How safe is the e30 really?

[Eliminator]

The only thing you can get these days is a used crown vic from the auction. The new ones are only sold for government, and fleet purposes.

Not true, you can get them new from the dealer.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/crownvictoria/

[Eliminator]

It's all relative. When I was growing up, our family car had bias ply tires, drum brakes, NO seatbelts (let alone child safety seats), a METAL dashboard with pointy metal knobs, and I don't even think it had safety glass. Pretty typical of most cars up until the mid or late 1960's. Somehow the human race survived. Maybe people were more aware of the consequences and drove more carefully than today.

Side impact protection is a relatively new concept and the federal government didn't adopt any standards for it until the late 1990s (1997? 1998? I forgot). Reinforcing the side of a vehicle in the 1980s was very, very rare and each manufacturer had their own standard (if at all) of what was a safe side impact threshold.

That idea started back in the early 1970's, when door guard beams were mandated. Prior to that, you had a piece of sheetmetal, the window regulator, and a cardboard door panel seperating you from the next car

Likewise, one of my family members who once owned an E46 330i drove it like a madman, even in torrential downpours with visibly flooded sections of the highway. He felt very safe in that car and overtrusted the abilities of ABS, DSC, CBC, and the rest of the electronic gizmos. He could have easily died on many occasions.

That's one of the problems with all of our technology. It makes us feel really safe, and then we drive faster, not realizing potential danger.

The point is a safe car is a safe car. You want a safe car because there's no accounting for all the bad and crazy drivers on the road. You can be minding your own business, two hands on the wheel, and alert and still be blindsided by an idiot running a red light or hit from behind by someone on a cell phone changing a CD. All those driving schools won't do much, but a safe car will.

IT's true. Last summer I was stopped at a red light, and someone not paying attention plowed right into the back of me. I saw him coming but couldn't go anywhere. E30 performed very well, and I had only a minor whiplash injury.

[Jscotty]

It's all relative. Somehow the human race survived. Maybe people were more aware of the consequences and drove more carefully than today.

You hit the nail right on the head- With all of the sharp edges and pointy surfaces and toxic chemicals that I was exposed to when I was young, you would think that its a miracle that I ever survived my childhood.

Some time ago I asked a friend of mine about why is it that kids wear helmets on bicycles and why people wear goggles when caulking the tub and why is it that electronic equipment is inundated with all kinds of warnings and precautions (as if I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to use my TV while in the swimming pool)

He said that because we have become a society that does more stuff in less time we tend to be less careful and less observant of the obvious. As it relates to cars, I tend to agree. Because back in the "old days" when you did repair work on your car, you also took the time to check for loose bolts, worn brakes, etc.. but nowadays we just DRIVE until the warning light tells us that we need fuel or an oil change. And in older cars we could hear almost every rattle and sometimes we could "feel" when there was a problem.

Nowadays we are in such a hurry to get everywhere and cars have become so comfortable that when the brakes get to be metal to metal we will keep driving as if everything is OK. So now I have to have an airbag because some moron might decide that getting to his kid's soccer game is more important than getting a brake job.

[BaltimoreBimmer]

I just want to bump this thread because it was a good read - but.......

I would say this to all those praising the safety of the e30 on today's roads (granted its been ten years since this conversation was occurring)

The one question you should ask yourself is would you trust this car with your child's life?

I wouldn't. But then again I don't even have kids. Still.

Anyone have any recent crashes they'd like to share?

[djjerme]

I would trust it with anybodies life. And as a father, I stand by that.

Having raced these, in both full race car, and nearly stock (except a cage and harness) form, and wrecked them at higher then freeway speeds, I think I can vouch for the E30's safety.

That being said - any car (or motorcycle, or Bicycle) that you don't maintain can become a deathtrap. Not to mention, no car can prevent stupid drivers from doing stupid things. People still manage to off themselves in (insert this year) cars somehow - the only way to eliminate human error/judgement is to eliminate the human.

[Northern]

I wouldn't stick my (theoretical) kid in an e30 for a highway drive, but around the city, sure.

I didn't realize the date on this thread until after I read the OP... either way, that little sheet metal seatbelt bracket is cringeworthy, as well as the reply about only trusting it if it were titanium. lol

[c0rbin9]

The E30 being "safe" is just broscience and anecdotes. It isn't safe compared to a modern car. Same thinking as people who say 60s American cars are safer than modern ones because they are heavier. Just total nonsense.

[djjerme]

It isn't safe compared to a modern car. Same thinking as people who say 60s American cars are safer than modern ones because they are heavier. Just total nonsense.

That wasn't the question though. Of course it would be considered less safer than a new car. That's like saying a 318 is somehow more fuel efficient than a newer 3 series.

Technology should always improve and march on, otherwise you are just going backwards or never learning from previous mistakes.

But the question was is an E30 safe - and comparatively, yes. You are not going to die just from driving it around. It's safer than most cars built prior to it, and even many cars of the same vintage. Maybe even safer than a few models that may have came after it.

But even the Uber-safe cars of today will probably be considered Death Traps in some not to distant future because they didn't encase you in super safe crash foam on impact or rollover and actually *gasp* let the human drive the car manually!!

Now if the question had been is an E30 safer than a new car or most modern cars, I'd say no.

[coldweatherblue]

It's safer than my motorcycle.

[squidrope]

A few years ago 2 guys from Canada died after hitting an ice patch and backing into a stone embankment on I89 after a Bav Auto get together. Very sad that the seats do little to protect your neck/head. I wouldn't drive an e30 at highway speeds unless the seats were updated.

[bobdavisnpf]

My wife and I feel safe in our E30 vert, comparing it to other 80's & 90's cars we've driven. I did replace the driver's seat belt, to ensure it's not gonna fail to ratchet and to refresh the somewhat-worn belt material. And to get where I felt safe in it, I fitted new tires and had a shop rebuild/replace the suspension.

But my daughter won't let me put her 2yo in it. so, not safe enough for that.

[Das Delfin]

djjerme hit it on the head - the human is the deciding factor in whether or not a car is safe. I feel safe in my bmw because I scan the horizon, have a good feel for the roads, am always on the lookout etc. Just some stuff to make sure I'm prepared for what's coming up ahead.

When I'm with a girl I joke about how it doesn't have airbags or rollover protection - so live in the moment! But in reality I'm not worried at all. It's up to you to make sure your car is safe - try to be aware of all the bullshit that can happen on the road. And don't drive too fast for the situation.

[BaltimoreBimmer]

Idk if I agree. You shouldn't say it depends on the driver b/c when you talk about that sort of thing you are supposed to have a baseline. Aka all things equal, which is safer? You can't say one car is better around a track than another just becasue you are a better driver than the guy in the other car. Ya no?

[lukeADE335i]

The E30 being "safe" is just broscience and anecdotes. It isn't safe compared to a modern car. Same thinking as people who say 60s American cars are safer than modern ones because they are heavier. Just total nonsense.

An e30 is way safer than a 60's muscle car though - it was one of the first compact cars to offer crumple zones in the front, and they are pretty tough. Brakes are good for it's size (just look at the 60mph - 0 braking distances, they're not that far behind an e90, no doubt due to light weight).

Sure - they don't have the toughened steel safety cage of a new car now, or a bazillion airbags but they're not exactly "unsafe". I had a big crash in mine in 2014 that wrote off two new cars, but I walked away from it fine and fixed the e30 for around $1500.

I wouldn't want to be T-Boned in the side of one by an F150, but then again most new cars can't really take a big hit to the side like that either.

Biggest thing to point to is this... despite all the added safety tech in new cars, has the road toll actually dropped? It has somewhat, but not by as much as you'd expect given the improvements to cars over the last 30 years. A guy I knew who was an engineer for Jaguar claimed that car design peaked in the late 90's (basically with the e39). Since then all the added complexity in cars has been around emissions and electronics. Passive safety is actually about the same.

Point is - I am a Dad and drive my kids in my e30 all the time. We do use our new Hyundai (with its bazzilion airbags etc>)on long highway trips, but I still wouldn't feel uncomfortable taking the e30 and do regularly drive it on the open road. Mostly it's about cabin noise - the Hyundai is quiet.

[Staszek]

An e30 is way safer than a 60's muscle car though - it was one of the first compact cars to offer crumple zones in the front, and they are pretty tough. Brakes are good for it's size (just look at the 60mph - 0 braking distances, they're not that far behind an e90, no doubt due to light weight).

Sure - they don't have the toughened steel safety cage of a new car now, or a bazillion airbags but they're not exactly "unsafe". I had a big crash in mine in 2014 that wrote off two new cars, but I walked away from it fine and fixed the e30 for around $1500.

I wouldn't want to be T-Boned in the side of one by an F150, but then again most new cars can't really take a big hit to the side like that either.

Biggest thing to point to is this... despite all the added safety tech in new cars, has the road toll actually dropped? It has somewhat, but not by as much as you'd expect given the improvements to cars over the last 30 years. A guy I knew who was an engineer for Jaguar claimed that car design peaked in the late 90's (basically with the e39). Since then all the added complexity in cars has been around emissions and electronics. Passive safety is actually about the same.

Point is - I am a Dad and drive my kids in my e30 all the time. We do use our new Hyundai (with its bazzilion airbags etc>)on long highway trips, but I still wouldn't feel uncomfortable taking the e30 and do regularly drive it on the open road. Mostly it's about cabin noise - the Hyundai is quiet.

I dont think that is entirely true. Cars are way safer now, and the death toll has decreased from 55,000 in the 1970's to around 35000 today. Since the 1990s it dropped almost 10,000. You may not think that seems like a lot, but really you have to consider how many more people are on the road versus 1990. Between 1990 and 2015 there were over 70,000,000 more cars registered in the US. Thats a huge jump and the death toll has dropped.

This obviously is not an E30 but it does show how technology in cars makes a huge difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ptUrQOMPs

Everything i have heard on here is the E30 takes a hit pretty well, but it really didnt perform fantastically in crash test.

I would rather take a hit in my E93 or E38 then the E30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7UihAyjJj4