Why is it that manufacturers now seem to favour colour coded bumpers or integrated bumpers? So many other drivers seem to use my car as target practice that the colour is being stripped off that soon it will be black (as bumpers should be).
Also can't understand why people buy cars without rubbing strips down the side.
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Are those skirts made of fragile plastic called 'bumpers' then? I thought bumpers were sturdy things made of metal that would stand shunting into another car similarly equipped.
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Ah Cliff! Parking a la Francais!
:o)
Terry
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I believe bumpers now have to be 'soft' to minimise impact injury to pedestrians, the old chrome jobbies with sharp edges now being illegal.
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Just got my car back from the repairers after my bump, if the bumper hadn't deformed in the way that it did then myself and younger borther who was travelling with me would almost certainly have received some sort of injury. As it is, we barely felt it. :)
I know it's a pain in the backside to have the car fixed, but at least it's safer this way...
Shame the boot floor also deformed :(
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"the old chrome jobbies with sharp edges now being illegal."
On behalf of Billy Connolly, what on earth do you eat to produce those?
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CM - I agree - bring back the old grey or black bumpers, there was nothing wrong with them, and some cars even look better with contrasting colours. I saw a Legacy in a nice metallic blue with grey bumpers and trim - very nice.
Colour coded or integrated bumpers must be more expensive (at least to the public). They must be manufactured in a neutral colour then painted - thereby increasing the cost to the customer.
When they were either grey or black it was easy to get a bumper from a scrap yard to replace a damaged one. Now you are unlikely to find one in the right colour.
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Not only are they a pain in a minor scuff, but in estate car applications they are well and truly bu**ered by sliding heavy stuff into the boot.
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Yeah while we're at it, let's bring back wing mounted mirrors! And doesn't the paint come off the black bumpers or rust eventually start showing through?
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And doesn't the paint come off the black bumpers or rust eventually start showing through?
No 'cos we are talking about self coloured plastic. Can be a nice contrasting charcoal grey or whatever, or even match the car colour a la BX.
The logic of colour keyed bumpers is crazy; (1)paint the car a nice colour, but paint is soft and scratchable (2) protect the vulnerable bits of paintwork with something tough (3) paint the tough stuff with the same soft paint as the rest of the car.
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Ah, but the point is, the bumper isn't tough, it is designed to be soft as... you know what, so that in a bump, it will absorb energy.
I think my colour bumpers look great, and it would ruin the look of the car to have black ones. I agree maybe for some people, unpainted bumpers should be a no cost option though...
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Colour bumpers cost no more to manufacture than grey ones, you just add some of the correct colour masterbatch to the plastics at moulding. Grey costs the same as red or blue !
Where it does get expensive is when they are painted.
Besides, plastic is much better at impacts than metal. Many people owe their lives to the deformable plastic bumper.
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I much prefer colour coded bumpers to black or grey plastic. As most of the car buying public looking at the models they choose.
Have you noticed they bring out a new car with black/grey bumpers and then colour code them further through the production run.
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i much prefer my land rover bumper. galvanised steel, still only £35.
the serviceover riders are good too
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