Quote from mrodgers :

FWIW, for nearly 80% of the cars manufactured for the US with this foam behind the plastic facia is made at my work. I can tell you that foam is produced to minimize the dollar cost of damage done to a vehicle in a 3 mph impact into a solid object. It definitely won't help you if you are personally hit by a car.

The foam front and rear energy absorbers in autos can be extremely hard. If I took a really good swing at your head with one, there would definitely be some heavy damage to you.

www.jsp.com, where I work, making molded EPP foam energy absorbers for cars (and much more).

You may be right about the foams (don't know too much about it, didn't care enough ), but you can't deny the general form and chosen materials have a huge impact on the severity of injuries. I know about it, because I work at a car safety testing company ( www.acts.de )

Quote from herki :

You may be right about the foams (don't know too much about it, didn't care enough ), but you can't deny the general form and chosen materials have a huge impact on the severity of injuries. I know about it, because I work at a car safety testing company ( www.acts.de )

Keep in mind that you are in Germany and mrodgers is in the US. I have a feeling that the two countries use quite different methods and have different requirements for pedestrian safety. I don't believe that the US has pedestrian safety requirements that are anywhere near as strict as Europe, so that could account for differences in your perceptions.

Quote from Cue-Ball :

Keep in mind that you are in Germany and mrodgers is in the US. I have a feeling that the two countries use quite different methods and have different requirements for pedestrian safety. I don't believe that the US has pedestrian safety requirements that are anywhere near as strict as Europe, so that could account for differences in your perceptions.

we test them for all laws, because our customers want them ... that's the only way I gained knowlegde of those foams, because if we crash a car with north american regulations, there has to be the foam and knee airbags, while european market cars are rarely fit with them.
I have to say, the bumpers and sometimes bumper mounting points are different for north america and europe, so don't buy european parts for an american car
btw: japan is very equal to european standards

Yup, we don't have anything like "pedestrian safety", or at least I've never heard of it. I make automotive bumpers, so I would imagine I would have heard of it if we had it, LOL. Actually, I never made the bumpers, I worked in the quality department, so if your bumper falls off.... er, it was the other guy, LOL.

I guess we just don't care about the pedestrians over here, LOL. If a pedestrian is stupid enough to get in front of a 3000 pound object on wheels that is self propelled up to high velocities, well, then I guess that's his problem. Shouldn't have gotten in the way!

Yes, the only thing the foam bumpers are for over here is that they must pass a minimum damage cost at 3 mph. Hmm, I know what the cost is to make those things, I think the auto companies need to step it up. $300-400 for the bumper if you have to replace it. What does it cost to make? Well, we sell them to the manufacturers for around $12. Just a bit of a markup there, don't you think?

Pedestrians don't need cars to be made safer in the States - the drivers know half the population carry guns, so they just get shot at for even thinking about hitting someone

Quote from mrodgers :

Yup, we don't have anything like "pedestrian safety", or at least I've never heard of it. I make automotive bumpers, so I would imagine I would have heard of it if we had it, LOL. Actually, I never made the bumpers, I worked in the quality department, so if your bumper falls off.... er, it was the other guy, LOL.

I guess we just don't care about the pedestrians over here, LOL. If a pedestrian is stupid enough to get in front of a 3000 pound object on wheels that is self propelled up to high velocities, well, then I guess that's his problem. Shouldn't have gotten in the way!

Yes, the only thing the foam bumpers are for over here is that they must pass a minimum damage cost at 3 mph. Hmm, I know what the cost is to make those things, I think the auto companies need to step it up. $300-400 for the bumper if you have to replace it. What does it cost to make? Well, we sell them to the manufacturers for around $12. Just a bit of a markup there, don't you think?

Too bad you still have some kind of pedestrian safety because the manufacturers want their cars to look the same all over the globe

I think we should post-modernise the look of the cars.

Quote from sinbad :

I think we should post-modernise the look of the cars.

LOL great one!

Quote from sinbad :

I think we should post-modernise the look of the cars.

kehekehkeh lol nice !

Quote from sinbad :

I think we should post-modernise the look of the cars.

Nice one, Andy...

The golden era for fast and exciting cars was 1990 to 2000. Most good cars were made in this time, now we are strangeled by emmisions. If you look, the RX-7, Skylines from R32 to R34, Supra, NSX and the likes were made back then. Now what do we have?

Quote from Primoz :

....Now what do we have?

More computerization letting any moron on the road and cars practically driving themselves. The only thing you need to know how to do is turn the steering wheel anymore, which is all most know how to do anyways.

Quote from mrodgers :

More computerization letting any moron on the road and cars practically driving themselves. The only thing you need to know how to do is turn the steering wheel anymore, which is all most know how to do anyways.

And yet people still crash all the time.

@Electronics: In a modern car you don't tell the car anymore which way to want the front wheels to be pointing, you tell the car which direction you want to drive.
Which is also why people are crashing. They think that you use the steering wheel to make a car go around a corner. Or that the brakes are there to make the car go slower.

Vain

Quote from Vain :

They think that you use the steering wheel to make a car go around a corner. Or that the brakes are there to make the car go slower.

Ahhh that's where I'm going wrong all the time! I keep turning the wheel when I want to go around a corner! And instead of doing the obvious correct action, I foolishly use the brakes when I want to slow down!

But seriously folks: There are still cars out there with no more sophisticated driver assistance than we had in the 80s and 90s. Sure power-steering is the norm, but a lot of race cars have that too. ABS? I don't care if you're MSC himself, if you're coming towards me too fast to stop on a wet road, I'd rather you had ABS than not. Cars which are made for real driving tend to have well enough set up ABS that is doesn't cut in all the time too (with exceptions of course).
All cars that made for real driving also give you the option to turn off and TCS and ESP systems too.

I'm yet to see a car which does everything for you and if you want a road car which is involving to drive, you don't exactly have a small choice. In fact the sports and performance sector is probably as strong as it has ever been.