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Old 30th June 2008, 22:41   #16
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A Kinetic Honda once hit me from behind and I had to spend about 30k for the repairs.
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Old 30th June 2008, 22:44   #17
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THe NHC has a too light body. Badly needs a built like Skoda. 1 day a swift banged my car from the back and it was like the rear bumper completely bent. Hate the Honda Built
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Old 30th June 2008, 23:00   #18
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We still have to debate whether this is crumple zone effect or the thin sheet metal build quality.
It is tough to believe that just by hitting a light weight moving object, crumple zone could leave a car in such a state (as amit explained). However we will have to see a pic of this scene to comment more on this.
I see every other NHC on road with dents and scratches on them. I do not see this on a Swift or WagonR. These are the cars we see most often on road and comparable based on this fact.

I believe this story has to do with both - Build quality and Crumple zone.

I agree that NHC is one of the best economical and respected passenger car in its segment, but I strongly disagree that price to safety ratio matches on this car.

I always had respect for this car until I test drove one. Actually multiple test drives.
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Old 30th June 2008, 23:21   #19
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Check this thread: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...died-spot.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by amit_mechengg View Post
i am imagining what will happen if the NHC hits a truck? guys, if anyone has those pics please post.
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Old 30th June 2008, 23:38   #20
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i was surprised how thin the bumpers on the nhc and the crv are. a motorbike banged into my nhc vtec and there was a hole in the bumper. this was less than 5kmph. lol i found it really funny.
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Old 1st July 2008, 00:13   #21
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Somehow this whole crumple-zone theory on NHC sounds too far-fetched. If a cycle can crumple it so badly then what can a Sumo crashing headlong into an NHC do. Crumpling may be good and that is what saved the cyclist but so much crumpling that it got almost everything up front damaged. Is the NHC only car that has crumple zones? What about Skodas and Fiestas? These are modern cars, too. I have seen these cars hold up pretty well in minor crashes. I saw somewhere else in one of these forums where a Honda CD 100 and an auto-rick almost ripped open the front end of NHC. Why do we only see NHCs taking so much damage?
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Old 1st July 2008, 00:35   #22
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Question is, whether the car only hit the cycle, or in order to avoid colliding with the Cyclist, the car hit something else too, like say a rock, a wall etc. Did the car go over the bicycle? (Wanting to find out why the tyre burst)

These cars have to abide by European padestrian safety norms and are built to deform. The front ends are supersoft to prevent breaking of the padestrians lower leg. As you proceed from the front towards the firewall, progressively the resistance to deform increases, to confine the deformation to ahead of the passenger cell.

Does not point to bad build quality. Moreover this is a wrong way of judging the build of a vehicle.

Last edited by 1100D : 1st July 2008 at 00:38.
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Old 1st July 2008, 01:08   #23
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Does anyone know the sequence of events that led to the impact, whether the guy actually fell backward onto the Honda? Well, all said and done, the guy is safe and so are the occupants of the car I suppose I believe three cheers are in order! And as someone pointed out earlier, the only tough cars still around are the premier padmini and amby.

Last edited by carzy : 1st July 2008 at 01:09.
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Old 1st July 2008, 01:10   #24
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I was hit from the rear by an alto once at pretty high speed as the lamer failed to brake in time. The front of the alto got completely smashed and the car wouldn't start. Damage to my car - a cracked bumper thats it.

Wonder what would have happened if I had an NHC.
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Old 1st July 2008, 02:35   #25
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NHC has been built with economy in mind, its passenger frame might be rigid, but everything else externally has a weak/flimsy build.

Cars in Europe have far better build than the New Honda city, they don't self destruct so easily.
Honda Engineers must surely know what they are doing, the crumple zones, external softness of the car will definitely enhance pedestrian safety / absorb impact.
.... only downside is the car will get damaged more easily leading to relatively expensive repairs even for minor dinks.

Hope they introduce <5mph impact proof bumpers like in GM cars and also increase the ground clearance
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Old 1st July 2008, 04:55   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sidd_city View Post
Dude dont forget there was a boy involved other then the cycle so he also must have hit the bonnet. And for your point regarding passenger safty There is a steel frame under the crumple zone to do this job. The crumple zone acts as a cushion whereas the frame protects the occupants. I hope this clears your doubt. And I called it nasty cause he described it to be one where the driver was speeding.Just Imagine if the car was built like a tank.
The point I raised was more rhetorical, than a query.

Within what we know, (boy - 14 yrs old - went flying in air - crash landed on windshield) it only looks like only a portion of the forward momentum was transmitted to the crumple zones. If this force can result in activating the crumple zones, then by the same logic the deformation of the crumple zones would be achieved much more quickly in major head-on crashes with more substantial objects which will not go flying into the air (say streetlight pole, truck, wall) - with transmission of forces to the steel frame.


Don't tell me that crumple zones are for pedestrians and the steel frame is for the occupants. The zones should do something for the occupants too. In fact, the primary role of crumple zones is energy absorption to protect occupants.

Have you seen the NHC without its bumpers in a body shop? There is nothing else left of the car! The thing is like a huge bumper fest.
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Old 1st July 2008, 09:48   #27
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I lost two of my College seniors in Honda Accident And Ialways wondered why?

can read the detail here


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...tml#post786736
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Old 1st July 2008, 10:01   #28
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We can argue that crumple zone is one good thing. But what is the use of having it on your car when it is not there on every other vehicles you meet on road. All those reckless and maniac cab drivers and bikers will give you more pain. Do they actually deserve having your car crushed on their fault? In makes sense in Europe and US where you see only cars on road and every cars follow same safety norms.
In India we need to be more practical than theoretical. Most other safety measures such as Airbag and 3 point seat belt are more realistic and are not destructive to your car.

This what happened with me a month back.
I was on the narrow road where it was tough to overtake unless the the guy in front is nice to you.I travel on this stretch everyday and I usually do not have any trouble. But that day there was an Indica in front of me and he never bothered to give me any gap. I kept trying and all of a sudden I see some gap. I raced a bit and crossed him halfway and then I see a biker racing from opposite direction flashing his head lamp. I wanted to be nice and slowed down immediately to give the biker his way. Same time I looked at the rear view mirror as I wanted to drift to my left and what I saw was bit scarey (my car was only 1 month old then).A biker racing behind me did not expect me to slow down and in that confusion he does not even apply brake which led to a big bang on the rear of my rear. I could hear the heavy bang and saw he falling down loosing balance. I immediately parked my car on left and ran for his rescue and at same time expected to see a huge dent or crack on the rear of my car. I did this in parallel and realizes that he only has a minor injury on his knee and my car has some black stain and mud on the rear bumper. After helping him, I unleashed all my anger on him by cursing him in every language I knew. He speaks to me in malayalam suddenly and that cooled down me a bit. Then we walked close to my car to see the actual effect this collision left on my car's bumper. And to my surprise it was just some black stain and mud from his tyre and no visible dent or crack. In the evening I cleaned it with anti-scratch cloth and was amazed to see only a very minor black stain remained on the bumber and rest all were removed. I had to praise the rigid build of Cedia at least in my mind that day. I had considered NHC before buying Cedia. I wonder now what would have happened to me that day if I had the NHC
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Old 1st July 2008, 10:20   #29
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a. The crumple zones absorb shock - and avoid passing it on to the object colliding OR the passenger cabin.
b. The passenger cabin has a solid steel frame, with side impact beams

I guess the car did perfectly well what it was meant to do. I'd actually appaud Honda for this one - especially as a cyclist in the midst of traffic!

As for the "practical" aspect, I'd rather see a life saved, irrespective of who's fault it was, than a few dents avoided.

Also, can we, at Team Bhp, take a pledge to try and not lose our temper in case of accidents ? Won't always happen given conditioning, but hey, nobody intends having an accident. Yes some people, including ourselves, sometimes drive irresponsibly, or with lowered concentration, and get into these situations, but nobody's perfect around here.

Last edited by zenx : 1st July 2008 at 10:23.
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Old 1st July 2008, 10:57   #30
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Here is a pic of the accident :

Honda City Woes!! Shame on toughness-damaged_city.jpg

Picture taken from the Times of India Pune Edition.

The driver of the City in question was a 14 year old boy. I had once seen a slow PMT Bus taking a u-turn on a busy road and running into a Honda City which tried to squeeze through. The right-rear portion of the car crumpled up like paper o the impact.
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