SECRET AP1

Can any elise owners comment on the windshield frame and the roll bar behind the seats? Is this similar to the S where the windshield acts as part of the roll cage?

For non-S owners, what do you think of the Elise as far as safety goes. It seems like the majority of accidents mentioned on EliseTalk and other Elise forums refer to visibility of the Elise, mostly SUVs backing into Elises. My gf is thinking of getting an Elise, but I'm concerned about how safe this car is considering the factors:

-fiberglass body has no crush or collapse zones built into it
-aluminum frame is literally a box the rides much lower than your a** and extends not much further than your legs extend.
-windshield frame is not advertised as a roll bar nor is it made if anything resembling a roll bar
-body does not form a complete roll cage around the driver and passenger
-lack of information regarding side impact beams or stiffeners
-total lack of visibility

I know our cars are not necessarily the epitomy of safety, but my concerns about the Elise are getting more real as the delivery date gets closer and closer.

Comments are certainly welcome.

rai

I'm worried about that too. I'd say (no proof) but IMO it's probably one of the most un-safe cars on the road.

First it's one of the smallest and lightest cars. Weight = safety. Or more clearly, F=MC(2). Meaning a larger car carries more force and can take or deliver more damage. I know it's not as cut and dry as that. For example F1 cars are very small and light yet they're very safe. But if I had to be in a wreck, I'd rather be in a 2800 lb car than a 1800 lb car.

Second, the Elise does not meet US crash test/bumper regs. It's got an exemption b/c it's a limited volume car.

Third, just like a motorcycle, an Elise can be hard to see.

I know there are far more dangerous cars on the road. My friend has a kit car (Cobra).

Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel fairly safe in the S2000, not sure I'd feel as safe in the Elise.

SECRET AP1

f=mc^2?

hahaha um.. do you mean f=ma? or e=mc^2? honest mistake, but i think conservation of momentum is what you would want to look at.

in any case, i wonder if we can look up the info on the Elise's results in US Crash & Safety tests. i know it doesn't pass the 5mph bumper tap test.

ItsBen

I believe I read somewhere that the Elise is quite safe in the crash. I don't have time to dig it up right now. The assumption that more weight = safe is totally safe, if not the opposite. The most dangerous cars on the streets today are big cars. Take a look at the crash test for the F150, the best selling car in the world. People laughed at the crash test of the poor quality of a chinese SUV, but the F150 doesn't do much better.

Ckcrigger

Elise safety is one of the reasons the wife is nixing the S2k-->Elise move.

With modern SUVs bumper height creeping upwards, you're going under their rear bumper if you hit them.... do you guys remember that corvette that hit the back of the semi.... kind of like that... your windshield will be the only thing between your face and a metal bumper....

There was the post recently by the Elise driver that was T-boned by an INTEGRA and had cuts to his face and was banged up pretty well.

I didn't want to think what would happen between an Elise and a pickup truck.

The crash test results are done with a barrier impact that is low to the ground... SUV bumper heights could make those tests obsolete.

MaxGeek

Someone on this board got into an accident in his elise and I believe was thrown from the car. He got a boxster as a replacement.

rai

^ crash tests, the way they are done in the US, do not take into account the weight of the vehicle. If they did, people would be scared of small cars.

Here's the way a crash test works: a car is crashed into a fixed barrier at a certain speed I think it's 45 mph. This simulates a crash between 2 cars both going the same speed both with the same weight crashing into each other. A small car doesn't pack as much of a punch so for example in this case it's like an Elise crashing into another Elise. Or a 6000 lb Ford F150 crashing into another F150.

Now if say instead of a fixed barrier, the car was crashed into a sled weighing the same weight no matter what car was being tested. We'd get more "real world" data. However small cars would do poorly and large cars would do better.

For example... Take a 2000 lb Elise can crash it into a 4000 sled. The mass/energy would be transferred such that the Elise would take far more damage. Now if a 6000 lb truck crashed into the same 4000 lb sled the truck would come out with far less damage.

I think the the industry keeps fixed barrier crash test partly b/c if it didn't then cars would shake out mostly on their weight.

For this reason. I don't care how good an Elise does on a government crash test. Because the crash test score is a farce. It's not fair to subject a 6000 lb truck to a 6000 lb crash force while subjecting a 1800 lb car to 1800 lb crash force and try to say the car with the better score it's safer. That's just nonsense. Crash an Elise into a F150 and tell me which one is safer.

CG

Safety is one of the main reasons I didn't buy an Elise. I love driving the Elise and would take it over another S2K any day except for safety. I'm not sure that it's not safe but even a minor parking lot bump can cost thousands to repair. One of the 1st Elise's crashed in the USA was rear-ended at a traffic light much like I was a few years ago in a Miata. I was hurt but not badly, the driver of the Elise had a broken back. The thought of that happening to me scared the hell out of me.

rai

[QUOTE=SECRET AP1,Oct 15 2005, 06:59 PM] f=mc^2?

Ztec

I wish I had pictures but I can only tell you what I witnessed when I examined my ex-girlfriends elise when she was t-boned going through an intersection - she had just started to cross from a traffic light and a Camry hit her directly in the passenger compartment around 30 MPH and the passenger compartment was breached. If there had been a passenger they would have been seriously injured or killed. The hard top was thrown away from the car and she was pushed at least 30 feet. The car was totaled and she was pretty banged up. it looked pretty bad - you could see seperation of body panels and the whole car was twisted. suspension was destroyed seat was deformed etc...
It didn't look like it held up too well to be honest.
I will say though my S was hit in almost the same location just after we got it and faired much better - no frame damage but destroyed the door and rear fender and tore off the rear bumper. Oh, She was driving when this happened as well. she was a shitty driver with bad luck!