RE: why are car bumpers hard?

[Chav]

Maybe I'm being thick (nothing new I know), but why don't cars have soft spongey bumpers?

Even a 2mph prang seems to cost a few hundred quid nowadays, so why don't manufacturers start selling cars that are designed to cope with the zombies that populate supermarket carparks?

Surely they can design soft bumpers that absorb collisions and still look cool?

[sayerbloke]

Oh, dude, you`ve just reminded me of what happened when a workmate was parking his Citroen behind the company Accord. I stood there watching the gap and he just kept on driving and the bumper on the Accord literally folded up like paper as he drove about 3 inches deep into it. He then put it in reverse and drove out. Neither vehicle was marked. I was quite impressed with the way it sprung back into shape

[Chav]

[ QUOTE ]

Oh, dude, you`ve just reminded me of what happened when a workmate was parking his Citroen behind the company Accord. I stood there watching the gap and he just kept on driving and the bumper on the Accord literally folded up like paper as he drove about 3 inches deep into it. He then put it in reverse and drove out. Neither vehicle was marked. I was quite impressed with the way it sprung back into shape

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe it was a glitch in the matrix or something.

Every car I watch that hits another in sainsburys or tescos, results in both cars being fecked!

[sayerbloke]

Agreed. That`s why I was so surprised to see what happened to the Accord! Having softer bumpers does seem to make some sort of sense... maybe it`s to do with crumple zones and impact to bodywork other than just the bumpers?

I seem to remember the wings on a mate's Clio were designed to be springy so would just reform after an impact... still, didn't do him much good when he slid into a tree and bent the bonnet while parking

[Milo]

I suppose compared to 20 years ago they are quite soft and flexible.

My first car, a 1981 Fiesta Popular Plus had a pressed metal bumper bolted onto each end of the car. Virtually no give at all and probably only transferred any impact directly into the chassis

You could always cover your existing bumpers in polystyrene packaging and bubble wrap if you want to give your car a bit more protection. The bubble wrap could double as a parking sensor - when you hear the little pops you know it's time to stop

[Jsparkesuk]

i tell you what sayer that reminded me, i was hit a 10mph ish in the wet and nothing on the bumpers insane!

Then a week later a women hits me at like 3mph in tesco, yes new bumber needed!

[Snail]

i think they work it they are hit straight on, but when they are scraped at an angle, they dont.

[Milo]

I did some research & development a couple of months back into the construction of an Audi A4 bumper.

Basically I wanted to scientifically measure the rigidity of the structure and how it performs with low velocity impacts.

I concluded that if you knock over a pile of roof tiles it wrecks your bumper and costs you £500 to fix it

[Jsparkesuk]

Did you bet any funding for that study, or are you just clumsy?

[sayerbloke]

[ QUOTE ]

I did some research & development a couple of months back into the construction of an Audi A4 bumper.

Basically I wanted to scientifically measure the rigidity of the structure and how it performs with low velocity impacts.

I concluded that if you knock over a pile of roof tiles it wrecks your bumper and costs you £500 to fix it

[/ QUOTE ]

I`d forgot about that!

I was once hit by a guy in a 3 wheeler who must have been doing at least 30 when he hit me and the car [my Astra at the time] was unmarked.

[Milo]

[ QUOTE ]

Did you bet any funding for that study, or are you just clumsy?

[/ QUOTE ]

My insurance company were going to fund all but £150 of it but I decided in the interest of science that it was only fair I absorbed the full cost

[Durrsaku]

My former 1972 Series III Land rover had galvanised bumpers so not very flexible but then it never bend either.