Goodbye Subcompact Cars

[thered56]

During the impact, my wife's head went through the windshield and then the airbags went off, blasting her back into the seat. The seat belts locked up and wouldn't let us out of the car. We had to break them apart to get them to let us go.

That's no good at all! I don't trust airbags. Perhaps they've been better developed since those years, but that type of thing is worrying. Also, shows how invaluable those seatbelt cutter/glass breaker tools could be to have in your vehicle, within reach. How were you able to break them apart?

And it's good to hear that your injuries aren't too overly serious Joe.

[DriverOne]

That's no good at all! I don't trust airbags. Perhaps they've been better developed since those years, but that type of thing is worrying. Also, shows how invaluable those seatbelt cutter/glass breaker tools could be to have in your vehicle, within reach. How were you able to break them apart?

And it's good to hear that your injuries aren't too overly serious Joe.

I agree, I'm glad your injuries aren't bad. Thered, I used a hammer... I was probably just panicked 'cause the air bags were smoking and I thought that the car was on fire. I think maybe I bought a stolen car, 'cause I had to use an aftermarket ignition to drive it... Could have been a reason for all that going wrong.

[Britstiva]

Holy smokes! You are lucky to have survived that wreck.... Sorry to hear the loss of your fiance.

I own the same Aspire... and yeah... that just totally freaked me out.

[freshtiva]

Thats tragic Festy90, best wishes for a full recovery in every way.

[festy90]

thanks y'all im gettin better and what i have told about the story is all my lawyer will let me say about it until we find out if action will be taken against the trucker or the trucking company. im currently looking for a truck or suv to move into but until i find one im gonna wind up havin to drive my dads extra car which happens to be an 89 festiva so i will have to get used to driving a small car again. i tend to bounce back from things pretty quickly so i dont think it will be an issue i just dont think i will feel safe driving it until im able to afford to get a truck or find one to my liking.

[festy90]

i know a guy in the next town over from me who has 15 or so festys on the hill next to his house so just for the heck of it since i do love festys i may just buy one and mess around with it a lil since there were a few things i had wanted to do to the one i owned before i was forced to sell it. i wanted to make it into a lil sleeper. it was fast on its own and had the exhaust that made everyone that i pulled up next to laugh as it was. i had an exhaust on it that hit 107db. everyone i pulled up next to that heard or saw it laughed until i took off smoking the tires thru the intersection screamin to the next light. theyd always pull up with their jaws in there laps asking what it had in it and wouldnt believe me when i said it was stock except for the exhaust and functional hood scoop.

[Grey Vw]

i know a guy in the next town over from me who has 15 or so festys on the hill next to his house so just for the heck of it since i do love festys i may just buy one and mess around with it a lil since there were a few things i had wanted to do to the one i owned before i was forced to sell it. i wanted to make it into a lil sleeper. it was fast on its own and had the exhaust that made everyone that i pulled up next to laugh as it was. i had an exhaust on it that hit 107db. everyone i pulled up next to that heard or saw it laughed until i took off smoking the tires thru the intersection screamin to the next light. theyd always pull up with their jaws in there laps asking what it had in it and wouldnt believe me when i said it was stock except for the exhaust and functional hood scoop.

How did you make your festiva that loud? Mines a little too quiet for my liking.

[DriverOne]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/vivalahatch_pics/017e575e.jpg

You might like one of these?

[festy90]

well first my car back fired and blasted a huge hole in the pipe before the pipe bends the go over the axel so i cut it off and had a friend put a glass pack muffler on it mounted in the tunnel below the shifter and "Y"d the exhaust off after the axel around the spare tire well. at that point it was at 101db. then i hit a 30lb raccoon and destroyed my catalytic converter so instead of payin $180 for a new one i removed it and put a pipe in its place and placed resonator tips at the end. so all in all it had 1.75 inch pip to the glass pack and 2" pipe all the way back to 3" dual resonator tips.

[festy90]

i would love to have one of those as long as someone else fills the tank when i need to refill lol

[festy90]

here are some pics of how i had my friend do the exhaust on it. and yes that is a plate print on the back bumper lol my friends idea of bump drafting on the highway

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/cuda442/festiva/DSCN3068.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/cuda442/festiva/DSCN3065.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/cuda442/festiva/DSCN3070.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/cuda442/festiva/DSCN3032.jpg

[festy90]

well my doctor and physical therapist have finally released me to drive and return to work. my work cant take me back with the restrictions i have but im able to move back home from my parents house where i have been staying while i recovered. since im driving and havent found another vehicle to purchase and drive, im driving my dads extra car which is a 4 speed 89 festiva with a carbed engine. it doesnt have to top end that my old 5 speed did but it works for now and im not as uncomfortable driving a tiny car as i originally thought i would be so i should be able to get around without any trouble.

[Safety Guy]

Good to hear from you!

Karl

[TominMO]

Ditto, and best wishes with full recovery!

[links56]

Very sorry for your loss. I was involved in an accident with a semi truck in 2006. When a semi truck ran a stop sign off the interstate. The speed limit was 55 on my road and he looked like he was going to stop then just pulled out in front of me. I threw the wheel to the right for the ditch and slid sideways into the rear set of duals on the tractor. Then I slid down the trailer and underneath at the same time. My head broke out the back window and side window and then the cab crushed down on me. I was able to kick the passenger door open enough to crawl out. It broke the landing gear off the semi and threw it 30 feet down the road. And I was in a jacked up f250 that I only had for 2 days. The tow truck couldn't even pull my truck out from under the semi trailer. We had to bring the versitile tractor down and jerk it out. So no matter what you drive the semi always wins. Let anyone of us know if you ever need to talk.