Screwing around with the PostFX today : (imported from here) (imported from here) (imported from here) (imported from here)
This shows modern car safety vs old style car safety. I went head on with the Sunburst at 100mph in my Crown Vic. It warped the A-Pillar of the Sunburst pretty well but also did a good job deflecting the 4050lbs Vic away from the occupants. The Vic took a good hit to but no occupant area intrusion.
I'd say the sunburst was the safer of the 2. Vic does seem to see crumple zone, but not as much so ultimately the impact would be a lot rougher on the vic occupants. Unless you are potato, crumple zone is a good thing as it slows occupant deceleration much like seatbelts and airbags. The passenger cell should be tough though, maybe the Vic fares a bit better on that front
It's hard to say. The Vic has a massive front end. When you're in the drivers seat there has to be AT LEAST 6.5 feet of hood, dash and engine between you and the bumper. This was a 50mph rear end. The Sunburst pretty much bounced off the back of the Vic.
You're right about this. There's a foot and a half of space just in-between the front bumper and the radiator. So much crumple space in these cars. In a front end crash like this I'd rather be in the vic purely because the sheer size and weight of the car. They soak up front impacts like nothing. But as soon as we start talking about side impacts I'd rather be in anything except a vic. They're awful in that category.
You'd be safer standing on the roof than in a Vic in a side impact. But front, you'd have to really hit the thing to get ANY intrusion into the passenger cell.
The Town Car is substantially heavier than the Crown Victoria. 600lbs Tie-Rod is no longer in existence.
If ever we needed dynamic dirt to start happening, everything's too clean! and frankly the texture looks nice all muddy.