FridgeFreezer Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 15 hours ago, deep said: I doubt that overhang would be legal here. I think I've seen that those school buses are specially designed so that when some idiot ploughs in the back of them, they go under the back & the kids are safe. No idea if that's why it's so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 10 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: I think I've seen that those school buses are specially designed so that when some idiot ploughs in the back of them, they go under the back & the kids are safe. No idea if that's why it's so long. The length is also likely to just be a product of the environment they’re built for. Wheelbase is probably something vaguely ‘stock’ and they just add the length to get the seating capacity. They’ve got the room to mostly not care about the rear swing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 I'll just leave this here... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Who needs to open the bonnet anyway? 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 What are the tubes stuck up on the rear quarters for, other than to fill with water. No wait I've got it, it's so you can push it..... To be fair it's does look quite funky but it's not really practical. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 55 minutes ago, Snagger said: Who needs to open the bonnet anyway? 😆 To be fair the engines are in the back of these aren't they? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 3 hours ago, miketomcat said: To be fair it's does look quite funky but it's not really practical. I reckon it's no less stupid than half of the "ULTIMATE OVERLANDER" builds you see spaffed across the internet, and a hell of a lot cheaper! Probably go just as far as they ever do, too 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 9 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: I reckon it's no less stupid than half of the "ULTIMATE OVERLANDER" builds you see spaffed across the internet, and a hell of a lot cheaper! Probably go just as far as they ever do, too I quite agree, I spent many years with my girlfriend at the time camping in a mini Marcos/jem. I reckon the smart has more room . Mike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 That is a nice build! Not rational, but certainly fun and could even have its use. I don't think he needed to bother with the cage. I recall the Smart has an incredible stiff inner frame, necessary to pass crash tests. Didn't the doors still open after a frontal impact at 50mph or something? So just mount the tent to the standard roof frame, saves weight and height. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 1 minute ago, Escape said: That is a nice build! Not rational, but certainly fun and could even have its use. I don't think he needed to bother with the cage. I recall the Smart has an incredible stiff inner frame, necessary to pass crash tests. Didn't the doors still open after a frontal impact at 50mph or something? So just mount the tent to the standard roof frame, saves weight and height. I remember 5th gear doing a crash test with one.... and it survived whole but I think the consensus was that the car would outlive the occupants in a big enough impact. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 32 minutes ago, landroversforever said: I remember 5th gear doing a crash test with one.... and it survived whole but I think the consensus was that the car would outlive the occupants in a big enough impact. Yeah that was because 5th gear being the idiots they are crashed it really fast head-on into a solid concrete barrier so they could get spectacular footage, resulting in a deceleration that would almost automatically be deadly to any human in quite a lot of cars. A bit like when the wrecked a couple of early classic Range Rovers to prove that you can roll one over if you try hard enough, under the pretence of some sort of vague consumer safety message about SUV's 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Yep..... and tested driving with centre diff locked on wet tarmac saying how tricky it could make things..... Well, duh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sparkes Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Similar mindset when it came to testing the roll stability of Reliant three wheelers, or standard caravans, 'lets destroy it'! What's the correct word - childish, juvenile, immature? They proved without a doubt that there is always a dark side to anything of quality, it's just that most people apply a filter on their public behaviour. Regards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 33 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said: A bit like when the wrecked a couple of early classic Range Rovers to prove that you can roll one over if you try hard enough, under the pretence of some sort of vague consumer safety message about SUV's Wasn't that the 'Elk' test? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Yup, or Moose test, the Merc A class was one of the first to catastrophically fail it. Double cab pick ups really don't like it nowadays either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 1 hour ago, L19MUD said: Wasn't that the 'Elk' test? I think it was an over-dramatisation of the Elk test, rendering it pretty much the "let's roll a car for TV" test, like most of their other dumb "tests". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Fifth Gear was a disgracefully dishonest programme presented almost exclusively by unwatchable bores. Vicky came over better than the others - at least she seemed to have a pulse. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 1 minute ago, Snagger said: Fifth Gear was a disgracefully dishonest programme presented almost exclusively by unwatchable bores. Vicky came over better than the others - at least she seemed to have a pulse. I'd say it was still more of an automotive show than what Top Gear had become by that time (as amusing as their format can be). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 7 hours ago, Bowie69 said: Yup, or Moose test, the Merc A class was one of the first to catastrophically fail it. Double cab pick ups really don't like it nowadays either. Twenty or so years ago, I did an advanced driver training course as a work requirement. My work car at the time was a (dreadful) Toyota 4WD crew cab. When we did the elk test, I think I scared the instructor as the car lurched heavily and lifted a wheel. I wasn't too bothered. Lifting a wheel was a regular part of fast driving on winding roads... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 10 hours ago, landroversforever said: I remember 5th gear doing a crash test with one.... and it survived whole but I think the consensus was that the car would outlive the occupants in a big enough impact. Pretty sure that bit of film is on youtube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 2 hours ago, deep said: Twenty or so years ago, I did an advanced driver training course as a work requirement. My work car at the time was a (dreadful) Toyota 4WD crew cab. When we did the elk test, I think I scared the instructor as the car lurched heavily and lifted a wheel. I wasn't too bothered. Lifting a wheel was a regular part of fast driving on winding roads... My father did some testing somewhere around the same time following a number of accidents in their fleet involving Mitsubishi pickups on double bends. They thought it was excessive speed until one of their own team rolled one at what he swore was a very slow speed. They set up a course in one of their yards, and started out at what they expected to be well below a dangerous speed - 20mph or so, I think. Dad was driving, and just managed to pull it out of the roll. They abandoned working up to higher speeds... The fix for them turned out to be filling the tool boxes they had mounted under the back with concrete which improved the weight distribution. I believe Mitsubishi moved the rear axle or something on the subsequent version which massively improved it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 3 hours ago, Snagger said: Vicky came over better than the others - at least she seemed to have a pulse. She certainly gave me a pulse 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 On 11/2/2022 at 9:13 AM, geoffbeaumont said: My father did some testing somewhere around the same time following a number of accidents in their fleet involving Mitsubishi pickups on double bends. They thought it was excessive speed until one of their own team rolled one at what he swore was a very slow speed. They set up a course in one of their yards, and started out at what they expected to be well below a dangerous speed - 20mph or so, I think. Dad was driving, and just managed to pull it out of the roll. They abandoned working up to higher speeds... The fix for them turned out to be filling the tool boxes they had mounted under the back with concrete which improved the weight distribution. I believe Mitsubishi moved the rear axle or something on the subsequent version which massively improved it. High centre of gravity, forward centre of mass, mismatched front and rear suspension and otherwise crude dynamics - many, if not most, 4WD crew cabs are not designed to have great dynamics. The Toyota in question was lifting a wheel at exactly that sort of speed. By the target speed of (I think) 65 k.p.h., I'd have been amazed if it hadn't flipped. That's fine if it's a work truck and you drive it accordingly. Worse as a top-heavy camper but, in that case, you'd feel the danger and tip toe around it. Unfortunately, they are immensely popular around here as a family car, with people believing they are "safe" (only ever a relative thing, to be fair). Dodging a kid in a suburb at legal speeds would be frightening. Really, I am amazed a lot more don't tip over. Though a lot do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 8 hours ago, deep said: That's fine if it's a work truck and you drive it accordingly. These ones were work trucks - but in use on very poor roads and tracks in Azerbaijan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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