Don't Crash Your Rover 100/ Metro @ 40mph....

[garethj]

Probably, and a lazy journalist has never been fired for mocking old BL cars.

[alcyonecorporation]

as i understand it, the Rover Metro from the windscreen back is pretty close to identical to the original Austin Metro,

 

and shock-horror- a car designed in 1975 did poorly in a 1997 spec crash test!

 

in its development the car was crashed head on into a concrete block at 30mph, that crash test is an offset crash at 45mph, so no wonder that the car did poorly.

 

as memory serves, the Citroen AX and the Fiat Cinquecento also did badly, and they were both much, much younger cars. the fiat had even been designed with the offset crash test in mind!

FOAM FOAM FOAM.

 

They'd have been better off crashing a five star rated 1997 supermini to illustrate their point.

Lots of the 100's rivals were indeed marginal, but none were quite so bad as the 100. Yes, the video has an agenda. That agenda is to sell new cars. Everyone here has identified it.

 

Hey, maybe if the 100 hadn't had been so gallopingly shit in 1997 it wouldn't have been used as a contemporary nadir 20 years later, eh?

Rover had basic R3 200s waiting in the wings to replace the 100, and after the NCAP results (mocked by engineers I've spoken to as the 'Renault marketing crash tests') no one bought them. It wasn't a strong seller anyway, but Euro NCAP certainly put the final nail in its coffin.

 

I lost one of my mates at sixth form college to a fucking Rover 100, so the more of them get smashed up without hurting anyone, the better.

He hit a concrete bollard that had fallen in the road at 20 mph in his mint, low mileage example (it would have been 6 or 7 years old at the time) and died from his injuries three days later.

 

Hateful pieces of shit, they are. I'm glad their numbers are thinning out.

[richardmorris]

w124 testing

https://youtu.be/QFk2ve0s0w0

[oldcars]

Watched the Metro and thought   then remembered i drive a Rialto as a daily and thought               

[alcyonecorporation]

Watched the Metro and thought   then remembered i drive a Rialto as a daily and thought               

Thing is, any old car's a liability now; the 100 was just a punch line that kept on delivering, sadly.

I have my own reasons for disliking them - see above.

 

Moderns are far stronger, faster and driven with far more aggression thanks to a combination of comical blind spots and driver aids imparting a sense of invincibility.

Before the Euro NCAP crash tests, no one cared about a car's safety rating. "Volvos and Mercs are safe", that's about all you heard.

 

Afterwards, every manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon. On the one hand, safer cars weren't a bad thing; on the other, the rest of it was just marketing currency that suddenly gained relevance in the mid 'Nineties.

 

A pity passive safety - visibility - had to be sacrificed to achieve it. Higher driving standards and peripheral vision: these are the two weapons left in the DD shiter's arsenal.

[New POD]

Cars are getting better at the crash tests as they have those in mind when designing it.

 

And (amazingly powerful) Finite Element Analysis, materials technology and mechanical engineering understanding allows less guess work and more science, into the design before they even think about the prototypes.

[Timewaster]

I'm sorry Alcy1inc. Initially I didn't believe your story. Hitting a block of concrete sounded like you were questioning the validity of Ncap as it seems so unlikely in the real world.

In balance I know a girl who tried to stop an artic by wedging an Applejack Mk1 Metro

underneath it and is still here to tell the tale.

She showed me her scars once

 

Edit: What I meant was I never heard of anyone having an accident that was actually like the ncap simulation.

Sorry it turned out like it did.

[Captain Furious]

You also have to factor in that people were made of sterner stuff back in the 80s and 90s.  If you had an accident back then, your dads mate came and pulled the dent out with his landrover and you were on your way.

 

These days if anyone so much as grazes your rear bumper its 16 weeks off work with whiplash and a no win no fee personal injury lawyer.

[alcyonecorporation]

I'm sorry Alcy1inc. Initially I didn't believe your story. Hitting a block of concrete sounded like you were questioning the validity of Ncap as it seems so unlikely in the real world.

In balance I know a girl who tried to stop an artic by wedging an Applejack Mk1 Metro

underneath it and is still here to tell the tale.

She showed me her scars once

Still, you got a jump out of it, so who gives a fuck?

I'm not really comfortable with you trivialising the whole thing, to be honest.

 

And no, Euro NCAP is as much a marketing tool as it is a yardstick of safety. That Adam's Rover 100 did so badly depresses me to this day.

[scruff]

ALL OLD CARS ARE SHIT!

 

Thank god

[rml2345]

I remember showing a mate the Euro NCAP video for the blob shaped Hyundai Accident coupe he was driving at the time but he still drove like a twat. Unsurprisingly he parked it in the back of a lorry but was relativley uninjured, more by chance than engineering I think. That's the thing with NCAP, it's a standard test that doesn't always reflect the infinite variety of accidents. Fifth Gear stuffed a Modus into a Volvo 940 estate and the Volvo wasn't so hot, reflecting 20 odd years of crash development. I stuck one into a bus and it performed excellently, reflecting Volvo's commitment to safety.

Safety stars sell cars but it's only part of a collision and one person's deathtrap is anothers salvation.

[Timewaster]

I'm not really comfortable with you trivialising the whole thing, to be honest.

 

Wasn't my intention.

Apologies.

[alcyonecorporation]

Wasn't my intention.

Apologies.

Ye weren't to know, mate.

 

So, this friend of yours.............

[sutty2006]

On the bright side, the Metro did replace a much less safe car.

 

[YouTube]

[/YouTube]

 

Imagine if they still been making that as late as the mid-nineties!

 

Ive just bought one of those for swmbo. Begining to regret it already. lol

[RobT]

Best not to think about safety when driving old cars.  Given the choice of old chod and the joy it brings (albeit with the risk of impending death at every turn) or live a safe, mediocre existence driving a new Golf or something, I'll take the former thanks.

 

[sutty2006]

Yep, If im going to die it'll be in a ball of flames going sideways through the pearly gates. haha

[danthecapriman]

Best not to think about safety when driving old cars.  Given the choice of old chod and the joy it brings (albeit with the risk of impending death at every turn) or live a safe, mediocre existence driving a new Golf or something, I'll take the former thanks.

This.

 

I'm going to do the things I like doing in life. You could spend your whole life worrying about this or that but if you did you wouldn't do anything.

If people want an uber safe modern then fine. They aren't for me but that's my choice, all I can do is drive within the cars limits, take advantage of the better visibility my old car offers and give myself the best chance that way.

I've never been without at least one old car and not once have I felt unsafe or scared.

[alcyonecorporation]

I remember showing a mate the Euro NCAP video for the blob shaped Hyundai Accident coupe he was driving at the time but he still drove like a twat. Unsurprisingly he parked it in the back of a lorry but was relativley uninjured, more by chance than engineering I think. That's the thing with NCAP, it's a standard test that doesn't always reflect the infinite variety of accidents. Fifth Gear stuffed a Modus into a Volvo 940 estate and the Volvo wasn't so hot, reflecting 20 odd years of crash development. I stuck one into a bus and it performed excellently, reflecting Volvo's commitment to safety.

Safety stars sell cars but it's only part of a collision and one person's deathtrap is anothers salvation.

Aye.

 

Did they take the engine out of that 940 or not?

[0ldCh0d]

Just a little note to everyone here, I was not in any way, shape or form, knocking old cars for safety & i was not knocking old metro/rover 100's when i posted this up, I just found it interesting & scary at the same time. I was 17 in 1997, had just passed my test & my first car that i had (thanks Mum & Dad) Was a x8 previous owners, 1.4, D Reg Renault 5........Faded red/orange paintwork, ran & drove rather good for what it was,

 

I did not care back then that it would indeed pretty much fold up if i hit something like another car/post/concrete wall @ 30mph.

Today, i have a (Modern) 2010 Skoda Octavia VRS as my daily (Same as my avatar Pic), It feels safe & solid & the Mrs can drive it with the kids in it etc. 

 

Speaking of modern vs Old,, I do not get these little peugeot 107/Citroen c1 things though.....has anyone seen in the rear/Boot of these? Just a glass window & a piece of flimsy plastic for a bumper... Fuck being rear ended in one of them, i imagine the Metro NCAP scenario....Fuck That.

 

But anyways, Like i say, not knocking old cars, I like them aswell.

[fordperv]

Having seen a rover 100 hit a tree in the hands of a slightly over the limit late teens girl who was doing well over the 40mph speed limit then came to a speed camera then jammed the brakes on got into a tank slapper, i didnt think it faired too badly to be honest, i did run over to it rag the bonnet open and cut the power cables as it was smoking from under the bonnet though

[Lacquer Peel]

Aye.

 

Did they take the engine out of that 940 or not?

 

It's difficult to tell.

 

https://youtu.be/qBDyeWofcLY?t=158

 

Either the engine ended up buried in the bulkhead or they played a trick for dramatic results.

 

http://media.folksam.se/sv/2009/03/14/nytt-krocktest-fran-folksam-ny-smabil-sakrare-an-aldre-stor-bil-2/

 

Folksam conducted a similar test, Volvo 945 vs. Toyota Yaris, the results are a bit different, the Yaris looks totally buggered as well. Maybe Fifth Gear did remove the engine.

[Squire_Dawson]

blah blah British rubbish blah blah splendid Germanic blah

[willswitchengage]

Should probably add at this juncture how it should be done. IIRC the Cash + Carry was the safest vehicle ever tested by EuroNCAP when it was brought to market. Well done brainy automotive engineers.

 

[rml2345]

blah blah British rubbish blah blah splendid Germanic blah

Hondas are Germanic?

[richardmorris]

Should probably add at this juncture how it should be done. IIRC the Cash + Carry was the safest vehicle ever tested by EuroNCAP when it was brought to market. Well done brainy automotive engineers.

 

https://youtu.be/s48THRFjkkc

 

But the owners, without fail, drive like their brain has been removed.

[richardmorris]

Yep, If im going to die it'll be in a ball of flames going sideways through the pearly gates. haha

 

The late Adrian Brody, Citroen SM specialist, said an SM would do everything a Ferrari could , and when both lost grip on the same corner would go through the same hedge the Ferrari did. But forwards!

[Guest Hooli]

But the owners, without fail, drive like their brain has been removed.

 

That must have happened before they decided to pay money for such a thing.

[SiC]

Should probably add at this juncture how it should be done. IIRC the Cash + Carry was the safest vehicle ever tested by EuroNCAP when it was brought to market. Well done brainy automotive engineers.

 

And so was the Laguna II! In fact I think it was the first 5 star NCAP car?

 

[Chris2cv]

I remember when the tests first came out, and I was rather proud that at the time I drove a Rover 100 - "the least safe car on the road" and the 2cv which i seem to remember also featured and did MUCH worse, although it didn't see as much criticism as it had been out of production for some time.   I later saw a badly crashed 2cv which if it did not involve the death of the driver must have severely damaged them, but I still have the car and am apparently ok!    I have ridden various moped for 10 years - I clearly do not value my safety!

 

   I would never wish to make light of those killed or seriously injured in accidents. I do worry however that cars are now too safe, the 2cv club referred to it at one stage as the Volvo effect, in that why bother looking where you are going as you will survive any crashes! My Clio is far safer than the 2cv having 4 airbags, pretensioners, side impact protection etc, but a new car would obviously be safer still.  

 

  Enjoy your old cars, just remember that they are old and it was wise to drive them as such. Leave braking space, don't overtake if it is not safe, watch out for BMWs! etc

[Guest Hooli]

Goona 2s are so safe because they breakdown before they crash!