Tom, The only reason I put those post up was after hearing how safe his Focus is, was to show that his Focus will fold up, too. You get hit by a significantly larger vehicle (like a semi), or wreck at high speed, I dont' care what you're driving, what bumper you have, you're probably screwed (unless you're in a NASCAR COF - then you can smack walls at 180 and walk away). And, yes the Focus did well in a frontal collision, but it did fold up (I know - crush zones). Consumer reports did crash test, passed great in the head-on, too, sucked in the side hit.
Frankly I had an ARB on the D2 when I got in the head-on, it didn't prevent the frame and the body from bending (moved the left fender back about 2 inches, the dash went back about the same), probably wouldn't have made any difference if I had an RTE on either, frame still would have bent.
Crush can's as far as I'm concerned are great for preventing damage at slow speeds, like when some old grandma backs into your car at Wal-Mart, but I don't really think they do much for anything in a collision at speed. They get pushed in in about 2 nanoseconds, then the force is transferred to the frame anyway, which is really what absorbes the impact (unless I'm being a dumbshit and there's something else).
If old grandma backs into an RTE at 3 MPH at Wal-Mart it's probably not going to hurt anything but her 64 Cad.
If I'm wrong please enlighten me, I sure don't profess to know it all.
