In-game, a 35MPH crash into a concrete block looks more like a 20-25MPH crash does in the real world. The vehicle structures need to be softer—especially the portion behind the engine bay.
If you watch some of the Youtube videos comparing BeamNG and real accidents, they're quite similar. I'm sure the devs have used real data to create the vehicle structures
35 MPH crashes don't really deform cars all that much usually. I've been in one where the vehicle that hit me was a lot bigger, and even then it smashed two doors in and made my side airbags deploy. Most of the drive side body had to be replaced but the frame, suspension and powertrain were completely fine. That was a 2014 Civic getting t-boned by a 2010 Toyota Tundra at about 35 MPH.
I have seen several videos of IIHS crash tests, though: most result in more frontal damage than what's seen in BeamNG, at 35 MPH. Most of the cars are too rigid--especially their pillars and roofs. The Miramar has a realistically-weak roof structure (and same with its frontal structure). Other vehicles, such as the Gavril van, have an unrealistically-strong roof structure. I've also noticed that the van's deformation upon hitting another vehicle is not pronounced enough. When hitting a wall, however, the van does fairly well. Then again, most don't seem to deform quite enough when hitting walls. --- Post updated --- No quantitative data, but I have compared several real-life crash tests. Off-set and small overlap tests are especially devastating to cars, but they don't seem to cause quite enough damage to a BeamNG car, at 35MPH. I have to speed up to about 50MPH to mimic a real-life crash of 35MPH. Also, I know for a fact that the roof structure of vans is very weak, but that's not exhibited in the game. The Gavril van's roof should be no stronger than that of the Miramar (except for compensation for the sheer weight of the van compared to that of the Miramar). --- Post updated --- It's not HOW they deform that's the problem---it's that I have to speed my car up in order to have it experience similar intrusion to that of real cars crashing at 35MPH.
