jcorenman

Wow!! I didn't know that, thanks for sharing!

pcar928fan

That Euro '78 was probably NOT doing 140, unless it had been highly modified or he was actually at (or slightly above) the red line in top gear. Still a HORRENDOUS crash that again demonstrates why racing on the street is a VERY BAD IDEA! Take it to the track boys!

I had read Willhoit's story before... amazing! That would be enough for me to have a long term love affair with a car too! These cars were really overbuilt and over engineered by comparison to US and Pac Rim cars!

morganabowen

You want to know how safe is a 928 in a crash Just ask Wilhoit, his wife is alive today because they were in a 928 when they crashed head on with a drunk driver. It is an amazing story

James Bailey

I was thinking about this a bit more and they do not do all that well when hit in the side. The rocker door sill tends to bend in hitting the seat. Rumor was the 928 did not meet the 1996 side impact standards and was one reason the car was dropped from production.....just do not recall where I saw that And yes I have seen many wrecked 928s ....too many.

pcar928fan

Jim,

You are probably right. I just don't see many pics of 928's hit from the side. Seems like most of them are front or rear impacts...

Bill 86.5 928s

Here is my personal example from my incident July 4th 2004
My car and his car. We suffered from seat belt injuries only. The 928 was still running in fact we shut it down and when it was time to get it on the flat bed we started it and drove it on. To this day I swear that the design of the 928 saved us from serious injury.

Shark Attack

IIRC, the euro cars do not have all the side impact stuff the US spec cars do.

Hilton

Both my non-US cars have them as standard. I think they may have been optional on very early RoW cars.

edit: A quick check - they became standard for RoW cars from MY83. So non-US cars made before Sept. '82 may not have them, depending on which country they were sold into (Australian cars always had them - was a legal requirement here. Australia also required 3-point belts in the rear before any other country.. so in early PET you'll see the rear belts with "AUS" in the options column).

Stylemobile

Not hit on the sides because of their superior cornering abilities and only damaged front and rear from the excellent acceleration and braking characteristics.

Nicole

I'm terribly sorry for Michael's wife! I hope she found ways to cope with what happened to her that night.

surfridermason

I've had some serious front end wrecks in here, and the firewall is rock solid...

Jadz928

My '84 ROW does not have side impact bars in the door. Where did you find it became standard in '83?

mark kibort

thanks to the holbert car, I only suffered a broken rib and wallet.

tv

Please Look here - https://rennlist.com/forums/3902256-post27.html

I mentioned this the other day in another thred after mentioning it in a round about way in the new Boston area 84 euro thread.


I was searching a few years back for this info and 928 stuff in general at the PORSCHE corporate website. I found a page in their historical section devoted to safety innovations. They clearly stated on this page that as of

MY 1985 SIDE IMPACT BEAMS IN DOORS WERE INSTALLED IN ALL 928'S

That is what I read with my own eyes at the Porsche AG corporate website. It was quite clear and I posted a link to it in 2007 here - https://rennlist.com/forums/3902256-post27.html

I hope that helps everyone. I am sure I saved it back then. Corporate website layouts change all the time.

James Bailey

Yes those door bars were able to add some needed side protection but the point is even WITH those the rocker assembly is not all that strong and it was said the car would not have passed the increased standards.