German Car Forum

Russian driver actually escaped unharmed.

That is pretty damn freaky. I'm glad the dude survived.

Awesome - One one hand the guy was unharmed. On the other hand the car split into two. According to internet logic this demonstrates that Audis are overachieving lifesavers and rolling deathtraps simultaneously.

It's two awesome, yet conflicting, testimonials in one!

Guys do you remember the thread about torisional rigidity ? I think this proves my point somehow. I don't know if Audi is aware of this or not, but I think over using aluminium in the chasis structure will lead to situations like this. There was a lady here in UAE with a D3 A8 that got the same situation, she walked away unharmed but the car was cut into 3 pieces. Problem is that in both cases (the one in this thread and the lady) no one was sitting at the back, otherwise the situation would be more fatal. Btw the lady sued the company as i remember.

I dunno about that because I've seen all types of cars break in half after hitting a tree. A tree is one of the worst things you can hit, they're usually very large and they're always unyielding.

M

Yes Merc1 you are right for sure, any car hits a tree would be broken in half but there are many accidents at lower speeds where the car just "hugs" the tree (being a steele car) while Aluminium Audis tend to break easier. I dunno I might be mistaken but its just a theory in my head.

Perfectly reasonable theory. Mercedes and Volvo for the most part BMW have all stayed away from all-aluminum made cars for a reason. Whether it be cost or safety, we'll likely never know. I seem to remember reading something from Mercedes about this as to why they haven't done an all aluminum car. Though BMW and Mercedes have used it in bits and pieces of their cars. If I'm not mistaken the entire front half of the 5-Series is aluminum.

M

Regardless of the results of a few accidents, Audi leads them all in safety! You can trust the people who determine which is the safest brand aren't going by assumptions or theory!

According to who? as far as history of saftey goes MB pioneered most if not all of the saftey systems installed on cars!

As for the accident...so much for Audi's space frame!

It looks like there was no airbag activated...

I dunno if there is any NCAP torisional rigidity kind of testing but I believe that would show Audi's weaknesses.

One question: Does anyone know at what speed did the accident happen?

If this happend with 50km/h then it is a problem, but if it happend with 250km/h then it is pretty much possible!

That's a previous generation A8. I would like to see what a 10 year old S class or 7 series could do in an accident like this.
Probably nothing better.

Aluminium is much stronger than steel. No wonder Lamborghini , Ferrari and many other top car makers are using it for their sportscars.

D3 A8 was the most rigid car in it's class when presented a few years ago ,leaving 7 series and S class far behind. I don't know if the new S class have managed to match it though.

Yannis: its not the A8s rigidity we are questioning, its the material which's Aluminium, I've made my point clear in the rigidity thread before. I tend to believe that Aluminium is much more rigid than steele BUT it breaks after reaching its limits! while steele simply bends, got my point ? Then again, the rigidiest car posted in that thread was RR & Bentely which are purely steele with few recent models using Aluminium for door panels, hood and bootlid to save some weight.

You're both wrong! Buick and Mercury lead the pack when it comes to saving lives and making the impossible possible!

Wrong?

Audi Ranks High in IIHS Safety Study.

Are you sure?

RR Phantom has an aluminium body if i remember correctly.

Yannis yes I mentioned in my post but not entirely like the Audi A8. They use it in the body panels not the chasis as far as I know.

Trees kill.

I was just waiting for you to say something like this Yannis. Once again no one can dare question Audi.

A 10 year S-Class would have been the W140 model, a tank on wheels if there ever was one. Who knows what it would have done, but I'd bet on that particular S before I would an Audi.

BMW, well they still haven't fully maxed out on safety yet, so the previous 7 I wouldn't bet on against the Audi.

M

The RS6 that crashed tore in two aswell and the driver escaped without a scratch, but in each case there seems to be a tree involved! Usually a high speed impact with a tree means automatic death.

Poverty: yes you are right dear. tree + high speed =

Yes, the material did have much to do with the results;
the coefficient of elasticity of Aluminum is much smaller than that of Steel
( I had to look it up but I remember being a 3 to 1 ratio , please see below link to hyperphysics)


What this means is that the steel can absorb more of the energy from the crash by deforming
rather than cutting ( you know, that elastic vs inelastic collision thing and deformation of structural molecular lattices)

On the other hand, it was high speed against a tree; large healthy trees tend to act as extremely rigid objects.. definitely NOT good for cars!
Just check out the modulus for wood!


I am glad the person driving survived!

Ok, now back to being blonde..

Now yannis will go mad and accuse us being stupid ok everyone would assume that Audi for sure have thought of this, but why they still insist on using Aluminium ?