How to make my Corolla safer

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M1Accord

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I have a 1992 Corolla LE. The car is structurally very sound as well as very strong engine and transmission. It is rather small for the road around here as most people here drive bigger vehicles. Are there things I can do to make it safer? I like to be able to have a roll cage with re-enforced side beams. Are they available for sale?

Also, can a 1997 Corolla engine fit into a 1992 body?
 
Nothing is going to make this 1992 Corolla as safe as a 2009 Corolla, (or anything with modern safety equipment) and anything you try and add to it will probably just make it even less safe.
 
Originally Posted By: M1Accord
I have a 1992 Corolla LE. The car is structurally very sound as well as very strong engine and transmission. It is rather small for the road around here as most people here drive bigger vehicles. Are there things I can do to make it safer? I like to be able to have a roll cage with re-enforced side beams. Are they available for sale?

Also, can a 1997 Corolla engine fit into a 1992 body?


Been driving small (subcompact) cars on and off since I got my drivers license 20 yrs ago.

good thing about smaller car, granted that your tires, suspension, brakes,etc. are in excellent shape, they offer very nimble maneouvrbility to that of most heavier counterparts can only dreamed of.

Good things about smaller, lighter cars such as 92 corollas, civics, etc.

; excellent maneouverability.

Bad thing(s): crashworthyness is just so-so

Good things about bigger/heavier vehicles: more rock-steady feeling on highways during highspeed cruising

Bad things: roll-over worthyness is amost zero; poor/mediocre handling at best (unless you are talking about those fine European cars like BMs, etc. which is of a totally different league of their own); turning/braking feels like forever, sometimes, due to soft ride/poor handling, they still feel like a yaght on land.

So, I would strongly recommend you to take some serious defensive driving course and that should help immensely in saving yourself/or the situation on the road, regardless of highways or small stretch of country roadways. If you live in the snowbelt, consider taking lessons RE: winter snow driving/drifting, etc. or better yet: winter rallye.

Good luck.

Q.
 
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Size isn't everything... Some of the smaller cars have better safety ratings for side and front impact than big gas guzzlers. Check out your countries IHS website. I was shocked when I learned this...

One thing you can do is make sure that your body is centered between the front/back door so that if you are hit from the side or do roll you are better protected by the piece of steel in between both doors. If your seat doesn't go back this far, make seat extenders like I did. I did this because I'm super tall, but also for this reason!
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Size isn't everything... Some of the smaller cars have better safety ratings for side and front impact than big gas guzzlers. Check out your countries IHS website. I was shocked when I learned this...

One thing you can do is make sure that your body is centered between the front/back door so that if you are hit from the side or do roll you are better protected by the piece of steel in between both doors. If your seat doesn't go back this far, make seat extenders like I did. I did this because I'm super tall, but also for this reason!


This is true. But of course the crash tests are done against stationary objects..... A Civic getting hit by an F-350 is not the same as the IIHS crash test, nor is the impact going to be at the same height. So while the crash test results give you a relative idea of how the vehicle will behave in an accident, it may be misleading to think that the 5-star rating on a small car means you are going to survive an impact with a 1-ton pick-up or truck-based SUV with high bumpers.
 
True... I was just thinking that some of the domestic made SUV's did horribly compared to a little rice-box. With all things aside that's gotta stand for something...
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
True... I was just thinking that some of the domestic made SUV's did horribly compared to a little rice-box. With all things aside that's gotta stand for something...
wink.gif



But if that "horrid" domestic SUV hits that little rice-box, what happens?

Check youtube for the Explorer vs Focus crash test. It's scary.
 
Yeah but Focus is Domestic with some foreign influence... Lets see a domestic SUV versus a Honda / Toyota...

Size does matter, but not always... And if you have a Domestic SUV hitting a well made rice-box the effect on the passenger will be minimal.

My aunt has a 2002 civic and she got creamed on the side at 70KPH and while it totaled her car she was fine, and it sent the car rolling.

She was very lucky...
 
Yeah but Focus is Domestic with some foreign influence... Lets see a domestic SUV versus a Honda / Toyota...

Size does matter, but not always... And if you have a Domestic SUV hitting a well made rice-box the effect on the passenger will be minimal.

My aunt had a 2002 civic and she got creamed on the side at 70KPH and while it totaled her car she was fine, and it sent the car rolling.

She was very lucky...
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Yeah but Focus is Domestic with some foreign influence... Lets see a domestic SUV versus a Honda / Toyota...

Size does matter, but not always... And if you have a Domestic SUV hitting a well made rice-box the effect on the passenger will be minimal.

My aunt has a 2002 civic and she got creamed on the side at 70KPH and while it totaled her car she was fine, and it sent the car rolling.

She was very lucky...


What did she get hit by? I'm betting it wasn't an F-350.....

That crash test result would have been the same with any small car. I tore the entire side off a Subaru WRX with my Explorer and got a small scratch above the wheel well.
 
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I think it was a GMC Jimmy, or Ford Explorer can't remember... The guy in the truck was hurt bad, his leg was bleeding and his arm was broken. She had a bruise on her knee and had to replace her glasses which the leg snapped on.
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I think it was a GMC Jimmy, or Ford Explorer can't remember... The guy in the truck was hurt bad, his leg was bleeding and his arm was broken. She had a bruise on her knee and had to replace her glasses which the leg snapped on.


She get hit driver or passenger side?
 
Driver side. She was making a left and the guy ran the red and hit her 70% on the drivers door and 30% on the center beam between the front/rear door. I wish I had the pictures she has, to show you.. Wouldn't believe that she walked away. She ended up getting pushed through the intersection onto the dirt beside the road and then the car rolled down a 20 Ft embankment and landed on the roof. They had to cut her out of the car and it took 2 hours. It was insane!!!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Driver side. She was making a left and the guy ran the red and hit her 70% on the drivers door and 30% on the center beam between the front/rear door. I wish I had the pictures she has, to show you.. Wouldn't believe that she walked away. She ended up getting pushed through the intersection onto the dirt beside the road and then the car rolled down a 20 Ft embankment and landed on the roof. They had to cut her out of the car and it took 2 hours. It was insane!!!!!!


That is unreal!

There was an accident in the GTA the other day where a Civic was cut in half and the driver killed. She was very lucky!
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Size does matter, but not always... And if you have a Domestic SUV hitting a well made rice-box the effect on the passenger will be minimal.


Give me a break, StevieC. I'll take the Excursion and you take the Civic and I'll plow it into you any day of the week. Then we'll see which is well made.

The [censored]-[censored] Nissan Sentra that plowed into my '97 Monte Carlo had its entire front end smashed in, hood bent up, and radiator leaking, and my car had two small holes in the bumper. The bigger car win 99% of the time.
 
Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Size does matter, but not always... And if you have a Domestic SUV hitting a well made rice-box the effect on the passenger will be minimal.


Give me a break, StevieC. I'll take the Excursion and you take the Civic and I'll plow it into you any day of the week. Then we'll see which is well made.

The [censored]-[censored] Nissan Sentra that plowed into my '97 Monte Carlo had its entire front end smashed in, hood bent up, and radiator leaking, and my car had two small holes in the bumper. The bigger car win 99% of the time.


The Excursion driver:

"Honey, I think we just hit a raccoon...."
 
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