Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Hooligan
If you remembger the Chevy Corvairs and Ralph Nader vs. the Corvair gas tank. I guess the Ford Pinto's had the same problem when rear-ended. Gas tanks were redesigned a short time after.
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Naders big gripe against the Corvair was the rear engine combined with swing-arm independent rear suspension could cause a transition to oversteer that was different from tradition American Understeer.
Also: GM won
ALL of the Corvair lawsuits. But by then, the damage was done, and the economical, great handling "poor man's porsche" was doomed by Nader's Big Lie.
The Pinto Gas tanks: Mounted too far back, too easy to rupture in an accident.
Rupture, Fuel Spill, and Crashing Cars Not Done Moving= Sparks.
This caused gasoline fires, (not Big Hollywood Movie Explosions), often with tragic results.
I still thing automakers should be required to use racing-style 'fuel cells' (the kind with self-sealing connections and internal bladders, not the kind that makes electric for H2 and O2).