Oldsmobile Ciera. 70. 468. 1,548. 1.323. 3.409. Front: very poor. Rear: very poor.
Subaru Legacy L+. 248. 159. 1,077. 2,122. 3,606. Front; very poor. Rear: very ...
e Game Greets Consumers Trying to Pick Cars Irtually all De car have bumper tlla alia unnecessary and expensive-tor pair dama e in low-speed colli ion . Perlormance ranges from 0- 0 to ery poor. Whi h bumper are better than avage. icll are among the worst? Pi a De car and hope for the best. Without crash test results, that's about all car buy rs can do becau e most bumper look about the same - that is, molded plastic covers wrapping sleekly
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around car bodi . The re attractive, but do they bump and protect a car from damage? Or do they bend. dent. break. and crumple in low-speed impacts? Consumers can't tell b looking. They cannot even see, let alone make jodgments about the bumper parts underneath tbe plastic cover that are supposed to reduce crash damage. Legislators in three states have tried to address this problem by enacting bumper
SPECIADSSUE:=nI9nDW-
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Better Bumpers
disclosure 1a ,but so far the results are inconelu ive ( ee" tate Law fa Be Helping Consumers to Compare Bumpers," p. . ost manufacturer aren't upplying useful bumper information. . except for test results published b the In titute and Consumers Union, car buyers are redu ed to guessing. Best and Worst This year, the Institute crash tested nine 1993 midsize four-door models from eight major (cont'd on pA)
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tatu Report. Vol. 2 , 0.3. March 13, 1993
the Best Is Bad: tsinDe · of a5 H The In tiMe' low-speed crash test in lude lour Impacts at 5 mph. The 1mpI t t. fronl and rear into flat harriet pread crash forces evenly across the whole bumper face. The other two tests,
Iront into angle barrier and rear into pole, put more stress on bumper systems beause they localize crash lorces. All nine 1993 models tested sustained thousands of dollars worth of damage In the lour ests. Tbree cars ustained more than I 000 damage in the anglebarrier test alone and five sustajned as much damag in the rear-into-pole test alone ( ee table p.3). E n though they all perform poorly, om bumper are a lot wor ethan othr. d he differences have nothing to do with car size type, or price. The To La am ,for example. is one of the m t expensive of the nine 1993 model cars the In mute tested this year, but its bumpers performed worst overall. The Dadg pirit, which performed best, is one of the least expensive among th nine cars. Front Into Flat Barrier Every 1993 car sustained damage extending beyond just the bumper In this simple test. The wor t performer, the Mazda 26. u tal ned 801 damage. ne piec of the alum's expensi\' ~iece bumper cover had to be replaced after the fron -in o-barrier test and the hood as deformed. • uch expensive damage jn impJe a test is inexcusable, ~ ays In tltute President Brian 'j eill. ·espedaJly when you remember that all cars used to be reqUired by federal standard to withstand flat-barrier tests without any damage at ,all to the bumper or car body."
Rear Into Hat Barrier Only two 1993 models. the Dodge pirit and Honda Civic
sustained no damage in tm test. Three other model ustained damage confined to the bumper itself tum 1.2 ercory Sable. and Ford Taurus. But one car. the azda 626. su tained more than 1,000 damage including structural damage to the rear frame rails. All cars used to be required by federal standard to withstand this test without damage to either the car body or the bumper. Front Into Angie Barrier Most cars sustamed huge amounts of damage in this test. Three - Nlssan Altima Pontiac Grand Am and Toyota Carmy- sustained more than 1,000 damage. The Camry was the only car to ustain extensive enough damage to require fender replacement. In contrast only the Dodge pirit and Ford Taurus sustained less than 500 damage. Rear lnIo Pole This test is the most demanding of the Institute's series of four impacts at 5 mph. Cars generally sustain the most visible and he most expensiveto-repair damage in this test, and new models aren't exceptions. (corrt'd on p.5)
Car Redesign Doesn't ean Bumpers a Do a Better Job even of the nine cars tested have been redesigned since 1991, the last tim the lnstitute focused on four~oor midsize cars. According to automakers' advertising, the new models are improved, but their bumpers don't live up to the bllHng. All of the new models except the Ford Taurus sustained more damage in lowspeed tests than their 1991 counterparts. (The '91 Mercury Sable wasn't tested.) For a while, Honda showed how to build better automobile bumpers. After the Civic CRX HF came in last among 2 cars tested in I the company et out to improve its bumper . The 1990 fourdoor Civic 0 was the best car tested. But the larger '93 Civic four-door sustained more than 2,000 damage. The red igned Camry mad the w rst debut. To ota says. '"We could ha e just given [it] a face lift lnstead we gave it a makeover." The problem is, the makeover made the bumpers worse instead of better. The 1991 Camry sustained 1401 damage (1993 dollars) in Institute tests, while the '93 Camry sustained more than three times as much damage in the same tests. Nlssan's new model performed poorly, too. The 1993 AJtima, a replacement for the tanza, sustained almost 600 more damage than the 1991 Stanza. " utamakers know how to make car with bumpers that resist damage says Intitute President Brian 0' eill. "Redesign gi¥ them a perfect opportunity to apply thi lena ledge, and it's a candaJ hen bumpers on redesigned cars aren t even as good as the bumpers on the old models. It
The Dodge pirit (lop) performed best and ,he Toyota Camr)' (left) performed worst among 1993 midSIZe lour-door coo in 5 mph crash tests. 811t even ,he Spirit Sustained nearly $1, 00 damage in the four te$ts, and the redesigned Camry sustained about two and a half times as muc.h damage as the Spirit.
IlHS Slatus Report, VoL 28, 0.3, March /3, 1993-3
amage Repa-r Costs, 5
PH Crash Tests, Midsize Four-Door Models
Th following repair cost reflect damage sustained in four crash t ts at 5 mph (February 1993 pric ). part o[ the test program Institute disassembled and examined the bumper: 00 all cars. Based primarily 00 their examinations and the visible damage sustained In the . raUn rom -very good to "very poor- are assigned to each bumper.
Car in he firs group shown below are 1993 models. All except th Dodge pilit and Saturn L2 have been substantially redesigned inee 1991. ar in the nd group are 1991 model , hown for comparison. one of the 1991s bas been substantially red igned, but there have been minor han to most of them. Thi makes it impo ible to determine precise repair costs for the 1993 versions of the same cars, but the updated repair co ts hown below do provide good Indications of the likely performance of their 1993 counterparts. Front Into Barrier
Rear Into Barrier
Dodge Spirit
$229
$ ()
Honda Civic
351
Saturn SL2
Front Into Angle Barrier
All
.Rear Into Pole
Tests
Bumper Ratings
$ 360
$1,182
$1,771
Front: good Rear: very poor
0
829
916
2,096
Front: average Rear: average
649
96
804
609
2,158
Front average Rear: good
Ford Taurus GL
436
274
411
1.608
2,729
Front average Rear: poor
Pontiac Grand Am SE
304
708
1,125
906
3,043
Front very poor Rear: poor
Nissan Altima GXE
457
468
1,011
1,336
3,272
Front poor Rear: poor
Mazda 626
801
1,041
931
652
3,425
Front: poor Rear: very poor
Mercury Sable GS
528
325
753
1879
3.485
Front: average Rear: poor
Toyota Camry LE
679
548
1,669
1,522
4,418
Front very poor Rear: very poor
Honda Accord DX
$ 0
$ 0
$ 325
$ 224
$ 549
Front: very good Rear: very gooc:l
Chevrolet Cavalier VL
176
136
427
138
877
Front: good Rear: very good
0
0
822
671
1,493
Front: average Rear: poor
Chevrolet Corsica LT
179
45
744
699
1,667
Front poor Rear: good
Pontiac Sunbird LE
218
548
689
667
2,122
Fron' average Rear: average
Dodge Dynasty LE
77
145
916
1,079
2,217
Front poor Rear: poor
Ford Tempo GL
48
56
848
1.373
2,325
Front poor Rear: very poor
Chevrolet Lumina
435
425
479
1,264
2,603
Front:: average Rear: very poor
Buick Century Custom
173
0
1,115
1,607
2,895
Front very poor Rear: very poor
70
468
1,548
1.323
3.409
Front: very poor Rear: very poor
Subaru Legacy L+
248
159
1,077
2,122
3,606
Front; very poor Rear: very poor
Hyundal Sonata
417
881
928
1,741
3,967
Front average Rear; very poor
Four
1993 Models
1991 Models
Mltsubishi Galant
Oldsmobile Ciera
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4-lfHS St1Jtus Report; Vol. 28, No. 3, March 13, 1993 (cont'd from p.l) manu1aQturers. Seven Escort Example It doesn't have to be ollly visible bumper part is usu~lly the of the models had been substantially rethis way. All car bumpers Can be designed plasJic cover, an eXf)'ensive but largely designed since the last time they were testto preVent most damage in low-speed colcosmetic part. Bumper parts designed to ed, The other two, Dodge Spirit and Satutn lisions. Back in 1981, the bumpers on tne absorb crash energy and reduce damage SL2, had bumper-related design cnanges. Ford Escort Ltwo-door did so. They with- reinforcement beams, shock abstood. front- and rear-into-flat-barrier sorbers, and energy-absorbing rnatorialThe Dodge Spirit came out best in the crash tests at 5 mph with no damage. are under the cover. four tests at 5 mph. The Toyota Carney Even more. impressive is that the '81 EsuConsnmers cannot be 'expected to WllS the worst, with rome than twi
