Believe it or not, propelling a car down the IIHS runway towards a barrier starts with merely 40 horsepower. That’s the output of IIHS’ hydraulic pump which, as IIHS test engineer Bo Jones states in the video below, “pushes against these 18 bottles of nitrogen as we fill up these 245 liters worth of accumulators.”
Once pressure hits 5,000 psi, it’s released to turn a pulley and cable mechanism that gets the car up to speed. It sounds robust, but it comes from an era when cars were much lighter than they are today.
Back in the early 1990s when IIHS started testing cars, a Lincoln Town Car (see below) would’ve been considered incredibly heavy. The trouble is, a 1992 Lincoln Town Car weighs ten pounds less than the lightest Hyundai Ioniq 5 sold in America. Shocking, I know. It’s entirely possible that the people designing the IIHS crash propulsion system never foresaw cars weighing as much as a large orca, so it was rather prudent to test the rig without ruining six figures worth of lithium ion-powered truck.
To do this, the lab-coats loaded up an old F-150 and an old GMT400 Chevrolet Tahoe with seriously heavy payloads, then fired them at the barrier with a target speed of 40 mph (64 km/h). The result was a success, with a steady target speed held and a proper crash test carried out. However, while establishing that its rig could accurately pull 9,500 pounds at 40 mph, IIHS has also given us some fascinating visuals of what happens if you crash an overloaded tenth-generation Ford F-150. Just look at that destruction.
Mind you, there is one big issue here – the payload doesn’t appear to have been strapped in longitudinally. Then again, if someone’s going to overload a bubble-shape F-150 to 9,500 pounds, they might not have the brain cells to rub together to generate the thought of “hang on, I should strap this in both ways.” The whole truck just turned into a banana, with the payload piercing straight through the bed and the rear wall of the cab to extinguish the driver like that giant foot from the Monty Python animations. It’s also worth noting that this generation of F-150 isn’t exactly known for being a safe vehicle and there’s plenty of rust on this truck, but that’s par for the course when it comes to beater trucks.
I guess the moral of the story is to secure your cargo, don’t overload your vehicle, and rest assured knowing that IIHS has what it takes to send a GMC Hummer EV into a barrier. Whether or not your daily driver’s crash structure will hold up well against 9,000 pounds of supertruck, that’s an entirely different question. All photos courtesy of IIHS
Jeep Wrangler Gets Tired During IIHS Small-Overlap Crash Testing, Lies Down For A Quick Nap Here Are Some Cool Things You Can Lean About Your Old Car From The Government’s Crash Test Database The Oldest Toilet In Japan Was Crashed Into By A Really Cool Car You Should Know About I Can’t Stop Watching Awful Drivers Overcook This Weird Exit Ramp Here’s What Happens When A 1975 Plymouth Valiant Gets T-Boned By A 2011 Chevrolet Traverse (It’s Bad) Want to write for The Autopian? Pitch us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage. City buses and commercial trucks also hit people… https://www.ghsa.org/resources/news-releases/GHSA/Ped-Spotlight-Full-Report22 Having said all of that, this fight is over. Vehicles are not going to stop getting bigger, though they could have front ends designed to see the road instead of to prove the driver’s maculinity. There is one exception to the rule, and it’s that rental vehicles allow you up to 26,000 pounds without a license upgrade. That’s so you can drive a 26-foot U-Haul or a rental RV. Of course, just because the license exists doesn’t mean that you’re proficient. Illinois’ written tests are easy, and if you fail one, you can retry immediately. The driving portion is harder, but I know some folks with Illinois Class As that really shouldn’t have them. Oof. https://www.rvezy.com/blog/rv-drivers-license-requirements-usa -Guy that drives a semi every year without a CDL or any enhanced regular license. And a power limit to 150hp/200ft-lb of Torque… Honestly it’s nice getting back OUT of Utah where less than 90% of vehicles are 4wd monstrosities. Trucks have their place, my wife has horses to tow and feed for example, but personally I prefer a car with decent handling and enough pep to toss around once in a while to make me and my kids smile. This also assumes the structure is in tip-top shape, which is often not the case. Time of impact would lengthen, so the force of impact (Impulse) would lessen, correct? Or has it been too long since I took Dynamics? But some EV converters can use the footage to see what will happen if the batteries aren’t secured as well as in a factory built car. Like EV West, putting heavy Tesla battery packs in light old VWs. Sidenote: Where the hell did my avatar go? (This would work better if the latest was already out). I was going to say “Oh, look, the passenger compartment on the F-150 did really well!” before I saw the big white block of concrete sitting in the front seat. (I sure don’t hope posting links gets me blacklisted or something)
