Steering column safety, will a collapsible hub/boss be sufficient?

[johnyma22 3]

I was recommended that having a collapsible steering column (in case of collision) is a worthwhile upgrade.  The logic is that the standard steering wheel can end up skewering the driver.

 

1. Is it true the standard column/steering wheel setup is a common fault of fatalities on head on collisions in 205s?  I wasn't aware of this... 

 

2. Is there actually more safety going with something like a Momo hub/boss?  I'd rather keep the standard steering wheel but I have inspectors to please.. 

 

 

[welshpug 1,657]

1, never heard that, quite unlikely as its a 2 piece column not a single bar like old american stuff.

 

2, less, as its bare aluminium in front of you.

 

 

if NCAP rating is a concern, a 205 really isn't for you, though its far from the worst old tin box out there.

[barneys66 123 1 Cars]

Here you go - column is fine .

 

Understand where significant others may be coming from, but it's not the 205's forte.

 

 

[Thijs_Rallye 87 4 Cars]

A 205 is the kind of car if you f*ck up, your family can use it as your coffin as well.

[johnyma22 3]

Agreed, the consensus then is that a collapsible steering column is not a worthwhile investment.

[Thijs_Rallye 87 4 Cars]

Like Meiron said, this isn't applicable to a 205. A collapsible steering column is something which applies to really old vehicles with a solid straight steering column, like a transit MK1. (see pic below)

 

The 205 has two u joints in the column which circumvent the column entering the vehicle in case of a frontal crash.

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by Thijs_Rallye
added pic

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

To be fair I had a head on smash in a 205gti about 2001. Went from 60mph to zero in the space of a few inches. Actually I ploughed into a Renault savanna ?!? The car was totalled but the steering column didn't impinge on the drivers space. I got thrown into the steering wheel and had a nice bruise across my chest , also the ignition key got wedged in my knee. I did hobble away.  

 

I think as with any smash it all depends on the angle and the immovability of the object you hit. I may not have faired so well against a bridge support nor a truck!

[Ozymandis 97]

Back when the SVA test was introduced I was building  cars which had to be re-designed to comply with the new rules and I read up on columns etc.

 

If the column has two universal joints a front end crash will actualy pull the wheel and column away from You, up to a certain point depending on just how massive Your crash is. No "spearing" to worry about with the 205 arrangement, it is in effect collapsible.

 

You still needed a collapsible boss for the test because of impact injuries from Your inertia splatting You on the wheel, or it coming in to hit You.

A common problem was people gripping the wheel tight at impact, and breaking their fingers and thumbs, it was reckoned a collapsible boss lessened this too.

 

Their was a special bit about the key etc and anything in the Humans vicinity being hard or angular.

 

I`ve been a front seat passenger in a 205 that hit the central reservation Armco at 80`ish, on the M6 going to Scotland,  we were completely unharmed and it had about 2 feet missing from each end of the car, its "the luck of the draw" as to the angles of impact etc, but a collapsible boss sounds a good idea to me.