S30 safety

[drtran83]

Sadly, a young man who was a member of Z Atlanta passed away recently when he had an accident in his 350Z. His car was much more modern than my Z cars, but the safety features weren't able to prevent his untimely. The risk is there pretty much no matter what kind of car you drive. As stated in other posts, how you drive is going to be a major contributor. When I am driving my Zs, I fully realize that I must manage the risk as much as possible via careful driving and alertness to vehicle condition in order to increase the chances of me getting home safely.

Convince her that you going to a Skip Barber driving course would improve your safety on the road. I'm sure you could Google up some statistics demonstrating the benefits of such training.

It is very sad to hear of that young man's untimely death. I do understand regardless of vehicle nobody is really ever safe on the road. I completely agree with everyone that how one drives is the reality of the issue. I've always wanted to go to a driving school, just wish there was one closer to home.

[SteveJ]

There's a simple solution for that: Road Trip!

[Wade Nelson]

I must disagree with the majority of FastWoman's conclusions about airbags. They're lifesavers in 98% of all deployments.

I used to work in the industry; interning at GM, and designing airbag control circuits for a wheelchair van conversion firm.

Witness one 29mph front or rear impact test and watch those crash test dummies getting whipsawed back and forth and you WILL want airbags for your daily driver.

Have airbags caused injuries; yes, to 5 percentile women (below 5'3, 100#), to children in improper seats, to people leaning forward resulting in their face being mere inches away from the bag when it deployed. Have airbags deployed improperly or failed to deploy; yes, they frequently fail to deploy in snow/ice rollovers. But all of these are extremely rare. In the VAST majority of deployments airbags SAVED LIVES.

Talk to ANYONE whose had their life saved by an airbag. THAT's the input you want to hear.

Below 25mph a seatbelt alone is fine, from 25-45mph you will likely survive if you have a seatbelt AND a functioning airbag, above 50mph it's a crapshoot whether you will survive an accident. Hopefully you or the other driver brake so your impact speed is BELOW 45mph.

Did you know that in a modern vehicle the airbag ECU "weighs" the passenger to determine how hard to blow the bag --- full or partial blow, or no blow at all for childseat or package resting on the seat? We used to joke about adding a "girlfriend getting fat" light to the dash....

ABS, computer designed crumple zones; steel I-beams in the doors, all these features save lives. And the Z-lacks them and airbags. (Although the long hoodline DOES make a nice crumple zone for a front impact)...

As a daily driver, the Z is woefully deficient, safety-wise, compared to even the cheapest airbag-equipped econobox available today.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Wade Nelson

[SportBikeMike]

Well of course everything is relative. My Zs seem very safe and secure after riding my sportbikes. I always wear a helmet, jacket and gloves (and long pants) when riding the bikes, but of course there are still some risks. Also, my 240Z doesn't have bumpers so that probably doesn't help any in the safety category....but I probably only drive it maybe 1000 miles a year, and seldom in town, so I'll take my chances.

Speaking of old sports cars and safety, my Fiat X1/9 is actually one of the best built and safest cars of its time. In the early 70s, the US was comtemplating coming out with more stringent crash standards (which never came to be)......and the only two cars who were built to pass these standards were the X 1/9 and a Volvo. I guess my point is not all old sports cars are dangerous.

[FastWoman]

Wade, my gripe is ONLY with the side curtain airbags and elderly control electronics. I'm all in favor of properly functioning frontal airbags. In fact I was an early adopter, having paid for an optional airbag system in my '92 Saturn.

Here's the source of my gripe, besides the bag that randomly popped off in my car: When I drive, I am very conscious of the airbags. I like to drive with my arm at the top of the wheel, and I realize in either of my two airbag-equipped cars I shouldn't do this, because my arm might be driven into my face. So I hold the wheel at 10 and 2, and I do the left-right shuffle when steering around corners. Fair enough.

But what I can't control as easily is my passengers. I'll be driving along and will notice that one of them has shoved a pillow against a window and is sleeping right in the airbag deployment zone. Yikes! So I wake the person up and sternly order them not to do that. And then I'll see another passenger with an arm propped in the window. Again, more stern orders. People really have to think about how they sit and ride in these airbag equipped cars, AND THEY SELDOM DO. That makes me nervous.

And I also love old cars, but I don't love old airbag systems. So there I have a conflict. I see no way collectors/enthusiasts can possibly maintain a safe airbag system decades after a car goes out of production. If I could have replaced my Miata's airbag control module with a part I'd consider reliable, I'd have done it. (No side airbags on that car!) But I couldn't, and I wasn't about to let that car's airbags pop off randomly the way the bag in my #$% did.

Anyway, please don't misunderstand me. I'm saying that airbags are a mixed bag. They have to be used wisely, and they seldom are. And I will never trust the side airbags. Ever.

Edited July 19, 2013 by FastWoman

[John Coffey]

A couple nit picky items. Car bumpers are generally not designed to be part of the safety system that protects the passenger, other then as additional crush space.

[Wade Nelson]

Car bumpers are generally not designed to be part of the safety system that protects the passenger /QUOTE]

Correct. Bumpers, especially chromed, hardened steel ones, with or without hydraulic mounts, protected the body of the car from damage in low-speed impacts.

They did little or nothing to add to passenger safety, in fact INCREASING the g-load transmitted to the passenger in a bumper-to-bumper impact.

That's why cars today, even large trucks, DONT EVEN HAVE bumpers. They instead have a stylishly moulded piece of styrofoam, painted or chromed, called a "bumper cover,"

[siteunseen]

That's why cars today, even large trucks, DONT EVEN HAVE bumpers. They instead have a stylishly moulded piece of styrofoam, painted or chromed, called a "bumper cover,"

My Camry has a huge steel bar behind that Styrofoam.

[grannyknot]

When your fiance is in car drive nicely, you say you know sports cars then you are going to love the Z.

[EhlersRS]

Frank (d240zx2) in Houston had a nasty wreck last year and it was the demise of #721, but he came out fine. You can read about his experience at this message thread:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/misc-s30/45465-hls30-00721-will-soon-razor-blades.html

Also, 5thhorsemann wrecked his S30 earlier this year:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/misc-s30/48734-zs-really-can-fly-unfortunately.html

Robert S.

Edited July 21, 2013 by EhlersRS

[djwarner]

I would think the proper question is "how does an S30 compare to its contemporaries?"

We all realize that the safety standards today are much improved even though we've all seen some instances to doubt it. Two months after getting my 2008 Mustang Convertible, I was stopped, waiting for traffic to clear to make a right turn, when I was struck on the driver's side by a vehicle that failed to complete a right turn. The vehicle struck my car across the driver's door and collapsed the front suspension.

The force of the collision was so great that my vehicle was pushed more than 6 feet to the right, yet the side airbags did not go off. I slammed into the driver's door and window but fortunately neither I or my wife received any permanent injuries.

As for the S30, the unibody design has pretty good crush performance for front and rear crashes. And there is a reinforcing bar inside the door frame. I would expect it to be rated above many of its contemporaries.

Again, not up today's standard, but I feel safe enough to use mine as a daily driver.

Edited July 22, 2013 by djwarner

[LeonV]

As for the S30, the unibody design has pretty good crush performance for front and rear crashes. And there is a reinforcing bar inside the door frame. I would expect it to be rated above many of its contemporaries.

FWIW, the door bar got sturdier starting in '73. Frames were bulked up as the years went by as well.