[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by Sunsh!nes

Perfectly said. They are "Tin cans" only. Recently I was shocked the see the thickness of metal fender on a Indian car which was easily bent with the twist of the hand. .

If you think Indian cars are tin cans, what is your opinion on cars from the Suzuki and Toyota stable?

I am not implying that these cars are unsafe but since sheet metal thickness is the topic of discussion here, I believe both Mahindra and TATA manufactures sturdy cars.

[Sunsh!nes]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

If you think Indian cars are tin cans, what is your opinion on cars from the Suzuki and Toyota stable?

I am not implying that these cars are unsafe but since sheet metal thickness is the topic of discussion here, I believe both Mahindra and TATA manufactures sturdy cars.

May be. (Correction: I intended to say the "cars sold in India" and wrongly mentioned "Indian cars" ) Not sure about Tata or Mahindra. I have seen the build quality in european cars. Heard of many such stories though.

I understand one thing, the older cars had better build quality when all these companies were just setting up and not concentrating on building numbers. As and when their popularity grew, quality became questionable, understandable since they have to meet the demands for cars.
Lets not discuss further, this is discussion on this thread.

[vinitbhavi]

Point taken its cars sold in india and not Indian cars. The Indian car market is such a money spinner for these manufacturers and the stakes are also high. Compound this with pathetic roads and unsafe driving practices it really paints a very grim picture. The road safety act to be introduced has been pending since long. Among other things something like airbags must be provided as a basic security apparatus in all cars by manufacturers and these should not warrant hefty premiums as they are absolutely basic requirements.

[Fabiaous]

Originally Posted by Zappo

I am still not sure why you suddenly dragged this case here. I do not see how a group of people (most possibly sleep deprived as well) driving late in the night and going under a truck from its rear connects to this case! care to explain?

Its just shows how weak is the XUV frame to protect life in case of such types of accidents, irrespective of the failure of X or Y systems in a modern car. Will Yeti go thru this scenario if replicated , No. I remember reading a post 6 months back here of a Laura toppling , compare this with this XUV topple, forget the issue behind the topple , see there is a difference in how the build quality and design is of the european cars. pay a premium for these cars rather than go thru the pain of injury.

[Fabiaous]

Was referring to this post- http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...s-us-safe.html http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...us-safe-2.html

[humyum]

Originally Posted by glenmz

What caused the sudden spin - that's still unknown. My friend visited Mangalore to start the survey and other process. The surveyor suggested the rear left wheel could have jammed or stopped causing the spin. Rear left tyre was the one having lesser thread depth compared to the other 3 wheels. The vehicle had spun towards the left and this kind of validates the claim.

Wheels don't jam just like that. And having lesser tread depth is not a sign of something wrong, if something were wrong, the tread would have unevenly worn off, for example in case of a wheel bearing which has play. And the case of one wheel having lesser tread depth, it must be the tyre from the old set which u must have kept behind. Still in that case, one wheel would Aqua plane and not all leading to the ESC and roller over mitigating doing their thing as that is what they are meant for.

Originally Posted by glenmz

That has somehow rang a bell. He had given the vehicle for service recently. After the service, he noticed a malfunction lamp had lit up for which he took the vehicle back to service center. The issue was diagnosed with the brakes and they rectified this. A wheel alignment was done as well and all these was just before the trip. Again, done at ASC. Just bringing all the facts onto the table. Could this be related? again we do not know this until an expert investigation or analysis is done.

A malfunction light could be because of host of reasons, one commonly being the ABS wheel sensor being faulty.

Originally Posted by glenmz

The vehicle should have been updated with the fix for side airbags as it was regularly serviced at Mahindra ASC. As to the structural safety part - remember, this vehicle is meant for 7 people. If there were anyone at the last row, I do not know what could have happened. The front left has caved in as well. I am not sure where the manufacturer is in the thanksgiving list for the people who traveled in the vehicle.

I want to ask Mahindra, at which angle or direction they want someone to bang the vehicle before the side impact airbags inflate ?

To quote the Mahindra Engineer

Originally Posted by glenmz

From the images, it appears that both of the rear tyres are completely worn out. It is well established that vehicle dynamics are significantly dependent on the condition of the tyres. Worn tires, especially bald ones, can easily lose traction on wet roads, where the grooves aren't deep enough to channel water out from beneath the tread resulting in “aquaplaning” situations. We also note from the images that the original tyres have been replaced, though we are not at this time able to ascertain the specifications of the replacement tyres used or as to how this aspect could have contributed to the “aquaplaning”. As a technical person, I would urge that in the interest of safety, please always use tyres meeting specifications recommended by the manufacturer and which are in good condition, especially when driving in bad weather conditions.

I don't get how 8 thousand kilometer run tyres can be bald ? And to ascertain the specification of the tyre, all you need to do is look at the side which shows the size/profile.

Originally Posted by glenmz

2. The XUV500 is equipped with front and side airbags. Front airbags would deploy only during frontal impact condition at specified speeds. In this case, there is no damage seen in the front of the car. As there was no frontal impact the front airbags had not deployed. Side Airbags too are designed to deploy in case of acceleration due to impact. Since the toppling was caused due to “aquaplaning” situation and not due to side impact collision, the side airbags also would not have deployed in this case.

What is acceleration due to impact ? Toppling and the pillars caving in is impact which resembles a side impact when pillars cave in as the result of either of these would be the same. Can you please mark the points in the car next time you start delivering XUV 5oo's and rest of your cars where an owner is suppose to aim during an impact for them to be saved by the airbags ?

[raj_5004]

So the Airbags in the XUV do work as opposed to common beliefs -



This is a W6, so atleast the front ones do work.

And what do I see here? Such injuries even when the Airbags worked contrary to no injuries when the Airbags dint inflate in the OP.

[kk28]

Is it true that the airbag sensors (dual, passenger, side & curtain) are located at the front near the bumper for XUV? This was told to me by one of the sales executive from Mangalore.

[sathya_nars]

Originally Posted by kk28

Is it true that the airbag sensors (dual, passenger, side & curtain) are located at the front near the bumper for XUV? This was told to me by one of the sales executive from Mangalore.

Yes and No. On roll over kind of situations (depending on other conditions being satisfied), side/curtain airbags would deploy but not front airbags - this wouldn't be possible if sensors are only in the front bumper area.

There are conditions even for front airbags to deploy, not all types of front collisions may deploy the front airbags. Manual mentions some cases (like under-ride, etc).

So, yes there are some sensors present in front bumper area but they're kept in other places too.

[an_and]

All this ramble is fine. But in this particular scenario I believe all the people escaped unhurt. That itself should speak well on the cars body shell. However there is no excuse on the airbags not deploying.