<VV> Need some rebuttle info

[FrankCB]

     In over 20 YEARS of running Corvairs at Lime Rock Race Track we had only ONE Corvair that flipped over onto its roof.  And that car was highly modified and driven by an experienced and skillful driver but suffered a tire blowout while in a sharp turn.  The car had a roll cage so the driver simply crawled out the window and walked away.
     Some Corvairs over the years spun out on that track (did it twice, myself) but rollovers were almost (but not quite) non-existent.
     Frank "setting the record straight" Burkhard

In a message dated 03/25/09 13:16:44 Eastern Daylight Time, HallGrenn writes:
Tim,  The guy sounds sincere (he had a personal loss) and  his arguments 
sound just as plausible as Nader's attack but the facts don't  support him.   
Corvairs had a heavier duty tire with a stronger sidewall for  instance.  The 
rampside, 95 and Greenbrier had weight more evenly spread  front to rear than the 
cars.  And, most importantly, NHTSA did the tests in  the early '70's that 
disproved every one of Nader's contentions about the cars  (he didn't write about 
the FC's).  Corvairs (like all cars) could roll over  under worst case 
scenarios, but NHTSA's testers were unable to make the  test Corvairs roll though 
they did make the VW's and others do so.  Swing  axle cars aren't as good as the 
modified '64 and '65 through '69 new suspension  designs, but they handled 
better than other American cars of the time.  The  problem with swing axles is 
that the rear track gets a little bit narrower under  heavy cornering conditions 
which increases the rear roll center.  Coupled  with over inflated front 
tires and amateur or reckless driving and a Corvair  will spin out, but only after 
holding the road at a higher G level than  other cars of the period (Corvette 
and exotics excepted).  The federal  government proved it. 

I had an acquaintance who lost a friend in a LM Corvair fire after an   
accident that he blamed on the front gas tank for years.  But he fell in  love with 
my LMs and bought a '66 four door from me.  He came to realize  that the gas 
tank was better protected in the Corvairs (about three feet back  and behind 
the front cross member) than in other cars at the time and better  protected 
than a lot of cars even today.  Some accidents will  overcome even the best 
engineering. 

Bob Hall 
Group Corvair