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I hope everyone was okay.

-J

It appears that the 911 suffered more structural damage than the TT. The cabin of the TT looks intact but the 911 shows significant body shell distortions; however the 911 could have suffered the damage from the secondary collision with the embankment.

-J

I've seen some gnarly bashed up TTs and even with huge damage to the front end usually the cabin doesn't show much damage at all. I felt really safe in that little car back when I drove it (moreso than my Subaru, but it apparently got good ratings).

My insurance is going up roughtly 10% in the subaru. So a 250hp 4 door sedan costs more than a 225hp coupe on the ol' insurometer.

Recently the Detroit News ran an article about the failure of several automakers to comply with a new roof strength standard. Porsche is opposed to the adoption of the standard because of 1) added costs (roughly $1 million for a test facility), and 2) it needs time to redesign product to meet the new standards (oh, about 2012).

There is no mention of any VAG products failing to meet the standard or VAG executives asking for an exemption. Looking at the photographs is interesting, very interesting.

-J<ul><li><a href="http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060821/AUTO01/608210335">Proposed roof standards</a></li></ul>

Look closely at both cars. The Porsche's driver's side door is not open but the passenger's door is open. The opened door is near the embankment, not ideal conditions, and indicates that the driver's door probably could not be opened. The TT, however, has both doors open, the roof is not deformed, and the windshield is not broken; unlike the Porsche.

Roof colum strength is directly correlated to body shell integrity. I was always under the impression that Porsches were very strong and combined an integral "roll" cage in the unitized body design. Crash dynamics, and safety, require crush zones coupled with a highly rigid, stable passenger cell to reduce or minimize injuries. Not knowing all the facts but having two cars of similar size and weight, and looking at the photographs, I would suspect the TT mk II of having a stronger structure than the 911. The passenger cell should never be part of the crush zone.