Air bags give better results in the NCAP offset head-on crash test. The NCAP test is much better than older crash tests, but it does have its limitations.
In this test, the car is brought up to road speed and then slammed into a massive stationary concrete buffer. If you have this kind of crash, a crash where the only kinetic energy is that which is bound up in your own moving car, the advantages of airbags are therefore pretty clear, and even in a very small lightweight car the airbags will do a good job of protecting you.
In any sort of crash involving you and another moving vehicle, the amount of kinetic energy that the other vehicle brings to the equation is a major factor, and the NCAP test does not account for this at all. All the airbags in a 2011 Daihatsu or Suzuki micro-car will not help much if a 2-tonne Jaguar comes at you, and the 650kg micro-car is completely crushed under the impact of the much heavier object.
Another analogy might be, if you drop a flash little Corelle plate on your kitchen floor, it might well bounce instead of breaking as the advertisements say. But if you put a flash little Corelle plate on the floor, and then drop a big cast-iron wok on top of it, then it won't look so flash.
So yes you should put your faith in air bags. But you should put even more faith in steel, lots of steel.
smac,
Apr 2, 1:15pm
Balls. The lack of understand in physics here makes me wonder why it was posted.
There are plenty of new small cars I'd far rather be in than some large cars. SOME larger vehicles will fare better in a collision with a smaller car, but it's not due to size alone. The smaller car has less inertia, therefore they rebound more in head on crashes. Larger vehicles will continue on track until their total energy has been dissipated by the body concertinaing (if that's a word).
See how the Smart changes direction whereas the big sedan just keeps going.That rebound effect has got to take its toll on the passengers.
elect70,
Apr 2, 1:36pm
Well Opi sawsubaruWRX head on intoBMW 535 all airbags in BMW deployed but both occupants killedmiddle age coupleboth wearing belts , they had only just pulled out of intersection & would' nt have been up to 100K .The boy in the Subaruovertook a truck on blind curveat high speed according to truckie . He was cut out , 1 leg amputatedbut survived . Had bought the car that day
smac,
Apr 2, 1:46pm
Quite keen for a translation of that actually.I don't think it's as clear cut as the muppets commenting on the video think. For starters there is intrusion on to the Merc cabin. The Merc occupants have got from speed to 0 in about a mertre, not good. The others have been flung about, but I suspect were subject to lower deceleration forces.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 1:50pm
No, not on one of those. The little Fiat motors are famous for doing absurdly high milagebefore they require anything other than scheduled maintenance.
If you were buying a CVT one I would be a little more hesitant just because of the massive KM's you are doing.
Of course things will wear out with age like on any car but parts are cheap and realistically based on age/km thats about as good as you are going to get in terms of longevity for your money.
A good tip with Punto's is that the interior will usually be the first part to wear out. So if the seats are not starting to show a lot of wear and trim is not really scuffed and worn then its likely been well looked after and has plenty of milage left in it. Of course do check the past history with regard to maintenance and all the normal things you would do with a car.
Usually if you have problems with a Punto like that at high km its minor and fairly cheap to repair stuff like windscreen wiper linkages needing attention or proximity sensors in the seats needing replacement (or you can just choose to ignore the seatbelt light in the dash).
Now that said, with the particular one in the link you could probably get lower km's and even a year or two newer for that money. Admittedly with whats happened in Japan car prices are getting dearer but I still consider that a $4500 - $5500 car. But if you really want one from a dealer then the pricing is not too bad. Unfortunately your selection in the South is a bit limited as well.
Pity that ones a CVT as if it were manual it would likely suit your use really well.
If you have a weekend free it may be worth considering a cheap flight and driving one back from up north if a good one comes up.
toysky,
Apr 2, 2:07pm
I really like this one, need to covince wife, At todays petrol cost I would save $1800 a year in gas costs opposed to tx3 I just sold365288406
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 2:08pm
Just something else to consider, with your milage every 1 litre per 100km less a vehicle uses is going to save you about $1000 per year. That may make a case for stretching the budget a little for something like a top condition manual Punto. Even if you have to put and extra little bit on your credit card obviously its going to pay itself back at a good rate vs buying a cheaper thirstier car.
Some of the sort of the cars you are looking at are going to easily use a couple of litres more per 100km and being $2000 a year thats a real consideration.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 2:09pm
SNAP! Just posted about economy! LOL
toysky,
Apr 2, 2:14pm
The bottom paragraph confuses lol - u saying the car i posted will recover its cost in a year or 2 thru saving! Gtting the ammo
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 2:15pm
They look awesome in black with alloys, I have had one in exactly that combo and it looked mean! There is a bit of a catch with CVT though, even though its loads more economical than a regular automatic it will use at least half a litre more per 100km than the manual and it will reqiure a CVT Service annually for your milage at a cost of around $400 (thats a very rough figure from memory). Also, even though I rate Fiats CVT as the most long lasting on the market if you were seriously considering keeping it past say 250'000km it may be getting to a point where the transmission needs major work at quite a cost.
However, those costs may not be huge in the scheem of things and its still very cheap motoring overall even if you have to trade up a bit sooner.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 2:20pm
Depending of course upon exactly what you compare it to and whether you buy a manual or CVT Punto. By all means do the math exactly on the alternatives. If you want to be really picky you could take the service costs into account as well. By that I mean $400 worse off for a CVT Fiat on service but one oil change per year better on a manual Fiat vs a manual version of another car that has 10K oil changes.
To a degree you are only going to be so accurate as results will vary slightly with your actual use but the trend should be similar for all.
toysky,
Apr 2, 2:23pm
No cvt the way to go by sound of that , thats good , hey thanks for all your comments
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 2:23pm
Just looks like it needs a bit of detailing around the badges with a toothbrush to me. Mk 1 Punto's (model before we are discussing here) were shocking for bad paint fade and even peeling as they were Fiats first attempt at Galvanising and the long term effects were not known. However the Mk2's paint usually holds up really well and takes some severe abuse to cause any issue.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 2:27pm
No problem, feel free to hit me up for opnions on any you are looking at. I know them pretty well having used them personally and as work cars for my workers.
Incidentally the "Sporting" like you are looking at also comes with a 6 Speed manual as opposed to the 5 Speed manual which may be even better for long open road runs like you are doing.
The other thing I would consider if it was me doing such huge KM's is perhaps installing a bit of dynamat or similar. The Punto has its wheels right at the extremity's of the car which makes it feel bigger than it is and quite stable and relaxed at cruise (and in the bends) but what you will notice between the Punto and say a big soft cruiser like a large Volvo is more road noise. Its comparable to other cars you are looking at but something that could be improved and make for really relaxed cruising.
Just as a little heads up, make sure you get a twin cam 80HP one. Almost all of them are but but because you are looking for a manual one and manuals are generally NZ new I think we did get a few of the lower output ones. The lower output engine is also a 1.2 so check carefully. Likewise I think we got some in NZ with only front airbags whereas most have side air bags as well. Look for the plastic airbag compartments build into the sides of the front seats.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 2:46pm
Incidentally. what economy were you actually getting out of the TX3i!
I am happy to do the math for you if it helps convince the Mrs! If it helps Mrs Jazz loves them.
vtecintegra,
Apr 2, 3:11pm
Yeah ignore the comments (goes for all of Youtube really)
I do think there is more deceleration on the smaller car in this case though as the force is being changed from one direction to the opposite.
toysky,
Apr 2, 3:35pm
Now I think this will do the trick365430579 I was getting 13 ks to liter at 105kph, heres one but to dear mine sold for 2200
lost it its in dunedin a white one
toysky,
Apr 2, 3:41pm
364738979 TX3I 1800 ----------DUNEDIN
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 5:48pm
No unfortunatly thats a MK1, no good at all for safety and no where near the car the MK2 is.
You want to be looking at 2000 and newer models. In a perfect world go 2001 and newer as there were a couple of minor issues that cropped up in the first model year but if you know what to look for then 2000 is fine as well. Given that any faults should have well and truly turned up now.
With regard to fuel economy, believe it or not you are going to be closer to $3000 a year better off than the TX5, Seriously!
(To be precise by the time you add in a few extra km for any km's done at the weekends and one less service per year I would suggest just about bang on $3000, but even if you missed out by a couple of hundred you are still doing stupidly well!)
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 6:17pm
Might be worth checking this one out, they say its a 60HP but its worth checking in case it really is an 80HP twin cam as its registered as an ELX and if it really is then it should be an 80HP twin cam. It does also say 44KW on the registration so one of the details is wrong, but worth finding out which detail it is in my opinion. 363082834
By the way the 60HP is also a great engine but won't step out and pass like the higher output one and will generally carry a lower level of spec so most likely only two airbags. although the 60HP ones are still a 4 Star NCAP car which is none the less respectable.
toysky,
Apr 3, 2:33am
I am told there is a 92 /94 Honda civic , with a 1500 SOHC that gets a great gas milage , what are they called/ is this right!
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 3, 8:32am
Some of then in manual can do pretty much as well as a CVT Punto on the open road but they wont catch a manual one.
BUT, I thought the whole point here was you wanted something safe! Aside from safety they are not much of a car feature wise compared to the Punto either.
The later well equipped ones were lovely cars though and they did get safety sorted out, but you are paying a lot more to get into one of those and still won't catch the Punto for economy.
phillip.weston,
Apr 3, 9:12am
Hondas generally are very economical, especially for how much power their motors put out in a reliable fashion also. The '93 Domani I have at the moment is a 1.6 SOHC VTEC and is averaging around 7-8L/100km with mostly around town driving.
toysky,
Apr 3, 9:25am
volvono pics no info365868586
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