MKI to MKVII

[AGB]

That's a very important point AGB, the quietness and comfort of modern cars with all it's safety systems, does lead to a disconnect with speed at which you are travelling. Going back just 22 years, I remember when my wife got her first Renault Clio, it had airbags etc, but when you went on the motorway, you knew when you were doing 70mph, as not only did the road and wind noise and the engine complaining it was going too fast tell you, when you were overtaken by a 38 tonne HGV, you knew about it as the side draft use to blow the car all over the road.

Fast forward to today and my wife's current Polo Blue GT (which itself is nearly 7 years old), is a completely different beast and travelling at 70mph seems like you were doing 50mph in the Clio, and it's much more planted to the road. It's really easy to speed in modern cars if you are not paying attention. I mean the little Polo is capable of over 130mph - in a Polo (and it's not even the GTI) !

Well, blue is a fast colour so you need to factor that in as well!  I do know what you mean.

I borrowed a Taycan from my dealer a while ago now and they'd thrown the kitchen sink at it as their demonstrator. It had an additional pack which included supplemental insulation and sound insulating glass. It was like wearing noise cancelling headphones in the cabin. I turned off the warp speed sound creator and started playing this guessing game with the speed realising how much I relied on interaction with the car and other cues. At best, I was 10mph out but I ended up spending a lot of time watching my speedo to keep my speed in check.

Don't get me wrong, superb car and probably the best cabin of any car I've ever been in from a luxury and comfort perspective but a moment's inattention and you're into points. Or find yourself without sufficient stopping distance and into the back of the car in front... 

[Yusee]

I wonder to what extent the falling death rate is down to the massive improvements in tyre technology and braking systems, rather than to how well cars perform in a crash.

Speed limits haven’t changed but the stopping power and roadholding of modern cars is on a completely different level.

I remember a high speed tyre blowout on the M40 in a VW passat in 1994. I managed to steer the car to the hard shoulder but it was a pretty frightening moment. I don’t think tyres do that these days? Certainly hasn’t happened to me since then.

My 205’s on limit handling is quite different on modern PS3s than it was on 1990s tyres. Far more secure.

[Guzzle]

I would think seatbelt legislation and airbags would both be significant factors in falling death rates.

I can also say many of the roads local to me have lower speed limits than they did 20 or so years ago.

[Yusee]

My point was you would have to be driving like an absolute ar5e to seriously crash a modem car, not necessarily the case 20 years ago , the good old days when a slight misjudgment on a cold wet surface and you’re toast.

[symonh2000]

You could argue that the fact modern cars are harder to crash has been cancelled out by the increased number of them on the roads.

[Exonian]

… and maybe the fact half the driving population aren’t sitting behind the wheel pissed these days.