What would happen to our 911 if rear ended at 60+ mph ?

A few years back in my 996, I had a head-on collision with a pick-up truck, both at about 25 mph, and the front end of the 996 ended up in the truck's mid-engine area, totally killed the pick-up truck. I hear the 911 front round ends are very strong. I READ THE BELOW ARTICLE FROM A MERCEDES FORUM, and I wonder what would happen to the 911 (996 or 997) under the same circumstances: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (BELOW IS AN EXCERPT FROM A MERCEDES FORUM. IT'S NOT MY CAR, although I own a 91 300E) "Survival in my 400E" "Last Month I was unhappy about spending in excess of $6400 on repairs to my 1993 400E. The engine was reworked, front end parts replaced and a general rebuilt of the entire car. With less than 500 miles on it since coming out of the shop I took off from Des Moines, Iowa last Tuesday night headed for Washington state. Outside of Omaha I slowed down for an accident but the semi in back of me failed to realize that I had slowed down. Right in front of the State Patrolman the semi barreled into the rear of my 400E going full bore. We (my 400E and me) were thrown across the road and into a ditch. After using the jaws of life, the rescue team pulled me from my faithful friend. The car collapsed as designed to do protecting the passenger compartment. The passenger compartment remainded intact, even the seats remained upright and complete. I thank God for the design and safety of my 400E. I will miss my friend but at the same time am so thankful to be alive. Needless to say, I will be purchasing a replacement MB. I will attach photos when I get them."

I think it'll be a total loss if that happens to the 911.

I think the semi would go right over the top. You would be the proverbial "speedbump on the road of life."

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I agree- thankful to be alive I am sure- you dodged a bullet.

I think the 996 would be just fine. Eight years ago, while driving a '99 Olds Alero, I was rear-ended by a 3/4-ton pickup travelling 60 mph. The car worked just as it was designed to. To answer your question, I'd say that if you were rear-ended in the 996, the engine would drop down and the car would look much like the 400E pictured above. Cars are MUCH safer than they used to be...I wouldn't necessarily choose a MB 400E if I was looking for what I considered to be a safe car.

just amazing. MB's crash integrity has saved my mother (hit square in the side by a large film crew van which ran a red light, completely utterly-makes-me-weep-just-thinking-about-it totaled, everything mangled, mother escaped with some injuries but her life intact) and my sister on separate occasions, albeit a couple of generations newer.

wow that is just an amazing crash to walk away from. I'd say you have a few angels sitting on your shoulder... perhaps they are German angels?

Porsches have always been built to take a hit. Years ago, a friend of mine in a 1970 911 took a curve way too fast and went off the road. The car must have rolled 4 or 5 times, mostly end over end they think. Unfortunately he was not belted in and went out the front windshield and was killed. The girl with him was belted in and walked away from the crash. While living in Germany I saw some other high speed crashes involving Porsches where the car was totaled and almost unrecognizable, but as long as the driver was belted, they were not usually too badly injured. I would much rather take a bad hit in a a Porsche than in many other bigger cars.

I am impressed with how the passenger compartment held up. I wonder how many other cars would have fared as well. If you were in your Porsche, you wouldn't be here to write about what happened. Not that our cars can't withstand impacts, but as someone said earlier, due to the height of the cars the semi would have gone right over the top. From the looks of your photo's it nearly went over your MB.

It's too bad they did so much damage to that car with the rescue apparatus. Otherwise, it would have all buffed right out.

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Thanks for your concern, but it's not my car. It's an excerpt from a Mercedes Forum. How would another German car brand like the BMW or Audi perform ? These are some of the reasons why I choose not to drive Japanese cars.

I would say bye bye 911 if it got rear ended at 60.

Moral of the story: -- Watch your rearview mirror -- and if you see a Semi coming, get out of the way, change lanes, move to the shoulder, don't just let it slam you (and your family!) at a complete stop. I had this nearly happen a couple years ago, but since I moved over the car behind me ended up only lightly crashing into the car that was in front of me. In Germany, it's common practice to turn on the 4-way hazard flashers when you have this abrupt stop on highway or Autobahn. (Ever notice how German cars have *always* had the flasher button front-and-center?) So many people don't even realize their car has ABS, or that ABS is designed to allow you to steer while doing a panic stop.

One other thing about the 911 (at least 996/997) is that in violent crashes, the motor is designed to decouple to the side rather than go through the passenger compartment.... Danke Porsche.

[QUOTE=tooloud10;5521779]I think the 996 would be just fine. Eight years ago, while driving a '99 Olds Alero, I was rear-ended by a 3/4-ton pickup travelling 60 mph. The car worked just as it was designed to. To answer your question, I'd say that if you were rear-ended in the 996, the engine would drop down and the car would look much like the 400E pictured above. Cars are MUCH safer than they used to be... I wouldn't necessarily choose a MB 400E if I was looking for what I considered to be a safe car.[/ QUOTE] why not?

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I think you can say bye bye to any car in that scenario, the question is whether or not you an yours walk away unscathed

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Because it's a 15-20 year-old design. As tough as some are claiming a four (?) generation-old Mercedes E-class to be, I'd rather be in a more modern car with air bags coming out of every possible panel, better crush zones, etc. Did the MB hold up well? Sure. Would any other properly-designed midsize car behave comparably in a crash--even a Japanese one? Absolutely. I'm in a hotel room right now or I'd post the picture of my '99 Oldsmobile that was rear-ended by a 6k lb. 3/4-ton pickup traveling 60 mph. He didn't even hit the brakes before hitting me. I'm not saying that I don't appreciate proper safety engineering; I'm saying that, believe it or not, this isn't a remarkable story.

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I agree, any modern midsize car should be really crashworthy. But the w124 , now a 25 year old design (1984 was the 1st year), is pretty amazing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn19Qj5jtf4

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Ha ha I was going to post that W124 video. Btw, as you can see from my signature, I still have my 91 Mercedes from my college days, and the engine is just smooth at 198K miles as it was driven out of the dealer brand new. And it is my daily driver.

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they keep going and going. I used to sweat the CE and Cab 124s back then. I've had 210 and 211, the 210 in particular has been just bulletproof for us from 2000-on, 88K and not a single thing out of place, big v8 still runs like the day it came home (and drinks 13mpg around town!)

yeah, the 210 e class was the safest car in the world for a number of years. My 220 S-class should be pretty safe as well. MB's certainly have the safety thing going for them.