Civic rearended my 5k: Civic lost

[Ti Kan]

Bob writes:
> I guess Im just used to the old school Audis with a little 'substance' 
> behind them! Sad.
> 
> sdewitt at stx.rr.com wrote:
> >That's not far from what my 00 a4 is... With the exception of the aluminium bumper bar..
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: Bob <bob at audisport.com>
> >Date: Thursday, September 23, 2004 12:03 pm
> >Subject: Re: Civic rearended my 5k: Civic lost
> >
> >>Speaking of car vs cars (kind of)  I was helping a friend install 
> >>a 
> >>turbo and ems system on a new ford zx2. The entire front end of 
> >>the car 
> >>is plastic. Not just the bodywork but all the framework, the 
> >>radiator 
> >>support, the bumper behind the bumper cover..everything! We kind 
> >>of 
> >>looked at each other with disbelief and were glad that neither of 
> >>us 
> >>drove such crap.  I dont see how the car is supposed to survive 
> >>any kind 
> >>of accident, even a small one, but then again, that my be the point.
> >>Bob

The A4 (as well as all other recent Audis) score high on crash safety.
Yes, the core support is a composite piece (not plastic, but some kind
of fiber material), but it is not any weaker than thin sheet metal.
The benefit of this design is that it could be molded easily to the
desired shape during manufacturing, with all the mounting holes, etc for
ancillaries.  It is also very easy to remove for service access.  If the
core support is damaged in an accident, the whole piece is removed and
replaced without the need for welding.

The bumper has metal inside it, damped via shock absorber struts and
linked to the unit body's bottom rails, not to the core support.

-Ti
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