kosmo

How come our cars are not rated? Just curious
Heres the link:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx

Is it really a function of testing popular, mass produced cars? tks

chops

I'm curious as well. Very interested to see how a 997 Mk1 Cabriolet would stand up in the event of an accident....and I have no interest to find out personally.

Edgy01

They consider Porsche too small a niche. They don't test them. (They can't AFFORD to buy any to test).

Plenty of 997 Cabriolets have been crashed, and at high speed. Results have been quite incredible, as drivers and passengers have walked away.

There has been some discussion on this (with links to stories) in the past.

chops

Good to hear regarding the Cab crash-worthiness. Will have to dig through the old posts!

wwilliams88

Here's a link to a mechanic that crashed a Boxster on a test drive at an estimated 163 mph. Mechanic walked away and promply hid to try and avoid responsibility.

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs....ID=20101290409

Response of the owner

"He's a good guy," she said. "It was just an unfortunate accident."

I don't believe I would have been as readily forgiving.

Back on topic, I've read several articles where owners walked away from serious accidents. These are tough cars, built to protect the occupants.

stevepow

A friend had a beautiful 993 Blk cab that his son and a couple of other guys took out for joy ride one night - lost the rear end and destroyed the car - they all walked away with minor injuries...and, amazingly, were not shot on sight afterwards.

kosmo

ok its really really hard for me to believe the speed of 163.

cviles

I also remember reading about a couple of kids who crashed dad's through a fence and down into a rock quarry. Car plummeted down some 40 feet or so, both kids in the car walked way unhurt.

These cars are incredibly safe.

And what's hard to believe about 163? If the road doesn't have too many sharp turns or other features to slow the car down, a Boxster will easily do that.

Alan Smithee

Don't believe ANYTHING the IIHS prints. They are owned by the insurance companies, and will print whatever best serves them, period.

docjohnM

I don't necessarily believe what the IIHS prints, but the videos show enough that they are credible. They also can easily afford to buy a porsche and crash it. They have tested quite a few $50K vehicles before, so that is not it. What bugs me most is that porsche could release its own test vids, but chooses not to. I think there is one vid of a boxster on youtube.

rijowysock

ive seen some super high speed crashes and always amazed with lack of injury.. makes me confident in the car..

kosmo

that car in the video doesnt appear have been going at that speed.

Mspeedster

Not saying the car isn't crash worthy, but unfortunately I've read about many fatalities that have occurred in Porsches as well. Too many in fact, relatively speaking.

alexb76

163 MPH! NO WAY... they said it's estimated and they guy said "that's about right"... more like 130-140... damage was not significant.

Edgy01

A couple of years ago we looked at some stills of a destroyed 997 Turbo Cabriolet. It was taken by the owner's son at night, in the rain, in Germany. He was clearly outside his skillset, and managed to completely destroy the car. But the little guy and his passenger walked away!

Another well distributed photo shows a 996 hardtop cabriolet on a stretch of Dutch authobahn. The driver lost control and the car was torn up quite a bit, with the engine and tranny some 50 meters beyond the body shell. The hardtop popped one latch on the upper right but stayed on, and the 4 women in the car walked away.





There was also the sad case of a young girl in Southern California who has taken her father's 996 cabriolet and ran it straight into a concrete building, that, unfortunately, was next to the highway. She had been speeding and did not know the road and didn't know what was ahead. No glancing blow--a direct hit. Car trashed, and the girl destroyed.



And another:



Story: http://www.lugaluda.com/nicole-nikki...sche-accident/


And a fairly recent accident on the autobahn with a Carrera in camouflage losing a test driver: