Really interesting crash-testing vids
 

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Good thing I don't own a Vanagon. geez

The big 'Merican truck and the VW Bus seemed to perform horribly.
The bagette did pretty well.

I think the 5th clip down was funny. Obviously a Renault advert and I'd guess they were trying to represent German cars with the sausage, Japanese cars with the sushi roll, and French (more spefically Renault) with the baguette. Unfortunately this is a poor representation as I think they would have been more accurate using a bag of poo.

my next car is going to be made out of bread :D
good stuff

I've seen that vanagon crash test before. No one seems to know how fast it was going, but it had to be extremely fast. I saw a video of a crash test that Sweden performed in 1994, in which they had a vanagon hit a Volvo wagon with a 50-50 frontal impact, both cars doing 40 mph. The vanagon dummy had minor leg injuries, the Volvo dummy was DOA. The vanagon plowed right up into the Volvo cabin.

In another case, an owner of a vanagon posted pics of his Westy after hitting a ricer head-on. Both were going about 45 mph. He was unhurt, and the other driver was slightly injured.

So, to my relief, vanagons are safer than that video suggests.

Yes, its too bad that there isn't even one of those timers in the shot- at least then we could ballpark the speed.

I am shocked at the poorness of some of the newer vehicles. I had started to think that modern vehicles must all be safe, with computer modeling and whatnot. I was very wrong- there are some poor designs out there.

I tried to find a 911 vid, or 928, or 944 with no luck.

Is it possible, in the case of the Vanagon, that it is carrying a substantial payload?
Looking at the video I would guess that there is a significant amount of mass behind the cab that isn't really interested in stopping once the vehicle hits the wall. I know the engine is in the rear, but it's below the floor IIRC and I wouldn't think that would be enough to do this?