rear seat safety & crash tests

[maxspivak]

Hi Folks,

First post here. Looking to buy a 911. However, with our first baby on the way, the mother-to-be doesn't want a him in the car. Here concern is that there isn't enough room and crumple zones around the rear seats in case of a collision, esp. a rear-ender. Of course this reduces her enthusiasm about me getting the car. She'd rather I bought an M3.

I'm looking for any data on 911 crash tests. NHTSB hasn't crash tested any Porsches. The dealers claim that Europe has, but I can't find any information. She's fairly reasonable and solid data would probably sway her. Any help would be appreciated.

Max

[jmj996]

If it's any consolation, your baby is supposed to sit in the FRONT seat, rear-facing with the airbag disabled until at least one year old. You can physically make it work in the back seat with the front seat moved almost completely forward, but not supposed to. This gives you over a year before you deal with this issue again. I'd be interested in hearing any crash test results as well, but I never thought of researching this before. Porsche designs infant/toddler/child seats specifically for use in these cars, and that was good enough for me. iihs.org is another authority for independent crash testing results, but they do not test anything from Porsche either (wonder why? $$). Crumple zones aside, one factor to consider is that any back seat that doesn't have side air bags will not be as safe as a vehicle that does. If the M3 has side air bags in the back seat, then your wife has a pretty good case. Good luck.