U.S. blocks Pagani Hauyra

[balthazar]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/09/autos/NHTSA_pagani_huayra/index.htm

[loki]

maybe if they had less than the 50 (employees) magic number it's be a "small business" and be exempt from many rules and regulations.... *facepalm*

[pow]

If a Kia Rio has a dual stage airbag, then surely I would expect a $1m+ super car to have one as well.

[PurdueGuy]

IMO, if the non-conformance to regulations only puts the driver at higher risk, they should be able to sell it, but require a waiver by the purchaser releasing certain liabilities. If a person can have a motorcycle & risk their life that way, they should be able to have a supercar if it's only their life they're risking.

[balthazar]

I've made much the same argument RE hardtops vs. convertibles & crash standards... I was hissed down.

[Camino LS6]

Abuse of power, plain and simple.

[Justin Bimmer]

The problem here is that NHTSA was GRANTING waivers when Pagani applied for one years ago. It was just recently that NHTSA decided to change course and stop granting waivers. That's the problem.

[Camino LS6]

The safety-nazis need to take a big step back and shut up for a while.

[balthazar]

Yea- it's getting pretty sickening.

[Chris_Doane]

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/10/pagani-huayra-still-coming-to-u-s-just-delayed-until-2013/

[SoCalCTS]

who cares! some rich jerk can't have his toy.

[pow]

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/10/pagani-huayra-still-coming-to-u-s-just-delayed-until-2013/

So it's treated like every other car in the world. We had to wait an extra two or so years for a US-spec, road legal Fiat 500 or Ford Fiesta, too.

[Chris_Doane]

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/10/pagani-huayra-still-coming-to-u-s-just-delayed-until-2013/

So it's treated like every other car in the world. We had to wait an extra two or so years for a US-spec, road legal Fiat 500 or Ford Fiesta, too.

Ha, good point.

[Justin Bimmer]

No the problem is all the rage here about this is misguided. The bottom line is: if Pagani knew NHTSA would change their mind on exemptions, they would have installed the new style airbags and raised the price of the car. The issue here isn't OMGWTFBBQ safety standards it is the inconsistent and delayed ruling by NHTSA.

[SoCalCTS]

No the problem is all the rage here about this is misguided. The bottom line is: if Pagani knew NHTSA would change their mind on exemptions, they would have installed the new style airbags and raised the price of the car. The issue here isn't OMGWTFBBQ safety standards it is the inconsistent and delayed ruling by NHTSA.

NO the problem is who builds a million dollar car with cheap old technology airbags? They claim a financial hardship exemption and then blame the US government for not approving it? I'm sick of the idiots that blame the government for everything when its idiots that try to work the system to berak the law.

[SAmadei]

NO the problem is who builds a million dollar car with cheap old technology airbags? They claim a financial hardship exemption and then blame the US government for not approving it? I'm sick of the idiots that blame the government for everything when its idiots that try to work the system to berak the law.

Are you seriously suggesting this is about trying to blatantly break the law?!? The waivers are there for a reason. Some vehicles should NOT need to follow the FMVSS.

Pagani is talking about bringing 5 cars to this country. Engineering an airbag system for their particular car that is passenger weight sensitive is not a trivial task. Its not like they are running "cheap old technology"... its a case where they need to completely revamp the system for a minor feature... and Zonda is going to build 40 a year. Lets say its a $5 mil project... thats adding $128K to each car.

And why? The Pagani is a frigging RACECAR... With few exceptions, its probably the safest place to be while crashing at 140 mph... completely unlike some 2011 minivan with 22 airbags that actually meet the NHTSA requirements.

Having the NHTSA dictate safety to Pagani is like Google taking server farm design suggestions from the Amish.

And why suddenly be so safety anal to Pagani? For crying out loud the rental companies are not required to get the recall items fixed on the cars they rent and sell. Thats where the safety problem is in 2011.

Personally, I'm tired of the NHTSA and their insane FMVSS. In my opinion, its just our way of locking small, new companies and foreign companies out of our automotive market... and we can still claim to have "free trade". The FMVSS should set some sane minimum requirements... let independent testing organizations, such as IIHS do testing and report on whats safe. Then let the consumer decide.

If I'm 7 and can afford a Pagani, I should be smart enough to know that the airbags are going to kill me if I wreck it.

OTOH, if the FMVSS is so much about safety... Why on earth are motorcycles and convertibles still legal? Why are cars still allowed to go over 25mph?

So what does the NHTSA ruling change? Nothing. Some rich folks will import them without engines and register than as kit cars or something. All the NHTSA funds wasted on this... out the window. Next year the Pagani will be here legally, and slightly more expensively and the NHTSA will claim victory and will start working on new requirements that are total overkill. Personally, I'd rather the NHTSA use their funds on prostitutes than use their money to interfere with my purchasing options. Yeah, I might not be in the market for a Pagani... but I would be in the market for a Holden Ute.

[Camino LS6]

You nailed it Samadei!

NHTSA is just looking to justify its existence, throwing its weight around.

The roadblocks to normal commerce that agencies like NHTSA create is counter-productive.

We'd be better-off without them.

[Camino LS6]

If they really wanted to do something to increase safety - they should mandate that stainless steel be used for all brake lines.

That, at least, would have a real effect.

[SoCalCTS]

NO the problem is who builds a million dollar car with cheap old technology airbags? They claim a financial hardship exemption and then blame the US government for not approving it? I'm sick of the idiots that blame the government for everything when its idiots that try to work the system to berak the law.

Are you seriously suggesting this is about trying to blatantly break the law?!? The waivers are there for a reason. Some vehicles should NOT need to follow the FMVSS.

Pagani is talking about bringing 5 cars to this country. Engineering an airbag system for their particular car that is passenger weight sensitive is not a trivial task. Its not like they are running "cheap old technology"... its a case where they need to completely revamp the system for a minor feature... and Zonda is going to build 40 a year. Lets say its a $5 mil project... thats adding $128K to each car.

And why? The Pagani is a frigging RACECAR... With few exceptions, its probably the safest place to be while crashing at 140 mph... completely unlike some 2011 minivan with 22 airbags that actually meet the NHTSA requirements.

Having the NHTSA dictate safety to Pagani is like Google taking server farm design suggestions from the Amish.

And why suddenly be so safety anal to Pagani? For crying out loud the rental companies are not required to get the recall items fixed on the cars they rent and sell. Thats where the safety problem is in 2011.

Personally, I'm tired of the NHTSA and their insane FMVSS. In my opinion, its just our way of locking small, new companies and foreign companies out of our automotive market... and we can still claim to have "free trade". The FMVSS should set some sane minimum requirements... let independent testing organizations, such as IIHS do testing and report on whats safe. Then let the consumer decide.

If I'm 7 and can afford a Pagani, I should be smart enough to know that the airbags are going to kill me if I wreck it.

OTOH, if the FMVSS is so much about safety... Why on earth are motorcycles and convertibles still legal? Why are cars still allowed to go over 25mph?

So what does the NHTSA ruling change? Nothing. Some rich folks will import them without engines and register than as kit cars or something. All the NHTSA funds wasted on this... out the window. Next year the Pagani will be here legally, and slightly more expensively and the NHTSA will claim victory and will start working on new requirements that are total overkill. Personally, I'd rather the NHTSA use their funds on prostitutes than use their money to interfere with my purchasing options. Yeah, I might not be in the market for a Pagani... but I would be in the market for a Holden Ute.

wow that was pointless.

Really you are going to blame a 7 year old that gets killed because his dad signed a waiver to drive a car without child safe airbags? thats sick.

Hopefully they just sell the 5 cars that were destined for the US elsewhere. who cares.

[Camino LS6]

Safety, or more accurately the illusion of safety, is so over-valued in this society.

Makes me want to puke.

[SAmadei]

wow that was pointless.

Really you are going to blame a 7 year old that gets killed because his dad signed a waiver to drive a car without child safe airbags? thats sick.

That sentence is so awkward, I can't understand what your point is. The blame is on the 7 year old?

What I wrote:

If I'm 7 and can afford a Pagani, I should be smart enough to know that the airbags are going to kill me if I wreck it.

I wrote nothing about Daddy driving or signing a waiver. I wrote about a 7 year old who can afford, bought and is driving a Pagani ON HIS OWN. Its called hyperbole.

That said, unless the child is a legally emancipated it would be the fathers' responsibility for his safety in any case. Its "SICK" that I expect parents to be educated enough to keep their children safe and take responsibility. OMG, I have the "sickness" of responsibility... I am doomed. Anyway, it ain't the car manufacturer or government's job to ensure your offspring survive. Remember, your friendly government will willingly take your offspring, hand them a weapon and throw them in front of an enemy tank to defend a foreign land. Pagani isn't doing that.

Also, remember, that its likely Pagani's opinion that passive restrains, like air bags, are completely unnecessary... Racecars DON'T have airbags... they have very effective seatbelts. Had the government not forced air bags on the unsuspecting, unbelted public, we wouldn't have air bags that inflate with such force that they rip the heads off of children and short women. Its the government that put a MUNITION in your steering wheel... and now penalizes Pagani for installing bombs that "only" meet 2010 standards.

Hopefully they just sell the 5 cars that were destined for the US elsewhere. who cares.

They will... and I doubt those 5 cars will ever kill anybody. There is something about a 7 figure car that causes even the richest people on earth to drive them judiciously.

Who cares? I do. And apparently a few others do.

If you want the government to wrap you in bubble wrap, wipe your ass, and only let you out of your cage when its "safe", then that's fine, but some of us want to opt out of that... and we don't want to pay for your bubble wrap, keepers or diapers, either.

Personally, I think everyone willing to trade freedom for a little security will eventually be turned into batteries for the Matrix... or Soylent Green.

Edited August 12, 2011 by SAmadei

[Blake Noble]

SAmedei, just let SoCalCTS back in the heard with the rest of the sheep. There's no use trying to save that one.

[smk4565]

I am surprised that adding an airbag would cause such financial strain, you'd think they could source it off another automaker. But at the same time, to block a car that might sell 10 units a year, is pointless. Plus, this is basically a track car anyway, and race cars don't have airbags either, but the government lets them race every weekend.

[Sixty8panther]

Ever watch the Disney / Pixar movie Wall-E?

There's a point where the captain of the Axiom yells at the Auto-Pilot (Robotic Helm)

"I don't WANT to be safe I want to LIVE!!!"

I'm reminded of that and am on board with Balthazar, Camino & all others who think the safety Nazis have gotten absurd.

Go to a car show and compare a 1971 Cadillac to a 1973 and make sure you have Ralph Nader to thank.

And yet..... twenty years later, even with a billion miles of red tape from Washington D.C. Toyota was still allowed to sell

deathtraps in this country like the Previa Minivan.

BTW, you want safety, here you go:

[Sixty8panther]

Also some more irony by association.

The V12 motor in the Pagani is a modified & massaged "m120" sourced from Mercedes Benz.

Same basic motor that I have in my "project car" 1992 Mercedes Benz 600SEL.

Now my 600SEL is the biggest, baddest production M.B. you could buy from the factory in 1992.

It was the first year of the "W140" chassis that replaced the W126 chassis that underpins my

wife's 1991 560SEC.

Bear with me I am about to make a valid point.

One of the most horrific celebrity deaths of our generation was when Princess Diana was

killed in Paris in the back of a W140 M.B. but not a V12 powered one, not even a SL.

No, her car was the "baby" of the "Big Body Benz" cars with the smallest motor available,

the S280 with the 2.8 liter inline-six motor. [straight six]

Depending on who you talk / listen to the car was traveling between 65 - 100+mph when

the collision happened. One thing is for certain, it was a head on collision with a huge

concrete pillar. everyone in the car should have looked like a Moth that hits a Peterbilt

grille. And yet, according to some, if she had been wearing her seatbelt she probably

would have lived.

Stupid, stupid. Your chauffeur is driving at more than TWICE the speed limit while

somewhat impaired / intoxicated and you're in city traffic being chased by crazy paparazzi

and at no point do you think to click your seatbelt on?!

Another PERFECT illustration of mandated, regulated safety being wasted.

Mercedes Benz spent over a BILLION DOLLAR$ U.S. to design the W140, safety was a

huge chunk of that outrageous number and yet people still manage to wreck the car so

bad that all but one person dies out of the four.

You can lead a horse to water.....

Edited August 15, 2011 by Sixty8panther