You tell me, just how intense has the domestic auto market become in 2025! To verify vehicle protection safety, they actually brought out a 5-ton steel coil to simulate the case of a collision after a steel coil falls from a truck ahead. In the end, this Dongfeng Honda S7 used the front-end crumple zone to withstand everything, the passenger compartment remained basically intact, and the airbags that should deploy did deploy. Based on inference from ordinary traffic accident scenes, if the occupants inside had all used their restraint systems correctly, they would most likely have been able to unbuckle their seat belts on their own, unlock the doors, get out, and escape in time.
From the figure above, we can see that the front-row dual airbags deployed normally, and the front-row passengers' dual knee airbags deployed normally. For this reason, the author specifically checked the official configuration table of the Dongfeng Honda S7. The safety column's full-table standard features are complete to an astonishing degree, including the ACE load-bearing body structure, aluminum alloy hood, front high-strength aluminum alloy anti-collision beam (with aluminum alloy energy-absorbing box), rear high-strength steel anti-collision beam (with energy-absorbing box), front/rear seat belt unfastened reminder, front-row airbags + front-row side airbags + front-row knee airbags + front-row center airbag + rear-row side airbags + front and rear-row through-type side curtain airbags. It is precisely because of such complete passive safety equipment that the Dongfeng Honda S7 was able to protect the lives and property of the occupants inside after colliding with the steel coil.
In fact, in terms of "safety philosophy," established traditional automakers have already built a complete theoretical system through years of real-world practice and applied it to R&D, design, and manufacturing. Therefore, at a time when tragic accidents involving new energy vehicles are frequently reported, if you are planning to buy a car, you can actually take a look at "joint-venture new energy vehicles." In terms of overall product performance alone, they can first provide you with a good car-using experience, and at the same time also provide you with more thoughtful active and passive safety protection. In addition, with a complete service network, they can provide you with convenient services for choosing, buying, using, and maintaining a car.
This collision test simulated a total of 5 collision scenarios. The first was the frontal impact test mentioned at the beginning of the article. The second simulated an offset collision. As shown in the figure above, under the impact of a 5-ton steel coil, damage appeared to the left side of the front end, but the front-row airbags inside the vehicle deployed normally, the side curtain airbags deployed normally, and more importantly, the front and rear doors could be opened normally. This is the key to the occupants being able to escape successfully.
The author searched for information related to the Dongfeng Honda S7 and never expected that it had actually won the "2024 China Top Ten Body" award. You should know that the event evaluating this award was co-hosted by authoritative institutions such as the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, so the "2024 Top Ten Safe Body" is still quite prestigious.
As shown in the figure above (from the model's official website), the Dongfeng Honda S7 also perfectly inherits Honda's excellent body structure design. The front section is divided into three force transmission paths: upper, middle, and lower. The upper force transmission path consists of the longitudinal beam inside the fender extending forward and gradually bending downward, with the beam head connected to the beam head of the front longitudinal beam of the body. In this way, in a frontal collision or offset collision accident, part of the collision energy can be effectively dispersed to the upper force transmission path, providing better protection for the passenger compartment.
The middle force transmission path is composed of the front anti-collision beam + energy-absorbing box + front longitudinal beam of the body, etc. From the figure above, we can also see that the front energy-absorbing box has been widened, and at the same time the heads of the front longitudinal beams on the left and right sides of the body have also been expanded and widened. This design provides better protection performance in offset collisions.
In the lower figure of the figure above, the thick crossbeam at the front end of the vehicle front section is very obvious, indicating that the front subframe of the Dongfeng Honda S7 at least adopts a composite frame structure, and it may also be a full-frame front subframe. In this way, in a frontal collision accident, the front crossbeam of the front subframe receives the collision energy and disperses it to the longitudinal beam structures on the left and right sides, and then further disperses and transmits it through the skeleton in the lower force transmission path. This is the lower force transmission path of the front section.
When the collision energy from the front of the vehicle is divided into three parts, would you say it effectively reduces the pressure on the passenger compartment, maximizes the integrity of the passenger compartment, and preserves more survival space for the occupants inside? At least the results of these two steel coil frontal and offset collision tests verify this point.
The third steel coil test was a side impact. The steel coil rolled down under the conditions shown in the figure above and struck the vehicle's B-pillar, testing the passenger compartment's side-impact protection architecture and the safety protection of the power battery. After the collision, no obvious bending of the B-pillar was seen, and the doors could still be opened normally. This shows that the B-pillar + rocker beam + built-in transverse reinforcement structure in the passenger compartment in the side frame structure withstood this heavy blow. Usually the power battery is arranged inside the rocker beams on the left and right sides, so this side impact seemingly did not affect the power battery.
According to official information, the proportion of high-strength steel used in the body of the Dongfeng Honda S7 reached 68%, of which 1500MPa aerospace-grade hot-formed steel accounted for about 25%. Thanks to the composite reinforcement of the power battery, the torsional rigidity of the Dongfeng Honda S7's body reached 40,000 N·m/degree. You should know that higher body torsional rigidity is also beneficial to improving vehicle handling performance.
The fourth and fifth tests respectively tested the left and right A-pillars. From the figure above, it can be seen that the degree of deformation of the A-pillar was not too great, with only slight dents. On the one hand, this shows the authenticity of the body's use of 1500MPa hot-formed steel. On the other hand, related information shows that the A-pillar of the Dongfeng Honda S7 actually has as many as 5 layers, of which three layers are 1500MPa hot-formed steel, one layer is 980MPa high-strength steel, and the welding technology also adopts Honda's original resistance welding technology, which not only improves welding strength but also reduces the width of the A-pillar as much as possible, reducing A-pillar blind spots and expanding the driving field of view. Of course, driving safety is then even more guaranteed.
If we calculate according to the method used by a certain staff member of a certain new forces automaker, 1500MPa×3+980MPa, wow, then the strength of the Dongfeng Honda S7's A-pillar would be immense, haha, just kidding, everyone please don't take it seriously.
There is a video about the power battery on the official website of Dongfeng Honda S7. The author captured a few images that happen to show the internal skeleton of the power battery. Because power battery safety is one of the most crucial aspects of all safety content for new energy vehicles, and is also a key concern for all new energy vehicle consumers, the author also searched related information.
The battery pack of the Dongfeng Honda S7 adopts an integrated die-cast all-aluminum casing, and even has as many as 15 layers of physical protection. The battery circuit adopts a dual-insurance design, and the split isolation cooling system makes the power battery safety even better. More importantly, the power battery of the Dongfeng Honda S7 adopts a multi-module structure. If a single unit is damaged during later use, it can be repaired by replacing only a single battery module, further reducing maintenance costs. Using a new energy vehicle feels more reassuring this way. It seems that established traditional automakers are still better at taking care of consumers' interests!
After the Dongfeng Honda S7 endured five brutal abuses by a 5-ton steel coil, Professor Zhang also gave an on-site interpretation, using video materials and the vehicle's actual damage condition to comprehensively and in detail demonstrate how a scientifically reasonable safe body can provide better safety protection for the occupants inside.
In recent years, as China's auto market has comprehensively transformed toward new energy, the proportion of new energy vehicle sales has continued to rise, but these high-horsepower electric drive monsters have also brought many tragic traffic accident cases to our traffic environment. Without safety, how can we even talk about luxury?
The Dongfeng Honda S7 verifies the safety of its body protection architecture through an overweight steel coil collision test. First, it demonstrates the higher safety concepts of established automakers, and at the same time comprehensively shows that a scientifically reasonable safe body can bring better safety protection to the occupants inside. When choosing a car, even a new energy vehicle, the author also suggests comparing and test driving more. Only after more comparison and test driving may you discover that new energy vehicles built by more established traditional automakers have more advantages, and these are reflected not only in the vehicle's dynamic performance, but also in the level of service. Choosing a car is not only choosing an automobile product, but also implies the future service experience of using and maintaining the car.
Note: The images in the article come from the internet and will be deleted if infringing! Written impromptu without review; please forgive any errors or omissions!
