Car Articles

Have you ever wondered why are bumpers installed on your car? If you are thinking they are to accentuate the look of a car, you are wrong. Bumpers on the front and rear end of your car do more than adding looks. They act as a safety feature as well. In fact, bumpers have both practical and aesthetic purpose.

Among the safety features installed in your car, the bumpers are the one of the most important ones. They are an integral part of the car as they protect your car. They are also being designed to mitigate injury to pedestrians struck by cars. But, bumpers are not intended to prevent injury severity to occupants in passenger cars. In fact, bumpers are designed to protect the hood, trunk, grille, fuel, exhaust and cooling system as well as safety related equipment such as parking lights, headlamps and taillights in low speed collisions.

Bumpers are designed to absorb and deliver momentum when a car meets accidents. They are moulded into specific shapes for the task. Bumpers are made of heavy sheet metal. Not just bumpers provide protection to your vehicles; they also help your car get another level of appeal and enhanced looks. Bumpers are also built with crumple zones, these designs enable the specific bumper part to flex during collisions.

There are many kinds of bumpers available in different designs, makes, finishes and materials so you can surely find the one that will perfectly fit your cars; fits depends on what specific model, model year and model of car you have.

Bumpers usually include a reinforcement bar plus energy-absorbing material, such as polypropylene foam. Bumpers often have hydraulic shock absorbers instead of, or in addition to, the foam. How strong the reinforcement bar is, how much foam is included, where the energy-absorbing materials are placed and how the bumper system is attached to the car body matter a lot when it comes to performance.

In the past, bumpers were made of steel and were equipped with shock absorbers thus were very effective in protecting cars from too much damage when involved in a car crash. But as time passed, the car bumpers underwent changes from the chrome bar to rubber to the current lightweight soft plastic with energy-absorbing foam and metal underneath. The bumper modification, according to reports, was primarily meant to create a more stylish version and save on fuel but unfortunately, to the detriment of the cars. While the current bumpers may look attractive and sleek, they are 20 kilograms lighter than those in the 1980s, can get easily dented and very expensive to repair.