Volvo 940 safety?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Paddler Ed

It was only the first one to get a 5* rating because they introduced the 5th Star after they tested the original S80...

Renault built their cars specificaly to pass NCAP tests hence the good marks .
Volvos evolved and didnt bother too much with NCAP they just carried on their way , remember the americans based their strict safety laws on the 240 .
It is ironic now that the new V40 had the highest score ever recorded in any NCAP test and now carries NCAP stickers on showroom cars ! So i guess volvo may as well take advantage of that publicity .

[Paddler Ed]

Originally Posted by Clan

Renault built their cars specificaly to pass NCAP tests hence the good marks .
Volvos evolved and didnt bother too much with NCAP they just carried on their way , remember the americans based their strict safety laws on the 240 .
It is ironic now that the new V40 had the highest score ever recorded in any NCAP test and now carries NCAP stickers on showroom cars ! So i guess volvo may as well take advantage of that publicity .

And don't forget the Safety Beyond Stars stickers that were in the back window's for a while.

[gpl1968]

It could also be argued that the 945 has much better all-round visibility than many modern cars (that have much wider window pillars), which makes it easier to avoid crashes rather than worrying about surviving them.

[TonyS9]

I think any critisim of the 940 on safety is grossly unfair. Volvo practically invented vehicle safety. It is because of Volvo that modern cars are so good.

The 940 was engineered with the best technology and information available at the time, nowadays with computer modeling and maximum human body stress limits we can now engineer the limits much more closely. So yes the volvo will come off worse against a modern car if the speed is high enough, but there is only a very small window of betterness, IMO, 10mph for example. The 940 has fairly soft crumple zones so the momentum it can absorb is lower, but you will have less injuries in those crashes than in a modern car.

Modern Renaults are notoriously unreliable, and very costly to repair. My sister who got rid of her 2x940s to get a 7 seat renault, but went back to the 940 after the very young renualt became uneconomical to repair (clutch, electric handbrake and dash board), it was cheaper to buy a 940.
A GF also got a 2003 Megane saloon, with 2 months it had a broken spring, leaking steering rack, leaky steering pump and a split CV boot.

[John Davis 200]

There's active safety (the car helps you avoid accidents) and passive safety (airbags and such), Most modern cars achieve strong structures through massive pillars, then disguise them to an outside observer by glueing glass onto registers on the pillars that overlap by up to 3 inches. Inside you peer out through tiny portholes! The 7/900 has you sitting high, looking out easily all around you, seeing trouble before it starts and avoiding it. It also handles superbly 'in extremis' - I know! Never had a crash in my any of my 144, 245, or 760s, in hundreds of thousands of miles.

Astra? Good to crash in!

[TheJoyOfSix]

And don't forget that to get a high NCAP rating the car has to be kind to Pedestrians which is why the 940 fares so badly. Strong bumpers that break legs, stiff strut tops that fracture skulls, exposed wiper spindles that do likewise etc etc. the 940 was designed to fare well in a collison between it and another vehicle or an Elk - protecting idiot people who walk out in front of 1.4 tonnes cars was not a priority!

[cumbrianmale]

Here are some photos from when I was hit by a Seat Ibiza, I drove home the Ibiza was swept up and dragged onto a recovery truck.






Enough said.

[rippedoffagain]

I once had a neighbour that we all called Mrs Bump (nobody knew her real name because she kept herself to herself, when she wasn't bumping her car that is).

She had a Seat Ibiza. One time I was just sat in my living room when I heard an almighty bang. I knew it could only have been a car crash so I ran out to see if anyone needed help, expecting to find hurt people. This time Mrs Bump had managed to driving straight into a parked car. The parked car (can't remember what it was) was finished. To badly bent to fix. Mrs Bump's Ibiza suffered minor damage but was otherwise ok and was fixed a week later ready for the next bump.

So given that her Ibiza stood up to a full on whack, meaning it must be quite a strong car,to see those pics and read of the Ibiza being left in bits, that just reassures me more because it must have been quite a knock to wipe out the Ibiza.

[TurnipSpeed]

I never bought a Volvo because it was safe, only it was cheap and incredibly well- made!
Now I am on my fifth and wouldn't have anything else.
Volvos used to be bought(in popular myth!) for the safety aspect by people who often had no real interest in driving, and were the butt of many jokes.
Old Volvos are now bought by enthusiasts who enjoy their many other plus points.
If you hit something solid fast enough no NCAP stars are going to save you!
Does the modern car make us safer, or do we become complacent?
As always there are a lot of bad drivers out there .
Sad that people will pay silly money(£15000 for a small family hatchback?) and perceive that they are getting peace of mind for their money(economy , safety, reliability).
Paul.

[peter burton]

I purchased my first volvo 760gle after seeing a shunt on the hanger lane gyratory.Volvo man laughed at him being rear ended and pushed into car in front and still drove away.Sierra and montego carried off on wagons obliterated they literally flew apart in front of me.I imagine they were designed to crumple fall apart as they did.My mate used to have a mobile car crusher which he told me would only do half a volvo or old mercedees at a time.Full head on still pretty good cars I do not feel less safe than when in my v70 in my 940.I cannot afford a new car anyway and hope to do 200000 miles and twenty years on 940.Mind you MOT got tougher now mine up in two months.