burlapp car

Unfair fight

By  •  Published:  •  Last updated:


Just like in real life…

This was done at about 40mph.
The new Fiat 500 is crushed by the big and heavy Audi Q7.

Sad to see.

Conversation 15 comments

  1. There are a bunch of people standing close by watching the test. Aren’t they just a little too close? They could get an eye poked out by a piece of flying Fiat/Audi!

  3. The front end of the little Fiat is totally destroyed, the head of the “driver” sure gets bounced around a bit, while there’s some dashboard intrusion and deformation of the passenger cabin. However, considering the vast difference in size and mass between the two vehicles involved (the Q7 weighs 2.3 tonnes to the 500’s 900kg), the 500’s crash performance was definitely more than adequate.

    Audi should perhaps pay more attention to the deformable crash structures in the Q7’s nose.

  4. the fiat driver would have died in that crash… just look at how the head touches the lower a pillar! it slides of the airbag! the co-driver dummy was ok, since the intrusion of the audi wasn’t as bad…

  5. and i agree on the bystanders… they should be behind a protective glass or at least wear eye protection… they’re just standing there… shame on you ADAC!

  7. Actually, doesn’t look that bad from the “inside-the-Fiat” view. Maybe from the outside the crash looks worse, since the Audi’s hood seems to swallow the smaller car.

  9. “Actually, doesn’t look that bad from the “inside-the-Fiat” view. Maybe from the outside the crash looks worse, since the Audi’s hood seems to swallow the smaller car.”

    your kidding? right?

    the airbag is failing this test. letting the driver slip over to the left and in the process hitting the a pillar with its head! this means that the driver would have sustained life threatening injuries, DEATH, spelled out!

    the co-driver would have done ok with his upper body, but it remains to be seen what the actual g forces where, i think above 50g the brain will not make it!!!!

    the fiat 500 safety cage failed miseable, letting the audi intrude where the feet of the driver are.. to the very least both lower leg are history and the head is cracked open for the driver!!!

    there’s many small cars that would have made it in this test. the safety crumble zone is the most important part protecting the front passengers… the smart for example was crashed against an s-class years back and made it with an intact body structure… it was spinning like once or twice, absorbing the direct impact force with that spinning motion…

  10. 40mph who drives that slow? the laws of physics just don’t change with the whims of opec and the wildlife foundation

  11. Small cars are obviously more suited for around town.
    The audi has the advantage of being at least twice the size.
    What did they expect? That the fiat was just going to bounce off.
    You cannot argue with the laws of physics.

  12. I liked my relatively small ’91 Mazda Protege but replaced it with an ’04 Honda Accord with side curtain airbags, etc.

    Didn’t want a car as large as the Accord, but with SUVs, trucks, and vans dominating the roads, I felt like a defenseless target in the compact Mazda.

    Until high gas prices result in a population of smaller vehicles, I’ll stay away from the tiny cars even though the newest small cars are much safer than small cars were only a few years ago.

    Considering the weight disparity, the Fiat appeared to hold up surprisingly well (unless there was a funeral for the dummy after the test).

  15. Here’s the related (German) article:Basically they are saying that the 500 is one of the safest cars in its class, yet it’s not safe against a Q7 with twice the weight.They are not talking about everyone killed although they say the risk exists for the 500 in the front and especially children in the back will have severe injuries.They also criticize the Audi Q7 for not absorbing enough energy in such crashes (to reduce the damage to the 500). Also the Q7 would benefit as well from improving this when crashing against a vehicle with a more comparable weight.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *