Archive for December 2002

Crash Testing: MINI Cooper vs Ford F150

Sections: Auto Safety Dec 16th, 2002 350 Comments

Wow. Both of these vehicles hit the exact same off-set barrier at 40mph. Now keep in mind that this is not a test of how the two cars would fare in a head-on collision with each-other. This is simply how the cars did versus an off-set crash test. In fact all you have to do is look at the dummy’s legs and you can get an idea of what would happen if you hit a wall in either car. The MINI had almost no intrusion which “indicates that the driver’s survival space was maintained very well” - the F150 on the other hand had “Major collapse of the occupant compartment that left little survival space for the driver.”

I’m interested in how a company could create a modern vehicle that could perform so badly on this test. Furthermore Ford had lots of space to work with to make this a safe vehicle. For BMW/MINI to do the job in 1/4 the space is what engineering is all about.

Keep in mind also this is the best selling vehicle in the US. One would think that Ford, knowing this, would have put more effort into the engineering of this truck. It gets worse; this platform is also the basis of both the Ford Expedition and to some extent the Ford Excursion. Both are marketed to be tough, safe, go anywhere SUVs and are sold as family transportation.

Why haven’t we seen Dateline covering this. Why are they more interested in 5mph bumper tests - shouldn’t this be front page news somewhere? There are millions F150s out there.

You can see the full crash results of the MINI Cooper
here and the Ford F150 here .

Update: For those that continue to have trouble comprehending the inherent danger of vehicles like the F150 here’s a fascinating article in the New Yorker with some interesting information.

The statistics were compiled by Tom Wenzel, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in California, and Marc Ross, a physicist at the University of Michigan. The information comes form a recent article in teh New Yorker:

“The numbers are expressed in fatalities per million cars, both for drivers of particular models and for the drivers of the cars they hit.”

Make/Model	Type	Driver Deaths	Other Deaths	Total
Toyota Avalon	large	40	20	60
Chrysler Town & Country	minivan	31	36	67
Toyota Camry	mid-size	41	29	70
Volkswagen Jetta	subcompact	47	23	70
Ford Windstar	minivan	37	35	72
Nissan Maxima	mid-size	53	26	79
Honda Accord	mid-size	54	27	82
Chevrolet Venture	minivan	51	34	85
Buick Century	mid-size	70	23	93
Subaru Legacy/Outback	compact	74	24	98
Mazda 626	compact	70	29	99
Chevrolet Malibu	mid-size	71	34	105
Chevrolet Suburban	S.U.V.	46	59	105
Jeep Grand Cherokee	S.U.V.	61	44	106
Honda Civic	subcompact	84	25	109
Toyota Corolla	subcompact	81	29	110
Ford Expedition	S.U.V.	55	57	112
GMC Jimmy	S.U.V.	76	39	114
Ford Taurus	mid-size	78	39	117
Nissan Altima	compact	72	49	121
Mercury Marquis	large	80	43	123
Nissan Sentra	subcompact	95	34	129
Toyota 4Runner	S.U.V.	94	43	137
Chevrolet Tahoe	S.U.V.	68	74	141
Dodge Stratus	mid-size	103	40	143
Lincoln Town Car	large	100	47	147
Ford Explorer	S.U.V.	88	60	148
Pontiac Grand Am	compact	118	39	157
Toyota Tacoma	pickup	111	59	171
Chevrolet Cavalier	subcompact	146	41	186
Dodge Neon	subcompact	161	39	199
Pontiac Sunfire	subcompact	158	44	202
Ford F-Series	pickup	110	128	238

“Are the best performers the biggest and heaviest vehicles on the road? Not at all. Among the safest cars are the midsize imports, like the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Or consider the extraordinary performance of some subcompacts, like the Volkswagen Jetta. Drivers of the tiny Jetta die at a rate of just forty-seven per million, which is in the same range as drivers of the five-thousand-pound Chevrolet Suburban and almost half that of popular S.U.V. models like the Ford Explorer or the GMC Jimmy. In a head-on crash, an Explorer or a Suburban would crush a Jetta or a Camry. But, clearly, the drivers of Camrys and Jettas are finding a way to avoid head-on crashes with Explorers and Suburbans. The benefits of being nimble–of being in an automobile that’s capable of staying out of trouble–are in many cases greater than the benefits of being big.”

You can read the entire article here: Big and Bad

Update 2: Ford has redesigned the F150 for 2004 with an notable advances with regards to safety. In fact the IIHS had named the new F150 a “Best Pick” in the large truck category. Now granted this doesn’t change the fact that Ford designed and released the previous generation of F150s knowing there were safety concerns. Further it doesn’t change any of the statistics showing larger vehicles cause more havoc on the roads. But it does show that Ford clearly understood the issues with the previous generation and worked hard to alleviate them.

CDNOW is dead, long live CDNOW

Sections: Uncategorized Dec 5th, 2002 1 Comment

Aparently the pressure of business costs, dwindling market share, and writing all those sub-par reviews have finally caught up with CDNOW.

Amazon.com has signed with Bertelsmann to take over operations for CDNow.com, effectively making what was, until yesterday, the Internet’s most popular music store, little more than a link to Amazon.com in appearance. CDNow will retain its logo, but Amazon will now be responsible for the company’s inventory, customer service division, and website operation. Yes, we’re afraid this means that all of CDNow’s sound samples are now up in smoke, which means users will be forced to either cope with Amazon’s shoddy RealAudio productions or just resort to the seedy practice of filesharing. If nothing else, you’ve gotta give those Bertelsmann suits sharp business sense.(pitchforkmedia.com)

When I first heard of CDNOW’s immenent demise in the summer of 2000 I thought “what would I possibly do for my music”. Since then my life has become so Amazon reliant that I’m left wondering why they didn’t do this sooner.

There are some things that CDNOW offered that noone else did on such a grand scale. Decent music clips, actual music news, and a selection that was generally as good as it gets. But in the long run most of the music buying public just wants cheaps cds and when it comes down to it they only want to keep one bookmark - aparently that wasn’t for CDNOW.

The head of marketing at a international web consultant once told me that the worst mistake CDNOW ever made was it’s name. It could really never go beyond CDs. That meant they could never have the buying power of Amazon and thus were destine to lose the inevitable ecommerce shake-out.