>  >I wonder if a big steel tube bumber mounted above the
>>vanagons bumper would save one's legs againts a giant
>>SUV??(one like the projectzwo bull bars)-the
>>projectzwo bumper mounts OVER the steel vanagon
>>bumper, so that would double the strength No?
>
>I would imagine that a Vanagon would win most tussles simply because the
>newest vehicles are built to self destruct from the slightest impact. If
>you have seen a newer car in a wreck, its amazing how it just falls apart.
>Good news for the passengers, but bad news for the vehicle itself. SUVs
>and even plain pickups will not stay together in a wreck, they are built
>to come apart for a reason.

You must be kidding.

*Any* front-engine vehicle has *much* more protection -- not
necessarily intentionally engineered -- than a Vanagon does.

Look at how much mass is between your knee caps and the other vehicle
(bridge abutment, etc.). Any other vehicle has an entire engine and
probably transmission, which is anchored to the chassis, and 4 feet
of double-fender and hood mass, etc.

It's all about mass. Yes, the Vanagon has huge mass, but most of it's
behind you. I'm sure that in a head-on collision our Vanagons' rear
bumper would come out better than any other vehicle's, but I'm not so
sure about my knee caps.

Dave
--
Dave Carpenter

Whatever you wish for me,
May you have twice as much.

"Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think
we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering." -- Arthur C.
Clarke