W123 Crash Test videos... so much for the low fed rating... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

winmutt · #1 01-05-2007, 04:24 PM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EqMEGA76HsE

I like the one where they drop the car....

riethoven · #2 01-05-2007, 04:43 PM

Great crumple zones. W123s were built like tanks.

greasybenz · #3 01-05-2007, 04:51 PM

as for the comments below the video, i tend to agree volvo's are safer as they had that steel cage built around the 'cabin' or interior of the car that when the car was hit nothing would twist of bend out of place. Just the outside of the car was smushed. I still have some old ad's of the volvo saftey.

I have one were the front and back of the car were flattened and the interior looked like it did before the accident.

Its the reason my dad loved volvo's when he was younger.

But thats not to say the MB isnt a safe car, they still are safer then your average all aluminum honda or even a hummer

vstech · #4 01-05-2007, 04:58 PM

I love the overhead open hood shot of the offset frontal crash, but I wonder howmuch crumple there is gonna be with an engine there...
John

mybenz123 · #5 01-05-2007, 06:37 PM

Did I see this wrong, in one of the clips the
seat belt thightend by itself before the impact.
I knew that some w123s had airbags but didn't know
this.

Louis.

Ken300D · #6 01-05-2007, 08:27 PM

I find the clip starting around 9 seconds interesting. Looks like a driver with adult and child passenger in the back. The child is not in a car seat and doesn't seem to be belted. The adult in the back doesn't seem to be tightly belted, but I can't tell for sure. Maybe seat belts really do that.

But the kid slides between the front seats and plants his face in the dash.

Good advertisement for child car seats........

Ken300D

justinperkins · #7 01-05-2007, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mybenz123

Did I see this wrong, in one of the clips the
seat belt thightend by itself before the impact.
I knew that some w123s had airbags but didn't know
this.

Louis.

Since all W124's had the SRS system, I'm sure there was a few W123's that did too, but mostly just for R&R I imagine.

PanzerSD · #8 01-05-2007, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mybenz123

Did I see this wrong, in one of the clips the
seat belt thightend by itself before the impact.
I knew that some w123s had airbags but didn't know
this.

Louis.

I Kinda figured that Mercedes would have explosive tensioners(ET).
Tie a string to a pole, and attatch a rocket on the free end and light it. there's you're explosive tensioner

a word of caution. if you know your car has ET seatbelts, and it isn't working right (just wear and tear or whatever) GET A BODY SHOP to replace it.

I was walking across my shop one day with one in my hand and I dropped it...BAM! loud, fast, and MANY pieces...not quite so dangerous when bolted down.
I once had a FULL load of airbags blow while I was disassembling the front end on a '06 TDI. OMG

spectacular noise and COST!
Luckily it was a faulty SRS module and not our fault so it was supplimented to the insurance claim.

Lets just say that if you knew how much the airbags cost in a new TDI the pricetag seems very reasonable.

DslBnz · #9 01-05-2007, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greasybenz

as for the comments below the video, i tend to agree volvo's are safer as they had that steel cage built around the 'cabin' or interior of the car that when the car was hit nothing would twist of bend out of place. Just the outside of the car was smushed. I still have some old ad's of the volvo saftey.

I have one were the front and back of the car were flattened and the interior looked like it did before the accident.

Its the reason my dad loved volvo's when he was younger.

But thats not to say the MB isnt a safe car, they still are safer then your average all aluminum honda or even a hummer

Mercedes had the high strength safety cage concept fully implemented back in 1951. They were the first to design a vehicle in such a manner. The W123's can also have their trunks crushed all the way to the fuel tank and still be fully intact (I've seen it).

Why do you think a Volvo, even a 240, is safer? What's your reasoning?

MS Fowler · #10 01-06-2007, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DslBnz

Mercedes had the high strength safety cage concept fully implemented back in 1951. They were the first to design a vehicle in such a manner. The W123's can also have their trunks crushed all the way to the fuel tank and still be fully intact (I've seen it).

Why do you think a Volvo, even a 240, is safer? What's your reasoning?

Mercedes has made it a corporate policy not to enforce patents on safety devices

Gurkha · #11 01-05-2007, 09:51 PM

In NY I was rear ended on a stop sign by a van, the rear got crumpled but nothing happened to the passenger cabin, my uncle was in the back seat, he was a heart patient, even he didnt' feel anything, the W123 is one heck of a solid design.

catmandoo62 · #12 01-06-2007, 03:08 PM

i was on the vwvortex and saw a post from a guy,this was about a year ago.he was in an accident and all the airbags popped(side curtain,seats,pillars,and steering wheel,dash.and it was gonna cost something like 11,000 dollars to replace all of em.

FrodeS · #13 01-06-2007, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winmutt

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EqMEGA76HsE

I like the one where they drop the car....

This is nothing but impressive. We are talking about cars finished designet more than 30 years ago. Try doing this to any other cars the same age.

Parrot of Doom · #14 01-06-2007, 08:16 PM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gCIBOYxzqko&mode=related&search=

Thanks, but no thanks

lietuviai · #15 03-03-2007, 06:01 PM

I'm impressed that 30 years ago MB's safety engineering was ahead of everyone else. I would feel much safer in a new Honda today. They have done quite a good job implementing a lot of excellent safety features that look like they're based on MB's.
The one thing that really spooked me in the clip was at the end where the drivers door is pushed into the driver's compartment. That would no doubt cause some serious, even possibly grave injuries to who ever would be sitting there.
A few weeks ago, I skidded off an icy road in my Civic and collided with guard rail. The car just bounced off the the guard rail. All that happened was I cracked the bumper cover at the corner where the impact occurred. There was no sheet metal damage nor did I bust the headlamp. Luckily the airbag did not deploy. It probably would have if someone was sitting in the passenger side where the car took the impact.
I pulled the cover off and epoxied the cover back together and resprayed that section with some left over black paint I had. It only took a couple of hours to fix.
Had I been in my Euro W123 in the same incident, I would have probably had some serious sheet metal damage, probably involving the the hood along with the fender, a twisted bumper and smashed headlamp.