Bumpers on luxury cars not luxurious:4 of 11 cars sustain 10k+ in damage, G35 last
08-02-07, 12:54 PM
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Bumpers on luxury cars not luxurious:4 of 11 cars sustain 10k+ in damage, G35 last
Bumpers on luxury cars aren't luxurious: worst is Infiniti G35; 4 of 11 cars sustain more than $10,000 damage in 4 minor bumps
http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr080207.html
ARLINGTON, VA — Bumpers, even those on expensive cars, don't resist damage in low-speed impacts. The Infiniti G35, the worst performer, sustained almost $14,000 damage in a series of 4 tests conducted at 3 and 6 mph by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Saab 9-3 was the best, sustaining $5,243 damage. Only 3 cars sustained less than $6,000 damage, while 4 would cost more than $10,000 to fix.
"The Infiniti was a disaster, and even the Saab sustained way too much damage in these low-speed impacts," says Institute senior vice president Joe Nolan. "There shouldn't be much or any damage in collisions at these speeds, especially to expensive and presumably well-made cars."
Why bumpers don't bump: The purpose of a bumper is to absorb the energy of a low-speed collision before it damages expensive-to-repair parts like fenders and hoods. But there are multiple problems, the first of which is that the bumpers on colliding vehicles often don't line up vertically so they don't engage to begin with. Even some that do line up don't stay engaged during an impact. Their aerodynamic styling may allow them to slide under the bumpers of the vehicles they strike. This means they can't do the job of energy absorption. Another problem is that the bars underneath bumper covers, which are supposed to do the main work of absorbing crash energy, often aren't up to it. They may not be big enough to provide much protection from damage, especially if they don't extend to vehicle corners, or they may be too flimsy to absorb much energy.
Something else driving high repair costs after minor bumps is the price of replacement parts to fix the damage. This is especially true of luxury cars, which are expensive not only to purchase but also to repair.
To assess and compare bumper performance in low-speed impacts, the Institute conducts a series of 4 low-speed tests — full front and rear into a barrier designed to mimic the front or back bumper on another vehicle plus front and rear corner impacts. The full-width impacts are conducted at 6 mph while the more demanding corner impacts are run at 3 mph.
These tests replace the 5 mph flat-barrier and pole tests the Institute conducted for decades to assess bumper performance. The new tests, which reflect years of development, more closely replicate the damage patterns in today's low-speed collisions between vehicles. The first set of results of the Institute's new tests involved inexpensive and moderately priced midsize cars, which sustained up to about $9,000 damage in the 4 tests.
"Luxury cars don't perform any better than cheaper cars," Nolan points out. "There's nothing luxurious about shelling out thousands of dollars to fix damage from a bump at a speed about like a brisk walk."
Make bumpers wider and taller: To do an effective job of managing crash energy, the bars underneath bumper covers have to be long enough to protect car bodies out to the front and rear corners. If a bar doesn't extend far enough, a minor corner impact is likely to cause lots of damage, even compromising lights and other safety-related parts. The headlight on 1 car the Institute recently tested was damaged so much that it wouldn't illuminate, and those on another 7 sustained lesser damage.
Bumpers also have to be tall enough to engage, and to stay engaged with, the bumpers on other vehicles in collisions, even during emergency braking. Otherwise the bumpers bypass each other when the vehicles collide, overriding and underriding so that crash energy goes right through and crumples the vehicle body.
The Mercedes C class is a good example. Its front bumper is mounted so low that it underrode the barrier in the Institute's front full-width test, escaping virtually unscathed. A little touch-up paint was all that was needed to repair the plastic bumper cover. What absorbed the energy of the impact was the C class's grille, hood, radiator, headlight, and air conditioning condenser, all of which were damaged. This is how the repair costs escalated to more than $5,000, the highest total sustained by any of the 11 cars in any single test.
"This is exactly what we don't want to see," Nolan says. "The car body took the hit."
On the other hand, the front bumper system on the C class includes a longer bar than on the other luxury cars. This reduced damage in the corner impact to less than $1,000, second best behind the Volvo S60's $543.
Flimsy bumpers fail: Even when bumpers engage in collisions without under- and overriding each other, the components may fail. Bumper bars may not be strong enough. Energy-absorbing materials (foam or something similar) may not be up to the job.
The Audi A4 was the best performer among the luxury cars in both front and rear full-width tests. Equipped with components that work like shock absorbers to dissipate crash energy before it can damage the car body, the A4 sustained less than $1,000 damage in each test.
"It isn't coincidental that the A4 is the only luxury car among the 11 we tested with this kind of absorbers, which usually outperform other methods of managing the energy of crashes. If the A4 had longer bumpers for protection in corner impacts, it probably would have been the best performer among this lot of cars instead of second to the Saab 9-3," Nolan says. A bonus of stroking energy absorbers is that they don't have to be replaced after every impact. They can absorb energy again in subsequent collisions.
Federal rules don't cover bumpers on minivans, pickups, or SUVs: The barrier the Institute uses to test bumpers is set 16 to 18 inches off the ground, in keeping with a federal rule that specifies a zone for car bumpers 16 to 20 inches from the ground. The idea is to ensure that car bumpers line up reasonably well so they engage each other in collisions, allowing them to absorb crash energy. But there's a problem in collisions with other vehicles because the rule that applies to cars doesn't cover minivans, pickup trucks, or SUVs. The bumpers on these vehicles often are much higher off the ground, failing to line up with those on cars.
For example, the bumper on the Infiniti G35 luxury car is much lower than the one on the Infiniti FX35. An Institute test involving these vehicles indicates that in a collision into the back of the SUV, the G35 would slide right under the bumper system, especially if the driver were braking hard, which would cause the front end of the car to dip.
"Infiniti equipped this car with a bumper that wouldn't prevent damage in a minor collision with the same company's SUV," Nolan points out. "This makes no sense, and it won't be solved by tinkering with the bumpers on cars alone. The federal rules have to be applied to minivans, pickups, and SUVs too. Only then will we start to see good bumper match-up in collisions at low speeds."
Sky-high parts prices: Even when bumper systems perform adequately to minimize damage in low-speed collisions, the damage that does occur still can empty a consumer's wallet because of the price of the parts needed to restore the vehicle. In the rear full-width test, for example, damage to the A4 was confined to the bumper cover. However, the cost of the cover alone approaches $600. Then it has to be attached to the car body and painted to match.
Headlights were damaged in 15 of the 22 frontal tests the Institute conducted, 8 corner impacts and 7 full-width ones. It cost $847 for the G35's replacement headlight and $1,046 for the one on the Lexus ES, not counting installation charges.
"If an automaker is going to charge this much for a headlight, it ought to do a better job of shielding such an expensive part from damage in a minor bump," Nolan points out.
Put luxury in bumpers too: It wouldn't take much for automakers to reduce the cost of repairing the damage that occurs in low-speed collisions. Nolan points to 3 main things automakers already know how to do and could be doing:
1. Make the bumper bars longer so they protect headlights and other critical and costly equipment at the corners of vehicles. The bars all could be as wide as those on the Volvo S60, which was the only car that limited damage in the front corner test to the bumper cover alone. The rest of the luxury cars sustained damage to fenders and other body parts.
2. Make bumpers taller so they engage the bumpers on higher riding SUVs and pickup trucks instead of underriding them, even during emergency braking.
3. Don't sacrifice function for style by mounting bumpers too close to the car body. This makes for a sleek look, but it doesn't leave much room for absorbing crash energy. Mount bumper bars farther out and use the available space under a bumper cover for energy absorption.
Without these design changes, "we can't say anything good about the bumpers on these luxury cars," Nolan concludes. "There's nothing exemplary about even the best performer, the Saab 9-3. It simply avoided racking up the most damage in any single test and ended up coming out the best of a mediocre lot."
http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr080207.html
ARLINGTON, VA — Bumpers, even those on expensive cars, don't resist damage in low-speed impacts. The Infiniti G35, the worst performer, sustained almost $14,000 damage in a series of 4 tests conducted at 3 and 6 mph by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Saab 9-3 was the best, sustaining $5,243 damage. Only 3 cars sustained less than $6,000 damage, while 4 would cost more than $10,000 to fix.
"The Infiniti was a disaster, and even the Saab sustained way too much damage in these low-speed impacts," says Institute senior vice president Joe Nolan. "There shouldn't be much or any damage in collisions at these speeds, especially to expensive and presumably well-made cars."
Why bumpers don't bump: The purpose of a bumper is to absorb the energy of a low-speed collision before it damages expensive-to-repair parts like fenders and hoods. But there are multiple problems, the first of which is that the bumpers on colliding vehicles often don't line up vertically so they don't engage to begin with. Even some that do line up don't stay engaged during an impact. Their aerodynamic styling may allow them to slide under the bumpers of the vehicles they strike. This means they can't do the job of energy absorption. Another problem is that the bars underneath bumper covers, which are supposed to do the main work of absorbing crash energy, often aren't up to it. They may not be big enough to provide much protection from damage, especially if they don't extend to vehicle corners, or they may be too flimsy to absorb much energy.
Something else driving high repair costs after minor bumps is the price of replacement parts to fix the damage. This is especially true of luxury cars, which are expensive not only to purchase but also to repair.
To assess and compare bumper performance in low-speed impacts, the Institute conducts a series of 4 low-speed tests — full front and rear into a barrier designed to mimic the front or back bumper on another vehicle plus front and rear corner impacts. The full-width impacts are conducted at 6 mph while the more demanding corner impacts are run at 3 mph.
These tests replace the 5 mph flat-barrier and pole tests the Institute conducted for decades to assess bumper performance. The new tests, which reflect years of development, more closely replicate the damage patterns in today's low-speed collisions between vehicles. The first set of results of the Institute's new tests involved inexpensive and moderately priced midsize cars, which sustained up to about $9,000 damage in the 4 tests.
"Luxury cars don't perform any better than cheaper cars," Nolan points out. "There's nothing luxurious about shelling out thousands of dollars to fix damage from a bump at a speed about like a brisk walk."
Make bumpers wider and taller: To do an effective job of managing crash energy, the bars underneath bumper covers have to be long enough to protect car bodies out to the front and rear corners. If a bar doesn't extend far enough, a minor corner impact is likely to cause lots of damage, even compromising lights and other safety-related parts. The headlight on 1 car the Institute recently tested was damaged so much that it wouldn't illuminate, and those on another 7 sustained lesser damage.
Bumpers also have to be tall enough to engage, and to stay engaged with, the bumpers on other vehicles in collisions, even during emergency braking. Otherwise the bumpers bypass each other when the vehicles collide, overriding and underriding so that crash energy goes right through and crumples the vehicle body.
The Mercedes C class is a good example. Its front bumper is mounted so low that it underrode the barrier in the Institute's front full-width test, escaping virtually unscathed. A little touch-up paint was all that was needed to repair the plastic bumper cover. What absorbed the energy of the impact was the C class's grille, hood, radiator, headlight, and air conditioning condenser, all of which were damaged. This is how the repair costs escalated to more than $5,000, the highest total sustained by any of the 11 cars in any single test.
"This is exactly what we don't want to see," Nolan says. "The car body took the hit."
On the other hand, the front bumper system on the C class includes a longer bar than on the other luxury cars. This reduced damage in the corner impact to less than $1,000, second best behind the Volvo S60's $543.
Flimsy bumpers fail: Even when bumpers engage in collisions without under- and overriding each other, the components may fail. Bumper bars may not be strong enough. Energy-absorbing materials (foam or something similar) may not be up to the job.
The Audi A4 was the best performer among the luxury cars in both front and rear full-width tests. Equipped with components that work like shock absorbers to dissipate crash energy before it can damage the car body, the A4 sustained less than $1,000 damage in each test.
"It isn't coincidental that the A4 is the only luxury car among the 11 we tested with this kind of absorbers, which usually outperform other methods of managing the energy of crashes. If the A4 had longer bumpers for protection in corner impacts, it probably would have been the best performer among this lot of cars instead of second to the Saab 9-3," Nolan says. A bonus of stroking energy absorbers is that they don't have to be replaced after every impact. They can absorb energy again in subsequent collisions.
Federal rules don't cover bumpers on minivans, pickups, or SUVs: The barrier the Institute uses to test bumpers is set 16 to 18 inches off the ground, in keeping with a federal rule that specifies a zone for car bumpers 16 to 20 inches from the ground. The idea is to ensure that car bumpers line up reasonably well so they engage each other in collisions, allowing them to absorb crash energy. But there's a problem in collisions with other vehicles because the rule that applies to cars doesn't cover minivans, pickup trucks, or SUVs. The bumpers on these vehicles often are much higher off the ground, failing to line up with those on cars.
For example, the bumper on the Infiniti G35 luxury car is much lower than the one on the Infiniti FX35. An Institute test involving these vehicles indicates that in a collision into the back of the SUV, the G35 would slide right under the bumper system, especially if the driver were braking hard, which would cause the front end of the car to dip.
"Infiniti equipped this car with a bumper that wouldn't prevent damage in a minor collision with the same company's SUV," Nolan points out. "This makes no sense, and it won't be solved by tinkering with the bumpers on cars alone. The federal rules have to be applied to minivans, pickups, and SUVs too. Only then will we start to see good bumper match-up in collisions at low speeds."
Sky-high parts prices: Even when bumper systems perform adequately to minimize damage in low-speed collisions, the damage that does occur still can empty a consumer's wallet because of the price of the parts needed to restore the vehicle. In the rear full-width test, for example, damage to the A4 was confined to the bumper cover. However, the cost of the cover alone approaches $600. Then it has to be attached to the car body and painted to match.
Headlights were damaged in 15 of the 22 frontal tests the Institute conducted, 8 corner impacts and 7 full-width ones. It cost $847 for the G35's replacement headlight and $1,046 for the one on the Lexus ES, not counting installation charges.
"If an automaker is going to charge this much for a headlight, it ought to do a better job of shielding such an expensive part from damage in a minor bump," Nolan points out.
Put luxury in bumpers too: It wouldn't take much for automakers to reduce the cost of repairing the damage that occurs in low-speed collisions. Nolan points to 3 main things automakers already know how to do and could be doing:
1. Make the bumper bars longer so they protect headlights and other critical and costly equipment at the corners of vehicles. The bars all could be as wide as those on the Volvo S60, which was the only car that limited damage in the front corner test to the bumper cover alone. The rest of the luxury cars sustained damage to fenders and other body parts.
2. Make bumpers taller so they engage the bumpers on higher riding SUVs and pickup trucks instead of underriding them, even during emergency braking.
3. Don't sacrifice function for style by mounting bumpers too close to the car body. This makes for a sleek look, but it doesn't leave much room for absorbing crash energy. Mount bumper bars farther out and use the available space under a bumper cover for energy absorption.
Without these design changes, "we can't say anything good about the bumpers on these luxury cars," Nolan concludes. "There's nothing exemplary about even the best performer, the Saab 9-3. It simply avoided racking up the most damage in any single test and ended up coming out the best of a mediocre lot."
08-02-07, 01:09 PM
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when people pay more for a car on the basis of luxury, there are usually compromises besides cost.
cars are riding on lower profile tires, bumpers lower to the ground, etc.
its very difficult to build a car that is very competitive in all areas:
-looks good
-very aerodynamic
-top tier headlights
-exclusive
-takes minimal damage (in cost) in slow collisions
-protects occupants in higher speed collisions
-protects pedestrians who may get hit by the car
etc
this, i suppose, is one of the costs
if you own a luxury car for utility, then i suppose you should be prepared to pay the cost of this sort of damage/insurance reqd...which i presume wouldnt be a problem since you're using a luxury car not as a luxury but as a utility.
cars are riding on lower profile tires, bumpers lower to the ground, etc.
its very difficult to build a car that is very competitive in all areas:
-looks good
-very aerodynamic
-top tier headlights
-exclusive
-takes minimal damage (in cost) in slow collisions
-protects occupants in higher speed collisions
-protects pedestrians who may get hit by the car
etc
this, i suppose, is one of the costs
if you own a luxury car for utility, then i suppose you should be prepared to pay the cost of this sort of damage/insurance reqd...which i presume wouldnt be a problem since you're using a luxury car not as a luxury but as a utility.
08-02-07, 03:21 PM
#3
In Europe, they have implemented pedestrian safety requirements that automakers have to comply with. Many European cars are designed with that in mind. I think a lower bumper is a result of this pedestrian safety requirement.
08-02-07, 03:25 PM
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I remember a thread over a year ago where BMW basically stated they make the cars to run and if you wreck it or hit it, its pretty much totaled.
08-02-07, 04:09 PM
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From Autoblog:
This is kind of a long-known fact, but there's some new data to back it up. Just because you pony up those extra tens of thousands of dollars for a luxury car doesn't mean you will get bumpers that protect you from damage any better. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just released a new report on the amount of monetary damages suffered by some luxury and near-luxury vehicles in low-speed impacts - parking lot mishaps and fender benders at 3 to 6 miles per hour. They found that in this group of cars, repair bills could be as high as $14,000! While that doesn't mean the passengers are inherently unsafe in these vehicles, the high repair costs can get people, well, a little upset.
While we don't necessarily agree with IIHS VP Joe Nolan when he says "There shouldn't be much or any damage in collisions at these speeds," we were a little shocked by the numbers. While testing 11 different 2007 luxury vehicles, for instance, the IIHS found the Infiniti G35 had the highest repair bill. It totaled a whopping $14,000, which is quite a bit when the whole car retails for just $31,450.
But in all fairness, this is a series of four different tests and labor and paint work often add a lot to repairs. Working down the list, the Acura TL and Mercedes C Class required more than $11,000 in repairs, the Lexus ES was just under $11,000, and the Lexus IS was about $9,500. Repair totals for some others were $8,224 for the Volvo S60, $7,554 for the Acura TSX and $6,681 for the BMW 3 Series. The best three vehicles in the tests were the Saab 9-3, Audi A4 and Lincoln MKZ, all with less than $6,000 in damages.
This is kind of a long-known fact, but there's some new data to back it up. Just because you pony up those extra tens of thousands of dollars for a luxury car doesn't mean you will get bumpers that protect you from damage any better. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just released a new report on the amount of monetary damages suffered by some luxury and near-luxury vehicles in low-speed impacts - parking lot mishaps and fender benders at 3 to 6 miles per hour. They found that in this group of cars, repair bills could be as high as $14,000! While that doesn't mean the passengers are inherently unsafe in these vehicles, the high repair costs can get people, well, a little upset.
While we don't necessarily agree with IIHS VP Joe Nolan when he says "There shouldn't be much or any damage in collisions at these speeds," we were a little shocked by the numbers. While testing 11 different 2007 luxury vehicles, for instance, the IIHS found the Infiniti G35 had the highest repair bill. It totaled a whopping $14,000, which is quite a bit when the whole car retails for just $31,450.
But in all fairness, this is a series of four different tests and labor and paint work often add a lot to repairs. Working down the list, the Acura TL and Mercedes C Class required more than $11,000 in repairs, the Lexus ES was just under $11,000, and the Lexus IS was about $9,500. Repair totals for some others were $8,224 for the Volvo S60, $7,554 for the Acura TSX and $6,681 for the BMW 3 Series. The best three vehicles in the tests were the Saab 9-3, Audi A4 and Lincoln MKZ, all with less than $6,000 in damages.
08-02-07, 05:03 PM
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It's a bit ironic that value-filled models like the TL and G35 were so expensive to repair, but it shows that in a way you do get what you pay for. While the IS is a bit more expensive than the G35, it cost less to repair. The ES is more value filled than the IS, yet it cost almost as much as the G35 to repair.
A lot of the Euro brands performed very well. It makes you think a bit; Euro brands might be expensive, but in many ways you get what you pay for, which is great engineering ... engineering that can't really be seen.
A lot of the Euro brands performed very well. It makes you think a bit; Euro brands might be expensive, but in many ways you get what you pay for, which is great engineering ... engineering that can't really be seen.
08-02-07, 06:27 PM
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Bumpers on luxury cars aren't luxurious: worst is Infiniti G35; 4 of 11 cars sustain more than $10,000 damage in 4 minor bumps
Remember, this 10k+ damage comes from a total of 4 low impact bumps. I have the impression that many people are implying that its from a single bumper impact.
Anyhow, its nothing for any luxury owner to worry about. Well, unless you own a luxury car without insurance
.
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08-02-07, 07:49 PM
#8
Lexus Test Driver
Just to clarify:
Remember, this 10k+ damage comes from a total of 4 low impact bumps. I have the impression that many people are implying that its from a single bumper impact.
Anyhow, its nothing for any luxury owner to worry about. Well, unless you own a luxury car without insurance
.
Remember, this 10k+ damage comes from a total of 4 low impact bumps. I have the impression that many people are implying that its from a single bumper impact.
Anyhow, its nothing for any luxury owner to worry about. Well, unless you own a luxury car without insurance
.
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