The old Volvo 240? Crash design has come a long way
 

And here are the grisly pictures to prove it!

This caused a minor uproar on the Brickboard.

http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle%5Fratings/ce/html/02003.htm

Want to see something really scary, though? Look at the Chevy Astro.

http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle%5Fratings/ce/html/96024.htm

http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle%5Fr...96024_1_29.jpg

Note: The MB E-Class did quite well, especially the 2000 and later models. As did the M-Class.

-Sam

Aw man, it just HAD to be a DIESEL that they wrecked,

That astro van looks far much worse than that fatal car accident I witnessed on Valentine's day involving a Ford Bronco:eek:

How'd you find that? Browsing the IIHS website, you can't even pull up the '83 test results from the menus... if they have other old cars up there, I'd love to see the results..

I wonder
 

Which is a safer car? The Benz W123 or the Volvo 240 series? That'd be an interesting comparison. I'd think the Benz (slightly heavier) but maybe I am a bit biased? :D

Re: I wonder
 

My vote goes to the 123. Of course, I'm a bit biased as well ;)

I Wonder
 

Its interesting that they used a Diesel 240, but would the results be the same for a Gas?, since the Diesel is a straight 6 not a 4, this must have some effect on the front impact with less room for absorbtion than a 4.

I also remember watching a documentary once, about Volvo safety and how they would send out a factory team to crash sites involving a Volvo to research it. I wonder if they still do that?.

Hmmm. Well, I drive a Volvo 740; which first saw the light of day in the early Eighties. I'd guess the more advanced design (computers, not slide rules like the designers of the 240 used in the late 60s when it first saw the light of day) would help it somewhat in a crash.

For the record, I never liked the 240 series much anyways, except in wagon form with the intercooled Turbo and 4-speed manual with o/D.

Here's a test of an MB E-class a couple generations newer than the W123.

http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/97005.htm

Note how much it improved in the 2000 update.

http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/00027.htm

No great loss. The VW-derived diesel Six as used in Volvos was a lousy engine, nowhere near as durable as the 4-cylinder gas engines.

The diesel is something like 6 inches longer than the gas 4. I wonder if that had something to do with the impact protection.

-Sam

Comparison Volvo 240 <--> W 123?

The W 123 would be the winner. The structure of the Volvo was too stiff, the front end wouldn't absorb the impact as the Mercedes does.

Anothe aspect is the material choosed for the interior. Mercedes choosed better materials which wouldn't splinter as the plastic in the Volvo does.

The Volvo was a great car, no question. But a lot of it safe reputation came from the drivers, which tend to have been the calmer ones.

But the W 123 would be the safer car in pretty much all aspects.

Kind regards
Eberhard

Re: The old Volvo 240? Crash design has come a long way
 

Why? It's a 30 year old design! It should do poorly compared to newer technology. Anyone that thinks a W123 is safer than ANY new MB should have their head examined. Do you think technology and engieering have been standing still, or worse, going backward, since the '70's?

Go look at the Honda Civic:

http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle%5Fratings/ce/html/00031.htm

It is one hulluva safe little car. I'd take a new Honda anything over a W123 any day if safety was my only buying factor. Was the W123 or W126 the king in it's day? Maybe. Probably. Likely. How would they stack up today? Well, 20-30 years of development really has left them in the dust.

I couldn't agree with you more. One brickboard poster, who goes by the name of "240 Allison", is a diehard believer in the practical invincibility in the safety of the Volvo 240, and thinks that the far superior (in terms of safety) 850 series isn't as safe due to one fatal accident that she witnessed involving an 855. Can we say "microcosm"?

Well, sure, they're fairly simple and reliable old cars, but those are their greatest advantages. They aren't that safe, and I'd much rather wreck into a 240 in a new Mini Cooper or Audi A4 (both cars which placed VERY highly on offset crash testing).

The 240 went out of production in 1993 because "it couldn't meet US side impact standards" for one reason. Sure, they were good back then, but....

-Sam