I agree, safety is not greatly enhanced by adding a bumper addition made
of rubber.
I am not sure that safety was the only factor which motivated the powers
to demand the cushy bumpers though. I thought another reason was to
reduce the cost of repairs for minor collisions. Hence the energy
absorbing bumper add-ons or bigger bumpers than those offered in more
"liberal" jurisdictions.
For example, my 87 GTI has these (relatively) huge bumpers which the
european versions do not (I don't even want to get into the performance
differences!). Many NAmerican enthusiasts fit the smaller bumpers on
because they just look a whole lot better. How they pass inspections I
don't know.
Peter Zaborski
76 TR6 (CF58310 UO) with overriders (for now)
87 GTI with big NA spec bumpers (for good, too much $ to change)
Calgary AB Canada
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SUCHAK [SMTP:suchak@mediaone.net]
> Sent: Friday, September 12, 1997 4:57 PM
> To: James Charles Ruwaldt
> Cc: triumphs@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: cars to hate
>
> It's a shame what has been done in the name of safety! Ummm, if I
> wanted an especially *safe* car I doubt I've bought such a tiny car to
> begin with, know what I mean?
>
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