Sally Redux

Wow yes, they look fantastic.

Michael

Go to Manhattan Beach and look at one in their showroom. They are much more impressive than can be seen on a photo.

Sally Redux

They had a showroom for a while in a local mall, just amazing to see what they are made of.

sir_eccles

Or young sir's daycare where there seem to be at least three.

Michael

I've seen the Tesla roadsters on the streets but wasn't overly impressed at $120K and up. I think the model S is much more refined and apparently so do it's customers since Tesla quit making the roadster after introducing the model s.

markonline1

Every other car at my work place seems to be a Tesla Model S. They are quite a nice looking car, but I just couldn't ever bring myself to buy what is a glorified milk float!

lrochfort

This thread got busy overnight!

Whilst the idea of an electric car is tempting, unfortunately they aren't viable for my daily usage. Try are the future though! When I don't have to own a car and can simply request, via my iPhone 64, a driverless electric car to take me to work, I'll be very happy.

I do not at all subscribe to the "bigger is safer" idea because with new cars that simply isn't the case. Similarly, the Kia Cee'd is an excellent car with a 7 year warranty.

However, I will never buy a new car so am restricted to cars just after the previously mentioned 4 year depreciation point.

Thanks to everybody for the links. I'll be sure to peruse those and if I find a 4 year old, safe, somewhat fuel efficient wagon I'll let everybody know!

Pulaski

Obviously you didn't study physics at school.

Bob

They might do more damage to smaller cars on a head on, but that's not much help when they're more likely to be the car rolling off the reverse banked highway exit after a light dusting of rain out that way :/

Pulaski

For most British-trained drivers, keeping your vehicle upright and on the road shouldn't be a problem. It is the other idiots that people need to worry about, and if a Crown Vic or a Suburban is going to come barreling into me, I would recommend not being in a hatchback made of tin foil.

Uncle_Bob

I think trucks can be harder to keep control of

Uncle_Bob

With the grid road system in Phoenix we have mostly three lanes in each direction and people generally doing 50 mph. My main concern is getting T-boned by a truck (of which there are plenty) in my little sports sedan at an intersection. I've seen enough nasty T bone accidents at the intersections to instinctively look left and right when the light turn green.

Having said that i think safety has quiet a bit to do with more than just impact. A safe vehicle to drive is one in which i can both accelerate and stop quickly in order to avoid trouble. Vehicle stability control, blind spot monitors, lane guidance etc, I don't think any of these feature in the crash test ratings do they?

I feel safer in my G35s than i do in my bus (Honda Odyssey). The G35 stops on a dime. The brakes on the Odyssey are as soft as hell, with six passengers and trunk full of cases its a death trap.

King Gimp

We just bought the Hyundai Elantra to replace our Subaru Outback that got in a crash with a GMC truck - the Subaru was completely wrecked but the Mrs was totally fine. The dude in the GMC truck somehow broke most of his fingers and had cuts and bruises. His truck looked totally fine however.

There's something to be said for cars made out of 'tinfoil' that crumple up and absorb shock..

Michael

There are too many variables to really know if one car is safer than another. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) both conduct safety tests..

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts three frontal crash tests, a moderate overlap frontal test at 40 mph, a small overlap frontal test at 40 mph, and a 35 mph full frontal crash into a rigid barrier.

All of those are fine but what happens when a drunk or someone falls asleep at the wheel and crosses the lane into on coming traffic at 60 miles per hour (equivalent of 120 miles per hour if two on coming cars hit)? Also on a total frontal impact, the G force in the lighter car will be greater than the heavier car pushing the lighter car backwards.

The same is true with rear and side crashes. They may be able to simulate what could happen when a semi tractor trailer rear ends or side swipes a vehicle but I doubt anyone really wants to know.

Owen778

G forces are to do with gravity. What you're talking about is inertia, F=ma. If m (mass) is greater for one vehicle than the other, the force it exerts is also greater.