Behold the beauty - http://bilder.autobild.de/bilder/1/35147.jpg

 

 

Suhweet

 

On the red car, notice the separation of the TIRE from the RIM on the right rear while it is still in mid air. Either the tires are grossly underinflated or something bad is going on there.

Also, notice the red car only has 3 lugnuts! At least the green one has 4.

Another interesting point regards kinetic energy and momentum...
Notice that the rear of the red car is higher off the ground than the green car. Making a couple basic assumptions, it seems fair to say that the green car weighs a bit more than the red one, and the Cg of the red car is slightly higher than the Cg of the green car - ergo the elevation difference as kinetic energy unspent in body crush was converted into elevation differences.

Last point of interest - despite the red car being smaller and lighter, notice that the driver's roof pillar and the whole roofline are still in good shape, whereas the green car's roofline and pillar are yeilding and even encroatching into the passenger's compartment. I'd say the red car has a more rigid passenger compartment and would likely be safer to the occupant than the green car, again - despite giving up size and weight.

Kudos to the red car. I'd NEVER buy something like that, but as compared to the green one - it wins in my book (despite the 3-lugs and the tire issue).

My day MUST get better from this point...

 

That's not a rim separating, that's a hub cap.

 

After closer scrutiny, you are exactly right.
I was looking at the tiny bit of white just under the hubcap at 6o'clock, and it looked like light coming through, but I think now that it is the steel from one of the spokes on the rim.

Good call!

 

ProudPony, I don't think the green one is rising like the red one because its less rigid, looking at the roof caving in on the green car the extra energy was being transfered there, instead of lifting the car.

Either way the pic looks good to me..
I think they need to use a Hummer or a Suburban for the next test!

 

It's kind of like taking two marshmallows and smashing them into each other...

 

Or two soda cans.....lol

 

The title of that pic is called:

"When Rollerskates Go wild!"

 

Oh I agree. I tried to say the same thing in different terms. My comment about "basic assumptions" would include the energy consumtion per foot of body displacement would be about the same, and that the relative materials/densities were about equal. And don't forget, the Cg of the 2 cars also has ALOT to do with which goes up and which goes down at impact too. When you get right down to it, even the shorter wheelbase on the red car could result in a higher rear "vault" than the green one given equal impact forces and equal vertical Cg heights.

There's alot that goes into collision analysis to be sure. And we can only speculate from a photo. The pic itself is kind of amusing since it was staged and the cars look like toys, but the trained eye can still learn alot from even a humorous pic like this one if they are so inclined...