What a 120 mph crash would do to a Ford Focus (and I suppose any production car)

disneyjoe7

The test is pointless IMHO, First the car doesn't go that fast, and second what is the chance of 2 cars doing 120 hitting head on. Now on the other hand they never felt a thing which would be good.

bobman1235

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

The test is pointless IMHO, First the car doesn't go that fast, and second what is the chance of 2 cars doing 120 hitting head on. Now on the other hand they never felt a thing which would be good.

As mentioned above, it's not the same as "two cars going 120 hitting head on." It's not the same as two cars going 60 head-on either, but it's certainly a closer analogue to that.

Regardless, it wasn't really a "test," just a demonstration of "this is what would happen if a car was going this fast and hit a wall."

You could probably get a Focus up pretty close to 120, right? I can't find any official "top speed" numbers for them, but I'm guessing they could hit 110 or so.

disneyjoe7

bobman1235 wrote: »

As mentioned above, it's not the same as "two cars going 120 hitting head on." It's not the same as two cars going 60 head-on either, but it's certainly a closer analogue to that.

Regardless, it wasn't really a "test," just a demonstration of "this is what would happen if a car was going this fast and hit a wall."

You could probably get a Focus up pretty close to 120, right? I can't find any official "top speed" numbers for them, but I'm guessing they could hit 110 or so.

A Ford Focus top speed I say is about 104 mph. The test of 2 cars hitting at 120 mph isn't this one car travelling at 240 mph?

Face

Some of you are looking into this too much.

disneyjoe7

Nerds!

bobman1235

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

A Ford Focus top speed I say is about 104 mph. The test of 2 cars hitting at 120 mph isn't this one car travelling at 240 mph?

Yes, the host misspoke. The car was going 120mph.

exalted512

looks like the regular focus is limited at 108, the SVT is 130:
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4746&highlight=%22top+speed%22
-Cody

Jstas

You, know, if you paid attention in high school physics class you'd know about Newton's 3rd law.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Two cars of similar mass heading in to each other at the same speed will not impart their energy in to the other because they are traveling in opposite directions to each other. Since, like in Newton's 2nd law, force is a vector applied in the same plane and direction as acceleration, those opposite forces are canceling each other out.

If one car's mass was greater than the other then the force is not equal and the greater mass vehicle, carrying more inertia, would impart more destruction on the lower mass vehicle because it's action is greater than the action of the smaller mass vehicle.

Therefore, the reason the Mythbusters experiment showed that two cars hitting each other head on at the same speed is like a single car hitting a wall at that speed is because of Newton's 3rd Law of Motion.

For the experiment from the British ninny to show the amount of destruction in a car hitting a wall at 120 MPH, they would need to have a vehicle of the same mass as that concrete block and it's moorings to be traveling in a opposite direction, at the same velocity of the Focus on the same plane to see the Focus bent in half like that.

Then again, at the same time, none of this brings in to focus anything concerning friction, moments of inertia, centers of gravity or, like what was mentioned, the conservation of energy the occurs when crumple zones are brought in to play.

All that test in that video shows is what happens when one would like to commit suicide by driving a Focus at 120 MPH in to a bridge abutment, squared true with the impact surface so that all deceleration energy is transferred directly to passenger compartment. Any impact even slightly off center can bring the law of conservation of energy in to effect. The wall would essentially stop the car and since it's mass is many times greater than the car, it can enact enough force to accelerate the car in another vector tangential to the impact point.

Otherwise known as bouncing.

Tony M

I don't know who your refering to about paying attention but I learned those laws when I saw the toy that had those 5 steel balls suspended in their cradles and if you pulled two away and let go, two on the opposite side would react and on and on until the motions slowed to a stop. (Mythbusters just did an enlarged model of that toy but it kinda failed.I believe because the overhead structure wasn't completely stationary.) That toy facinated my curioscity. I made straight A's in science and have since then, missed my calling to work on the space shuttles but;
I had jobs for the past 20 years where every day I had physics to contend with and thousands of scenarios where life or serious property damage could occur. The few instances that did occur, I was spared of any damage to anything or any one thank God. Ground giving way, hydraulic hose ruptures, etc..Every day I fought gravity, friction, balance, speed, angles and many others and doing so in poring down rain storms, or ice on the equipment and loads being moved and lifted.
Others in my line of work have not been so lucky or aware of the physics involved with crane truck operations.

Those posts about 400G's and cockroaches not surviving (they are supposed to survive a nuclear blast after all) and the commentator almost hurling over the cars destruction were funny as heck!!

decal

I don't have a dickey ticker but my dickey is tricky.:redface::cheesygrin:

BeefJerky

Nevermind...

shawn474

Maybe I am the eternal skeptic, but there isn't a car on earth that wouldn't be FUBAR'ed after a crash at 120 mph. So I ask, What in the holy blue F%^& was this guy trying to prove?

shawn474

exalted512 wrote: »

You're right. Toyota doesnt make the tires. They might've blown out.
-Cody

:cheesygrin:

bobman1235

shawn474 wrote: »

Maybe I am the eternal skeptic, but there isn't a car on earth that wouldn't be FUBAR'ed after a crash at 120 mph. So I ask, What in the holy blue F%^& was this guy trying to prove?

I'm pretty sure that's exactly what he was trying to show; it had nothing to do with the specific car being shown.

Tbone289

exalted512 wrote: »

looks like the regular focus is limited at 108, the SVT is 130:
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4746&highlight=%22top+speed%22
-Cody

The Focus in the video is a European model, and also appears to have some modifications. Chips to remove the speed limiter are easily obtained. The US models are limited because they are equipped from the factory with "S" speed rated tires.

What difference does it make anyway? The car in the video was accelerated to 120mph.

Joe08867

In any case. Getting in a car crash at 120mph or at 60mph with another car coming at you at 60mph would suck!!!

Heck I hit the end of a guardrail at 50mph and totaled a VW Golf, a vehicle very similar in size to the focus.
The destruction was amazing. But, the doors still opened, the airbags worked, the seat-belts worked and the car didn't crush me.
The accident did crack the engine block in half though.

If I had hit someone head on at 50mph I don't think I would be here typing this.

Tony M

Joe08867 wrote: »

In any case. Getting in a car crash at 120mph or at 60mph with another car coming at you at 60mph would suck!!!

Heck I hit the end of a guardrail at 50mph and totaled a VW Golf, a vehicle very similar in size to the focus.
The destruction was amazing. But, the doors still opened, the airbags worked, the seat-belts worked and the car didn't crush me.
The accident did crack the engine block in half though. If I had hit someone head on at 50mph I don't think I would be here typing this.

You are still lucky to be here if the block was cracked in half. That motor wasn't but a foot away from you right? Damn lucky but a testiment to safety air bags and car design!!

ViperZ

Drenis wrote: »

Video doesn't display for me. Not sure what the issue is...

Anywho, while I'm sure the video is interesting, you should watch the Top Gear episode where they crash a Mercedes Smart car into a cement wall @ 70 MPH... They could even open and close the doors! Safe little roll cage...

I love how people say that the 'smart' car is *safe* because it doesn't get crushed at the impact. There is a good reason why real cars have crumble zones. Put a melon inside that "car" and see what happens to it at the impact. That would happen to the passenger - crazy instantaneous g-forces impact. The passenger would be very nicely and evenly spread on the windshield inside.