Nothing sadder than seeing a sight like this, but the good thing is that the driver was not seriously injured or worse.

The lesson here is to know your limits and not just the car's limits.

 

One has to wonder how well the C8 is going to do in crashes without the front engine to absorb some of the impact.

 

In theory, it can do much, much better without the engine up there.

The amount of force applied in a crash is a function of the negative acceleration.

So, to decrease the forces the occupants experience in a front-end crash, you want crumple zones which slow you down over a longer period of time.

With a very rigid engine, you can't do much to let that be a part of the crumple zone.

However, with the engine out of the picture up front, the whole front end can be made into a crumple zone.

The result for the car might look terrible, but it could result in people walking away instead of dying.

So, getting rid of the engine will help a lot with front-end crashes. The one downside for the C8, however, is the front will be shorter. However, a ball-park estimate all of the relevant dimensions causes me to think the C8 can perform better in front-end crashes than the C7.

 

Thanks Rodney.

 

My C7 passed the strength test last Saturday. I was rear ended by a box truck! I don’t know how fast he was going, but there was no horn or skid, My C7 was his brakes. It was an impact hard enough to activate OnStar. I was not injured, I was sore for a couple of days, got checked out at the hospital, the car did it’s job. I am fine.

The white Ford in front of my C7 went past his exit, slowed down, then stopped. We were under control. Just as I hit the horn to get the guy moving, the truck hit me.
Got the estimate back today, no frame damage, air bags didn’t go off. Got the estimate today. Won’t deal with labor or paint, but it’s 10K in parts, The exhaust the most expensive. Throw in the GM strike the estimated repair time takes us into November. A decision to repair or total will be made next week. I’ll talk with the body shop tomorrow.

 

Silver, glad you are OK and the C7 performed well. Looks like a Jersey State Trooper vehicle next to the van. Do you now or soon will own Nino's Bakery?

 

Glad you are OK Silver C7, as well as the others involved. Good luck with a rapid resolution.

 

WOW! Glad that you are OK!

 

Sad to see but glad you're ok. Almost happened to me a few days ago. I was waiting at a light the top of an exit ramp. I glanced in my mirror and saw a car quickly approaching. I braced for impact but the driver stopped no more than six inches from my back bumper. Big surprise: She was holding a phone in her left hand along with the steering wheel and her right hand was cradling a bag of chips. ?

 

That may soon be the objective. Gotta get a car first...

 

That’s rough. Glad your ok. The strike timing is a bummer but would have thought there were some parts around.
Best of luck to you.

 

The update is a good one. The car IS NOT a total loss. While there was some excitement about the possibility of getting a new car. I was not excited about having to do the wheel and tire thing again, as well as a new loan and all the other stuff that goes with purchasing a new vehicle. But, I was prepared to do that, even had one picked out. The other development is, the body shop doesn’t think the GM strike will be a factor. I know and trust their work, I hope they’re right about the strike factor.

And then there’s this...talking with my insurance agent. I told her I thought the 2020 convertible was going to be a bigger seller than the 2020 coupe. She checked the rating for premium rates. The “A” rating, for six figure vehicles is the most expensive. My 2016 Stingray coupe is rated ”D”...the 2020 convertible is rated “E”, which almost knocked me out of my seat!

 

That is good news Silver C7. Hope the repair goes smoothly. As to your insurance company giving your a lower cost rating for the 2020 vert- that is very surprising. I haven't seen any of the Federal crash test data on the 2020 let alone the estimates for repair/reliability, etc. Quite interesting that they would be quoting lower rates at this point.

 

Yikes, I got to wonder how fast this guy was going in that GS. Wonder what the “rest of the story” Is