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[QUOTE=jamesqf;286788]OK, I've got a little experiment you can try. Take a pickup (say my '88 Toyota), accelerate to a reasonable speed, and measure your stopping distance. Now put a good load in the bed (say a load of logs for firewood), accelerate to the same speed, and again measure your stopping distance. Bet you find that they aren't the same - 'cause I've tried it :-)
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Not always true, I watched a show with 1 ton dually pickups, they stop faster with load, rear tire don't help without some weight back there.
Size advantage is more important when you hit someone smaller in head on collisions, the smaller car will go from 50 mpg east bound to 10 mph west bound (60 mph speed changed spread over the time of crumpling to give the G forces the driver needs to survive) the bigger car goes from 50 to 10, only 40 mph, the crumpling time would be the same, so G forces are way lower.
Turn that big car into semi, car goes 50 east to 45 west, 95 mph worth of G force impact (semi's don't have crumple zone so only one crumple zone, so time is basically half of first first example). Semi goes 50 to 45, on 5 mph impact to the driver as far as G forces go.
Running into a wall all undergo 50-0 decell G force, the longest crumple length reduces the G forces absorbed by the occupants. A longer car would make it more possible to have longer crumple zones, but construction is the key.
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