Safety of a FD3S in the event of a crash?
 

I'm a bit paranoid these days since my aunt and uncle got hit in the back of their Lexus RX (drunk driver).

Did a search under the forum search under "crash" and "safe" but couldn't find anything relevant.

Tin Cans:
1) I own a AE86 and it's a tin can in the event of a crash. Long story short, I trust myself driving but there are instances where a random driver because of texting/phone/distraction may hit you.

2) E30 M3, tin can as well. On TOP GEAR, they dropped a 3 series on the roof and it crushed the entire roof. Shocking but believable since safety standards back then compared to today is incomparable.


(2:30min mark where they drop the e30)

So ultimately, I wanted to know how safe the RX7? I'm pretty certain it's more safe than a e30, ae86 but how does it really hold up?

Not very...

Not really sure what you are looking for here. The FD is a 2800lb car made in the early 90's.

Just driving an FD isn't safe, most people you would not want to get hit by won't even see you in their mirrors lol

if you look hard enough you will find something unsafe about every car. well except my old F250, it would take out a brick wall without much fuss.

i suggest not driving.

Every time I drive my FD, I get into a near-miss situation because somebody doesn't see me. It may be time to move from the RB duals to a 4" straight pipe...

I got rearend by a Chrysler 300 doing 40mph about a month ago. Was in driving a friends Civic, was talkn to her, I didn't see lights nothing, just WAM!! Old lady 75 didn't even hit brakes. So glad I wasn't in my Mazda. Totalled the car...

You never know... Some times you can't get away from stupid.

I'm not afraid to use the horn to let people know I'm there.

Because we have such amazing horns LOL

thewird

roll cage her up

Roll cage in a daily is very unsafe. There's a big possibility of hitting it with your head. It's like taking a hammer to a watermelon.

Bolt on some RX-8 horns.

They're fantastic.

Well it depends on the type of cage. Maybe for a daily a roll bar will be much more ideal. I do know race cages are designed for drivers with helmets.

On the other hand, there have been a lot of threads over the years about FDs that have been in pretty serious accidents and gave their lives for their drivers, it is a pretty stout little car all in all.

i have seen a few high speed crashes with the fds and it is safer than most people think. Just because its surrounded by not very solid fenders and doors people think they are unsafe. I am not saying its bulletproof of course:)

Rolled my JDM R2 three times, hitting a tree & a telegraph pole...I climbed out un-harmed (slightly stiff neck, that was it). I'd say they're pretty safe compared to most cars on the road over here. The roof is quite strong being a monocoque. Obviously the average car in the US is about 1.5x the weight of a car over here, though..

Many people seem to think that because the fd is light and dents easily, that it must be unsafe in a crash. Automobile safety has everything to do with how efficiently a car absorbs and dispersers energy. Key word here is arbsorbs, meaning the car will be totalled but most of the energy was kept away from the human body.

Now apply that idea to getting side swiped while driving a 'tank of a car' that is so tough that it can go through walls. Sure the car survived but it hardly absorbed any energy and therefore the occupants really took the hit.

So forget the condition of the cars after any crash, as the true test is how hurt are the occupants.

being that it is a light chassis car doesn't mean it is unsafe either. the frame rails are thick and will take the brunt of the damage before the cabin starts to crumple under stress.

the only thing you do not want to happen in an FD is getting T boned, the frame will not help you there.

This is impressive though.

Also, Tish explains the trillion safety cells.

I agree that the FD is a pretty solid car. I lost control of my FD, hit a curb, flew ~10ft in the air, slightly collided into a telephone pole then slided into a fence. My car was bashed up but I got out without any injuries.

I bought a Stebel air horn aka Ferrari horn, have not installed it yet but thinking about it or the other option is to get a 2nd hand Mercedes horn or something like that. The tones would probably not suit the RX7 but no shame in trying to avoid getting run over ;)

We bought an Aussie spec 95 Touring in Vintage red from the auctions here, that had previously been for sale at a car sales yard. We knew the car, having sold it about 2 years prior, needing engine work.

The car yard salesman, trying to impress the prospective buyer, took him for a spirited ride in the wet, around Sydney. Salesman ran out of talent at around 120kmh, slid and went off a verge, the FD flipped end over end, then rolled side-over-side before resting on its roof. Both people survived with minor injuries. We got the car back at auction, and every panel on it was just bashed inwards, and the red engine bay strut brace bar was bent upwards and had popped the hood up with it, because the front fenders/struts had caved inwards til they met the engine.

However, looking inside it, the interior was okay, if a bit out of square.
Engine was useable, and the wiring and interior. Had to cut the car into quarters basically, to get the engine and trans free of the body. After seeing that, and cutting it up and finding double thickness panels and supports everywhere inside the B pillars, it really impressed me. They are a strong little unibody.

We also raced an RX8 with a full cage, in the last Targa Tasmania (April 2012 gone by) tarmac rally. Driver lost it in a bend, brakes failed. He tried to scrub off speed by running along a retaining wall through the bend, but still ploughed at high speed into the bushes, hit multiple trees, spun around, but did not flip. Only thing that saved him was the side impact bars of the cage, and having a race seat with side head supports and a helmet. RX8 was totalled, and he went to hospital with recoverable neck injuries and broken nose/2 black eyes from where the navigator's arm flew up and punched him in the face during impact. Car had to be recovered with a crane. As good as the RX8 is, I would actually prefer to take my chances in an FD, having seen both wrecked.

The FD is pretty safe in crashes. That said it doesn't have side airbags and does not meet modern safety standards.

I bought a new door from Mazda last yr, the new door had an additional door beam.

wow, you painted a really detailed picture of the FD and Rx8. i would've thought the rx8 would've been the pick though because of all the advancements in safety..

I saw FD up close that had been rolled at 100mph+ on a freeway (guy was drunk and showing off for a chick), it looked ugly but both driver and passanger walked away. Well got walked into a police car..