Team-BHP - Maruti Swift Bumpers

I used to drive an entry level Sedan in the US - the Mazda Protege.
Over 6 years, but various bumps, bruises etc - nothing ever happened
to the bumpers other than minor scratches. Once another car even
rammed me from the back at around 20 mph, with no damage to the
bumpers.

I purched a Maruti Swift recently - first car in india.
Very soon with a minor brush with another vehicle at less than 10 kmph
1/2 of the front bumper was totally screwed up - what is this car
made of? Carboard?

Anyway, my question - is there any way I can add protection to
the bumpers - especially the front ones. I am not very happy to
be driving the car with the carboard like bumpers.

[BTW, the New Thread button isn't visible from Firefox - hence had to
fireup IE to post this]

Simplest thing to do is to get all around bumper proctection material stuck. Will handle small bruises in the city and while reversing.

You can also try one of those truck like bull bars:p .

Well most bumpers these days are made of fibre to withstand medium/high impacts and crumple. Though bull bars are not a good suggestion as they hamper the crumpling ability and transfer additional stress on impact elsewhere on the body it is advisable to go back to a stock bumper. Or get one fabricated to your needs. Like the swift sport bumper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mail4ajo (Post 457801)

Simplest thing to do is to get all around bumper proctection material stuck. Will handle small bruises in the city and while reversing.

What's bumper protection material? Where can I get it & how much does
it cost?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mclaren1885 (Post 457817)

Or get one fabricated to your needs. Like the swift sport bumper.

What's the swift sport bumper? Does it offer additional protection?
How much does it cost?
Also where can I get a different bumper fabricated to my needs & how
much will it cost?

Cant expect much from such cheap bumpers which are cheaper than even the old warhorse Esteem's bumper....
Maruti ppl are experts at cost cutting...

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 457736)

Chevrolet's have pretty good quality bumpers

I think the bumpers now a days are designed to be disposable parts. They take the beating on minor impacts and change shape.
If bumpers are made stronger ,transferring the impact instead of absorbing, then other parts of the car will suffer.
If other body parts too are made stronger, the whole idea of crumple zone will fail and the passengers will be at higher risk.

Just drive carefully if you don't want of bruise or break the bumpers. They are like that for a reason. I have seen people installing metal guards in front of them. This is not good for their car or to other cars/people in case of a crash. I hope there is a rule to penalize such people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by k36 (Post 458031)

If bumpers are made stronger ,transferring the impact instead of absorbing, then other parts of the car will suffer.

Is there a scientific reason why stronger bumpers should transfer
instead of absorb?

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 458072)

Is there a scientific reason why stronger bumpers should transfer instead of absorb?

Yes, harder the surface more are the chances of vibrations on impact to be transferred to connecting surfaces. Whereas fibre panels will crumple and absorb all the energy than transmit them to other parts.

Swift sport bumper looks like this. Check the below link:
Paris Motor Show: Suzuki Swift Sport - Autoblog

It should cost about 5-6k to fabricate one I guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 458072)

Is there a scientific reason why stronger bumpers should transfer
instead of absorb?

Yes there is. It's called elasticity!

Think of it this way: The bumper is subjected to some form of stress (eg. by collision with a stationary or moving object). It has two choices.

1. Absorb the stress and deform (reversibly or irreversibly)
2. Remain rigid and transfer the stress to some other part of the car (chassis or bodyshell).

A rigid bumper would behave like 2 while a more elastic material would follow 1.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajitkommini (Post 458159)

I am not asking for a more rigid bumper. I am asking for a stronger
bumper. Is strength inversely proportional to elasticity?
Why can't you have a strong material which can absorb the stress?

Octavia bumpers are a case in point. I have had minor reversing accidents. Not a single sign of damage has shown up, other than a scratch on the paint surface. So it's not that manufacturers can't make them better they choose to cut costs.

Just a thought - Maybe re-inforceing the OE bumper with Fibre Glass would help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 457836)

What's bumper protection material? Where can I get it & how much does
it cost?

You can buy them from the MUL dealers, cost about 522Rs for Swift
Maruti Udyog Ltd: Maruti 800, Alto, Zen, Wagonr, Versa, Esteem, Baleno, Grand Vitara, Gypsy, finance, insurance, accessories, true value, fleet management solutions

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheap_deal (Post 458153)

how do you manage so many "bumps and bruises" in the first place?
the only way i see is get metal bumpers made if you keep having so many bumps.

Metal bumpers will transfer impact to the chassis in case of a frontal hit. Bumpers have to be prone and no metal parts should be fixed.

carboy,

During the initial batches of the Swift, the bumpers were known to go out of alignment(not crumple) even under a negligible impact .That seems to have been fixed. The Swift comes with 10 kmph bumpers - which absorb fairly low-speed impacts and dont show it - my Swift's front bumper is at an occasional receiving end in the cramped parking inside my house.

Perhaps the angle of impact in your case might have contributed to the deformation.