Aluminum vs Polymer car bodies

[MrIcky]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

In this case, the it won't matter too much. A 3 ton vehicle moving at 50 mph is going to obliterate a sports car weighing little more than half as much. Most crash testing is against a similarly sized vehicle going at 35 mph. The scenario you provide means the truck will have 4x the kinetic energy those cars are typically tested against. But a base or Grand Sport Corvette with its steel space frame would probably fare better, than a 911. Not sure how a Z06 or ZR1 with their aluminum frame would compare against the 911. Still worse than the base Corvette.

I don't know about this-they both have racing derived frames. I'd actually guess that they'd be equally f***'ed- however they have good occupant compartments so the drivers would still walk away from both.

[returnofcc]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Not sure how much magnesium they use in their car bodies. I know Porsche uses a lot of aluminum sheet metal, probably some steel depending on the vehicle.

Fair enough, I was just taking it from their specs on the Panamera.
http://press.porsche.com/vehicles/09...ions_chart.pdf

[MrIcky]

Originally Posted by returnofcc

Wait, then how do you know the 911 will be damaged more. Won't the Ram hit over the impact zones for the corvette also?

OH wait, I'm sorry, I misread the question- I don't know why- for some reason Ram vs 911 would be stuck in my head. I don't know which one would be more damaged- 50 mph front end collision Ram vs either means the sports cars are totalled. Totalled is totalled.

[returnofcc]

Originally Posted by MrIcky

OH wait, I'm sorry, I misread the question- I don't know why- for some reason Ram vs 911 would be stuck in my head. I don't know which one would be more damaged- 50 mph front end collision Ram vs either means the sports cars are totalled. Totalled is totalled.

Alright, make it 20mph...

[MrIcky]

Oh ya, let me tell you a magnesium story (lol sorry- late Monday afternoon, I don't want to work anymore). The Ford trucks started coming out with Magnesium radiator supports about 5 years ago. Ford waited about 6 months before sending out an advisory or posting labels- some shop in Oregon started working on one without realizing that it was magnesium and the support started on fire and burned down the car and almost the hole shop.

*edit- I just realized this was my 1000th post- seems a little bit of a let-down for a post of such magnitude.

[returnofcc]

Originally Posted by MrIcky

Oh ya, let me tell you a magnesium story (lol sorry- late Monday afternoon, I don't want to work anymore). The Ford trucks started coming out with Magnesium radiator supports about 5 years ago. Ford waited about 6 months before sending out an advisory or posting labels- some shop in Oregon started working on one without realizing that it was magnesium and the support started on fire and burned down the car and almost the hole shop.

Ford lol

[MrIcky]

Originally Posted by returnofcc

Alright, make it 20mph...

It's too speculative, one's front engined and ones rear engined. They'd both likely need an entire front section to the firewall though. One has an engine in the way which can help or it can hurt how repairable the whole car is. Really, it's a separate thread- way OT and I'm not an engineer- but short answer is that engines are designed to be pushed down under the body so they can dissapate a lot of the energy at the cost of the motor.

[KoTToN]

Lol, so this all started as a knock towards the zr1 about its build quality compared to alunimum of the porsche.

then it progressed to a certain someone getting schooled to the fact that aluminum not only heavier, but it is easier to damage and also much harder to repair.

then it went to which would be worse if a fullsize truck hit them doing 50mph

now its what if the truck hit them doing 20 mph

talk about a reaching to validate the first comment

[returnofcc]

Originally Posted by KoTToN

Lol, so this all started as a knock towards the zr1 about its build quality compared to alunimum of the porsche.

then it progressed to a certain someone getting schooled to the fact that aluminum not only heavier, but it is easier to damage and also much harder to repair.

then it went to which would be worse if a fullsize truck hit them doing 50mph

now its what if the truck hit them doing 20 mph

talk about a reaching to validate the first comment

Except for the part that Porsche bodies are not all-aluminum.
And as for "cost to repair," I don't think a guy who buys a 100k car is thinking to himself "Gee, maybe I should buy the Corvette because it will cost less to repair once I get into an accident."
Which has better build quality, the Bugatti or the Corvette? I mean, the Bugatti costs more to repair, so does that mean that the Corvette is the better/more durable car? Nobody has proven yet that the Corvette is of better build quality. We were just talking about fiberglass vs. pure aluminum.
And it actually started when you claimed that the car was ugly. Everybody should listen to the fanboy who is constantly knocking on Porsches. Sounds like the jealous type to me

[KoTToN]

Except for the part that Porsche bodies are not all-aluminum.

and corvettes are not all fiberglass/carbon fiber

And as for "cost to repair," I don't think a guy who buys a 100k car is thinking to himself "Gee, maybe I should buy the Corvette because it will cost less to repair once I get into an accident."

then why did you even bring up that whole point?

Which has better build quality, the Bugatti or the Corvette? I mean, the Bugatti costs more to repair, so does that mean that the Corvette is the better/more durable car?

i guess you cant keep on the topic you started of you comparing a zr1 to the panamera..it also looks like you missed the whole harder to damage part.

Nobody has proven yet that the Corvette is of better build quality.

you were the one trying to prove porsche had the better build quality, so i think that parts on you.

We were just talking about fiberglass vs. pure aluminum.
And it actually started when you claimed that the car was ugly.

really? So when I said that I didn not like that design all these guys started chiming in with how aluminum compares to fibers?


]

[MrIcky]

Originally Posted by MrIcky

LOL I'd take bets...ZR1?

For the record, there is nothing inherently great about aluminum body panels. They're harder to repair and easier to damage unless you make them thicker-which negates the weight advantage. I don't have anything against aluminum either, but when I hear something is made out of aluminum- I shrug and feel pity for the poor body guy if something goes wrong. If you've ever done time in a body shop, you'd understand.

I may have started it by stating the above, which I did explain some on the prior page- but as we are starting to head toward another thread lock, I just want to say that I didn't mean for anything I said to head it this direction.

I actually do sort of think about things like this, and I would before I bought a 100k car. Mainly because if I bought a car like that, I'd plan on having it 50 years but I'd still drive it occasionally and something will eventually happen. So I apologize if I derailed anything to grievously.

And completely on topic, I do like and respect Porsches. That new lightweight boxster spyder or whatever looks fun as hell. And ZR1s are out of this world. I just don't think it's necessarily a 'feature' when a body is aluminum.

[returnofcc]

[QUOTE=KoTToN;1152498]
and corvettes are not all fiberglass/carbon fiber

So then there is more than meets the eye as far as build quality. My mistake, its just the consensus of the vast majority of people out there that Porsche builds great cars.

then why did you even bring up that whole point?

I didn't bring up cost to repair.



i guess you cant keep on the topic you started of you comparing a zr1 to the panamera..it also looks like you missed the whole harder to damage part.
I guess you can't answer the question.

you were the one trying to prove porsche had the better build quality, so i think that parts on you.
Like I said, its a general consensus that Porsche builds great cars. I didn't feel the need to prove anything, and I am not well informed enough to give you the scientific breakdown, but I don't think you are either, so just leave it.


really? So when I said that I didn not like that design all these guys started chiming in with how aluminum compares to fibers?
No, your fanboy remarks are here to rile up the crowd. They are useless and don't contribute anything to the thread. Really, what was the point of claiming that the car was ugly? It's like this post you made this other day.

Originally Posted by KoTToN

"God I hope dodge doesnt do that to the charger, it kind of looks like they took a dodge stealth and stretched it out and rounded off the back end. Similar to how a porsche looks like a stretched out beetle."

Where did anything about a porsche come into that thread? We were talking about Challengers and Chargers.
The point is, you make these fanboy posts that warrant somebody to call you out. I haven't seen you make one useful contribution to a thread, I'm surprised you haven't been banned.
__________________

[returnofcc]

Originally Posted by MrIcky

I may have started it by stating the above, which I did explain some on the prior page- but as we are starting to head toward another thread lock, I just want to say that I didn't mean for anything I said to head it this direction.

I actually do sort of think about things like this, and I would before I bought a 100k car. Mainly because if I bought a car like that, I'd plan on having it 50 years but I'd still drive it occasionally and something will eventually happen. So I apologize if I derailed anything to grievously.

And completely on topic, I do like and respect Porsches. That new lightweight boxster spyder or whatever looks fun as hell. And ZR1s are out of this world. I just don't think it's necessarily a 'feature' when a body is aluminum.

No, you didn't start anything, and yes this thread is once again going to be locked thanks to a certain someone. We actually had a constructive conversation going on, where I was receiving new info, but that's all gone now.

[KoTToN]

the only thing that ruined the thread was that fact that you put the cart in front of the horse by making a comment knocking the corvettes carbon fiber and praising the porsches aluminum body. Then you went on to actually learn, or was forced to, about both materials and how the compare from two helpful people on this board.


in the future it would be better to actually learn about what your comparing before making a comment.