coverage and PIP reflect in part how well a vehicle protects its occupants. Consumers can compare injury losses based on what type of coverage they need.

Looking at PIP, the Toyota Yaris, a minicar, has the highest frequency among 2009-11 models — 28.5 claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years, or about twice the average. The Suzuki SX4, a small sedan, comes in second with 26.6 claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years. Most of the vehicles with the highest PIP frequencies are minicars or small cars.

"Injury claims data show something that crash test results can't, and that's the role that vehicle size plays," Hazelbaker says. "In most crash tests, the advantage of greater size and weight is masked by using a fixed barrier. As a result, crash test results are comparable only among similar vehicles.

"We know that in the real world, if all else is equal, a larger, heavier vehicle does a better job protecting occupants than a smaller, lighter one. These claim frequencies demonstrate that clearly."

In addition to small vehicles, the list of high injury claim frequencies also includes models known for their powerful engines. As with the high collision losses for these vehicles, these high injury frequencies are likely a result of the way they are driven.

Personal injury protection claims among 2009-11 passenger vehicles

Vehicle size/type Claim frequency
HIGHEST CLAIM FREQUENCY
Toyota Yaris minicar 28.5
Suzuki SX4 small car 26.6
Chevrolet Aveo minicar 26
Mitsubishi Galant midsize car 25.4
Kia Rio minicar 24.9
Nissan Versa small car 24.6
Hyundai Accent minicar 24.6
Dodge Avenger midsize car 23.7
Nissan Sentra small car 23
Chevrolet Aveo wagon mini station wagon 22.3

LOWEST CLAIM FREQUENCY
Porsche 911 midsize sports car 4.5
Chevrolet Corvette midsize sports car 5.4
Chevrolet Silverado 2500 crew 4WD (2011) very large pickup 5.5
Jeep Grand Cherokee (2011) midsize SUV 6
Lexus LX 570 4WD large luxury SUV 6
Mercedes-Benz SL-Class convertible midsize sports car 6
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4WD large pickup 6.2
Ford F-150 4WD large pickup 6.2
Land Rover Range Rover 4WD large luxury SUV 6.2
Cadillac Escalade ESV 4WD very large luxury SUV 6.4
Note: Claim frequencies are per 1,000 insured vehicle years;
vehicles are 2009-11 models unless otherwise noted.

yashagrawal

pl. also check out these Porsche specific links, looks like its a really safe car. Yes it costs more to repair it after a crash, but its safe.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/iihs-website-search?q=porsche

STG

The problems arise when you hit something a lot taller than your car like the back of a bus or huge SUV. Bumper to bumper isn't the problem.

yashagrawal

I agree, but that is compensated by the short braking distance in a 911. Its several car lengths less than lesser cars/trucks. This could be the difference between getting into a hamburger or not. Crash avoidance can be very important, better lights PDLS, manouverability, less chance of rollover all matter.

There will always be some disadvantageous interactions, like a frontal crash with a heavier vehicle, or going under a truck etc. A heavy SUV crashing into a non-absorbing cement wall may not do as well as a 911 bouncing off a wall.

Knowing and recognizing these weaknesses is important in avoiding them. In another thread, I mentioned my experience with coming across a sudden stretch of snow on a highway at high speed. My C4S could handle it (quick braking and 4WD), dont think I would have done as well in Mercedes M 350, where the momentum is just too much to stop.

chuck911

I totally agree, the safest car is the one most capable of allowing an alert and reasonably skilled driver to avoid the accident in the first place. From that point of view there really is no safer car than a Porsche. I mean, brakes that automatically pre-charge when you come off the throttle fast! Then combine with that the incredible integrity of the body. So we haven't even gotten to "safety" equipment, and already we can see its a very safe car.

Which is one of the things I hate about these "safety" threads. The question is, "in a severe accident"? So first thing we do is take this miracle of automotive engineering and reduce it to an inert lump being struck by an asteroid. Buy an Abrams. (And notice, even the tank company realizes mobility contributes to safety!)

But, notwithstanding all that, the claim frequency stats above invite the wrong conclusions. Read the statistic, it says "claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years". Since it is "per time" and not "per mile" it is bound to overstate claims on cars driven every day, like the mini cars, compared to cars that spend a lot of time parked, like the Porsche.

997s07

As Larry mentioned on this thread one of the things that kills is quick acceleration or deceleration of the human body where the internal organs smash into bone or themselves. There are a lot "armchair" physics on this thread that is not entirely accurate concerning car accidents. Strictly, the change in momentum (directly related to accelerating or decelerating) is what kills. Momentum is the product of mass and velocity. Also, kinetic energy is related to the square of the velocity, this energy transfer can be deadly for fast approaching light weight vehicles that will strike. I won't get into more details, but velocity is much more important than mass in collisions.

Gadsby

My wife is a accident magnet, drives way to conservative for Chicago. After being rear ended in her last SUV she required the safest, largest, heaviest, most powerful SUV. She's pretty short so she hates driving cars.
Ended up with Audi Q7 with 4.2L premium with captain chairs in second row.

Have to say after she hit a few immovable items and being rear ended a few times as well, I'm convinced this thing is a tank. Too bad Porsche hasn't looked into a 6-7 seat SUV. Now we're thinking about the next SUV now that this one is 8 years old. GL and new Range Rover are the only Euro SUV's that seem to fit the bill.2