01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

That is true but the speed the vehicle is going upon impact has much to do with it and from the looks of that car nothing would have saved the occupants of that vehicle.

upflying

Which is why I thought a LS1 might be overkill for a '54 Chevy. But I guess you could wrap the car around the tree with the original Stovebolt 6 as well. It just takes more effort.

68Formula

Engine swaps were popular long before the LS came along. I'm sure many a 350 SBCs and 427 BBCs found themselves under the hoods of '54 Chevy's decades ago. At least the tires on it were likely light years better in grip and stability than what was on those swapped cars back then.

upflying

Certainly true with the much improved Tri-Fives but the '51-54 were late on the modified scene.

bammax

You need to study your car history better. Custom cars started taking off right after WW2. The hotrods were all from the 30's. Almost all the gasser cars were from the 40's. The first generation Hemi was being put into everything throughout the 50's. The tri-fives didn't become super popular in the custom world until the 80's and it was mainly because people wanted the round edges that had been missing for decades.

BigBlockLover454

Lots of diffeent opinions here pro and con on modifying/driving old cars. Should we ban old cars altogether since they don't have the safety of a modern car or require modifications like full roll cage, etc. Alot of this reminds me of the crush an old car movment of 25-35 years ago where the oil companies got pollution credits for crushing older cars. Should we require that drivers of old cars be safe regardless which reminds me of the motorcyclists vs legislatures on the helmet laws. Many states opted to allow personal freedom in the decision. One car magazine bought a car from a gent who was going to have it crushed, tuned it up and it passed the CA emisssion tests. There is also the concern of some folks that "dangerous" old cars and helmetless motorcyclists will cause their ins premiums to go up because collisions will involve more injuries from the helmetless riders and drivers without rollcages and 4 wheel discs.

I believe that people need to take responsibility for theiir own safety and their lives, maintain their vehicles properly, and drive safely. If they want to let her rip, fine. There are plenty of dragsrips nation wide where they can do this, Most strips offer a test & tune night combined with grudge racing which works for those who want to blow off steam and see what their car will do.If you don't know where your track is , there is the speedway directory which lists not only circle tracks bur dragstrips, large and small: http://speedwaysonline.com/about/ .

And I don't necessarily need a LS engine (much as I like these engines) to get large horsepower and torque. My '68 GTO can always be equpped with a KRE engine that will easily do the trick with an obsolete Pontiac engine

http://www.krepower.com/Pontiac%20Street%20Engines.htm

In this time of Covid-19, we have enough worries without tearing apart fellow gearheads. And the same isues exist. Around here the majority of people are wearing masks, some don't. Should sanctions apply to the maskless folks? I think Mother Nature will resolve the issue without eveyone getting all out of joint.

I've been driving old cars since I got my license in 1964 and been "hot-rodding" them since then. Both my cars and me have survived all these years by simply paying attention and being careful on the road and using the track to answer performance questions


(Somehow, can't get rid of the underlines despite playing with the U up by the boldface and italic symbols, oh well)

bammax

Read the article and look at the picture. Then decide if new cars are actually safer or if it's just a marketing scam.

https://www.smithandhasslerblog.com/...n-houston.html

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The insurance premium argument is a slippery slope. The same argument can be made for health insurance premiums; the obesity epidemic in America costs every single one of us more money than if we were a healthier society overall. Should some folks be forced to eat better and exercise more so that we don't all have to pay so much for health insurance? Much disease (and the costs associated with managing such) could be mitigated or avoided altogether with healthier lifestyles. But we are a free country and much of this has to do with personal choice, whether it has a financial effect (via insurance premiums) on others or not.

myk

iTrader: (4)

Calling a car dangerous is like calling a bbq grill or a gun dangerous; they aren't. What's dangerous is the person behind the wheel, the apron or the trigger. Inanimate objects dont kill people, people do...

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

They are most definitely safer now, I'm not sure how old you are but I've been around long enough to remember when cars ran bias ply tires, Drum brakes and no air bags. They didn't handle well and people died in seemingly simple accidents. It used to be common to see circles in the windshield where the driver or passenger or both put their face through it. That and steering wheels folded like a taco and jammed into the front seat.

AwesomeAuto

Damage to the vehicle isn't the same as damage to the passengers.
hey are purposely made to crumble to absorb the impact force to keep it from being transmitted to the passengers.

68Formula

"...male passenger was ejected..." That tells me he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Airbags aren't effective if the occupant isn't wearing the proper restraints.

01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

It's not the sped that kills, its coming to a stop that gets you!

bammax

I love how 3 straight people replied to my post without discussing what I posted. I guess that's what happens when there's evidence that contradicts your preconceived ideas. An 80 mph impact killed 2 people in a new Camaro just like it would have in an old one.

The number of new cars that do horribly in crash testing is far higher than people care to admit. The number of people injured or killed by airbags in minor accidents is astronomical. Just because something is newer doesn't mean it's better. New technology just means you get killed in a different way.

bammax

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/driver-...make-and-model

Change the model year to 2002 and you'll see that the Firebird is a death trap compared to the Camaro, but both are much safer than the 6 cylinder 2 door Blazer.

AwesomeAuto

Because you posted an accident where a guy was killed from not wearing a seat belt and tried to use it as proof that new cars aren't any safer. That's some tin-foil hat type of stuff.

bammax

The female driver was also killed which you're ignoring.

There's also an iihs link.

I can also post the info about Ford trying to game the system on the f150 in 2015 (hint, they didn't add structural bracing because they weren't expecting to get tested). The dummy in the Silverado that year didn't do much better.

Would you like the info on all the circumstances where the airbags are supposed to be disabled because they're more likely to cause injury or death? (Hint, measure every driver that you care about) (Hint, remove steering wheel controls if you have a functional airbag)

Do you want the history on seatbelts and the correct placement of the 3rd point? They were still getting it wrong in the 21st century.

How about the history on where gas tanks are supposed to be placed? You probably didn't know that was even an issue.

Maybe a history lesson on convertibles. (Hint, 1976 Cadillac Eldorado)

Does Takata sound familiar?

How about this quote:
"March 19, 2014 — -- Car manufacturer Toyota has agreed to pay a staggering $1.2 billion to avoid prosecution for covering up severe safety problems with “unintended acceleration,” according to court documents, and continuing to make cars with parts the FBI said Toyota “knew were deadly.”

Maybe you were following this:
"The U.S. government is weighing an expansion of a brake recall that has already affected 271,000 of Ford Motor Company’s F-150 pickups, which are the best-selling vehicles in the nation.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is considering expanding the recall to include vehicles from model years 2015 and 2016 after receiving complaints from drivers who reported experiencing “complete” brake failures, even with pedals floored."

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

Well here's one way to look at it, Unmodified (stock) Cars are not and will not be safe in an 80mph crash no matter when they were built lol. Newer cars are in fact many times safer than old cars at reasonable speeds and 80mph is not a reasonable speed. At 80mph you can have a full cage/The best safety equipment money can buy and hitting a 6" diameter tree can still kill you. That's why you don't see tree's/telephone poles an such on race tracks and that's why it's recomoneded that you race on a race track instead of the street.

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

To even remotely state that new cars are no safer or even less safe than cars from the past is just nonsense. New cars are far from perfect but are designed to absorb impact without transferring it to the occupants, They are designed crush and absorb energy but the faster you are going the less effective it is. Cars manufacturers focus mainly on frontal impacts because that's the type of accident that happens most often, Trying to absorb energy when you only have 6" of crush zone to work with is nearly impossible so side impact safety is limited to door reinforcements and air bags but still safer than old cars that had little to no side impact protection.

bammax

And right on cue comes the rusty x frame video. It's the only thing people can turn to since there's no other supporting evidence. Funny how it takes the worst chassis ever made to get the old car to lose lol. You guys must forget that 3 point belts, power disc brakes and even airbags were either available or standard equipment in the mid 70's.

Watch these videos and read the iihs notes for the common 40 mph offset crash:

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle...ab-pickup/2003

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle...ab-pickup/2015

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle...oor-sedan/2013

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle...ab-pickup/2019

Here's some side impact info to think about:

https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2013/H...y-ratings-side

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle...ab-pickup/2007

Those are just cars and trucks that have been or currently are in my driveway. Note how many times the dummy ends up dead at JUST 38.5 MPH.