Amazing Bumper for the Optra 1.6

Lemon · 23rd March 2006, 10:23

I was riding along with my two week old optra along poonamalle high road, chennai. It was 7.30 in the evening. This road is notorious for bumper to bumper traffic at this time. It literally crawls.
I was enjoying some quite music and basically talking about the car to my already impressed father in law who with me.
Suddenly, I heard that dreaded sound of a small thud, collapse like bending sheet metal from the rear and my optra lurched forward.
A complete fool with his 800 had apparently decided to dream while his car was in motion and ran into my car.
I was so pissed, annoyed , sad , overwhelmed, outraged, resigned all at once. I just wanted to get out and smash this guys face. He quickly dodged lanes and sped off.
I pulled on to the side a little later to take a look.
What i saw was completely astounding.

No jokes...Not a dent, a scratch, a twist, nothing at all. I mean it was almost as if it never even happened. I found this hard to beleive and i went down on all fours trying to find the slightest burr or flaw in the refraction but there was none.
I trurly tell u , i was amazed at this and thought i better post it.
The same happened to my previous ikon, and the damn conviently transferred the energy to the sheet metal resulting in some bending on the sides.

Well done optra for the research into bumper design. It really engaged the bumper of the 800 and absorbed the shock splendidly.

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aZa · 23rd March 2006, 10:30

Bumper of a M800 is of light plastic maybe it was the m800's bumper which absorbed it all lol !! and sometimes there is a huge sound but the damage is very less

revharder · 23rd March 2006, 10:49

everything is fine but there has to be some scratchs, if not something big, atleast something very negligible.

but if even those small scrtachs are not there, then Optra sure is the car for Indian roads.
and i won't mind wrapping my whole car in a bumper's plastic sheet!

jesal · 23rd March 2006, 10:54

we trashed a new optra on christmas eve last year. managed to tear the bumber the light and a dent on the bonnet banged into a accent which was in much worse shape than us.

deepakhon · 23rd March 2006, 12:12

I guess these bumpers are made of some material which absorbs crashes at a certain lower speed. The same thing happened to my Palio. When I was reversing, I hit a stone and saw that the bumper had a huge dent. I felt very sad and went home thinking about it. I saw the same bumper when I parked my vehicle at my home. To my surprise and relief, I found that the dent is now gone!

Samurai · 23rd March 2006, 12:20

Once a Maruti 800 reserved into my stopped Santro in a good speed. Only thing that broke was my plastic license plate and not even a scratch on the Santro bumper.

BUSA · 23rd March 2006, 13:07

Had happened to my Optra as well. One Stupid Premier Padmani did not brake and hit the rear bumper of my Optra. Came out to shout at the person and saw that the Padmanis bumper was hanging after the hit, wheras the Optra was not affected. Didnot say anything to the Padmani guy as he was already scared, but since nothing had happened whats the use saying anyway.

Also rear bumpers touches are very common in todays high density traffic. Whenever my New Honda City was hit by any vehicle from behind the bumper would slip and then you have to push it to get it back into position.

Revvhead · 23rd March 2006, 13:39

Its the Daewoo Bumpers
I tool o pretty big hit from an indica fool that failed to slow & stop on time on the western express once when i was going to the airport ( The guy failed to give any allowance speed reduction for wet raod stopping distance )
My friend and me went flying forward - were wearing belts .
I thought the rear of the car would be one of those caved in ones!! Nightmares and baaad pictures in my head

But all that had happened was the rear bumber had a small mark where the bull bar had hit it. crazy.

My baleno got lightly tapped by a dreaming clown in an esteem at maybe 10 Kph and the bumber collapsed and half fell down.

prabuddhadg · 23rd March 2006, 14:06

I think I had read somewhere that the Opel Astra bumper and fender both had some kind of shock absorption mechanism built in that prevented the bumper/fender from bending on small knocks. But if the same thing works so well on the Optra, then nothing like it. In today's bumper to bumper traffic, such back to front knocks are common. But those bull bars are pretty dangerous since they take all the impact to the body and only save the fender. Wonder why so many people get them fitted.

Lukeskywalker · 23rd March 2006, 17:34

hey there lemon, was thinking u have disappeared along with ur new car, anyway about the optra bumper, i took delivery in the evening and it had gotten dark, i am not used to dark tints which my optra now has, it felt like every person on the road was out to scrape my car that night, anyway i was full of relief that i reached home safe, but while backing the brand new car into the compound i reversed it into my cielo because i still had not got a good idea about the rear overhang, it was just a nudge but i was shattered, i saw no damage that night, but i checked first thing in the morning and like u said not a scratch, it was like it never happened.
also i got the chance to see what lies behind the bumper before i took delivery because they exchanged the front bumper with another one as the original had a tiny scratch on it, it has a thermocole kind of material behind the plastic, maybe that takes the impact in minor collisions.

Lemon · 24th March 2006, 12:14

hi lukeskywalker,

ya i suppose it is made of something really good. But its so annoying right that some people just arent as careful as you on the road. The other annoying thing is bikers touching ur car from the rear at traffic signals. you can feel the small minute touch on ur car. when u turn around to glare they look away and act as if they didnt even notice.

i am so wary of these guys now, that i dont even like having a conversation while driving my new car lest i miss someone trying to use mycar as a stopper.

the other scary bit is these mtc buses. while u might in the all law abidding sense want to slow ur car down at the orange, ur rear view pics up the speeding mtc fast occuping ur rear view as he is trying a squeeze through. i just do a hard left and let him go ahead and run over someone elses property......

amit mohan · 27th March 2006, 12:50

I had a cielo earlier and the same thing happened to me except the car which hit me was an amby. His car got badly dented and mine was actually not effected at all. The cielo bumper design was unique as I saw at the workshop once, it had fins beneath the skin which helped in spreading the force of the impact. Since optra is also a korean(daewoo) model of chevy most probably they are using the same technology.

I also have an optra 1.6. I will try to find more about this.

Rudra Sen · 27th March 2006, 14:00

Cielo bumper's inside honeycomb design (top pic) to resist impact...
Due to cost issue, Optra bumper's (bottom pic) is solid blocks...
Both do the same job but Cielo's bumper was very expensive if I remember..

dodge3p · 27th March 2006, 15:39

I wasn't lucky as you guys were... This weekend a speeding biker used my Wagon R as his stopper. Everthing was same like yto guys.. big sound from rear,anger, frustration, jumping out of the car to "kill" the guy who hit my car. But once I saw the the big dent on left side of the rear bumber I was devastated. Amazing me, the guy responded by accepting his mistake and paid me the sum for repairs.

hot_rod · 27th March 2006, 19:54

man every one is not so lucky and as far as i know the maruti cars have cheap materials.th case was with my brand new zen was taken to town for a long drive while we stopped there was a maniac biker on a rx 100 who came zooming and banged against the rear bumper we were all sad as the car was brand new!well the bumper was damaged it had a crack but it has held on like dat only till now and my car is a 03 model but it still looks bad the poor biker guy we would have killed him but he was already bleeding(his toe nail broke)so we did not do anything and he shamelessly zoomed off again!when wil bikers ever learn!???

23rd March 2006, 10:23	#1
Lemon BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chennai Posts: 125 Thanked: 25 Times View My Garage	Amazing Bumper for the Optra 1.6 I was riding along with my two week old optra along poonamalle high road, chennai. It was 7.30 in the evening. This road is notorious for bumper to bumper traffic at this time. It literally crawls. I was enjoying some quite music and basically talking about the car to my already impressed father in law who with me. Suddenly, I heard that dreaded sound of a small thud, collapse like bending sheet metal from the rear and my optra lurched forward. A complete fool with his 800 had apparently decided to dream while his car was in motion and ran into my car. I was so pissed, annoyed , sad , overwhelmed, outraged, resigned all at once. I just wanted to get out and smash this guys face. He quickly dodged lanes and sped off. I pulled on to the side a little later to take a look. What i saw was completely astounding. No jokes...Not a dent, a scratch, a twist, nothing at all. I mean it was almost as if it never even happened. I found this hard to beleive and i went down on all fours trying to find the slightest burr or flaw in the refraction but there was none. I trurly tell u , i was amazed at this and thought i better post it. The same happened to my previous ikon, and the damn conviently transferred the energy to the sheet metal resulting in some bending on the sides. Well done optra for the research into bumper design. It really engaged the bumper of the 800 and absorbed the shock splendidly. POST EDITED> Note from the Team-BHP Support Staff : Abusive language – whether used directly or indirectly - is STRICTLY prohibited on Team-BHP. A decent communication protocol must be adhered to. Foul language and use of abusive words/photographs in posts/avatars/signatures/topics is STRICTLY prohibited. We advice you to read the Announcements and Board Rules section before proceeding any further to prevent your account from being permanently disabled on this board.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 10:30	#2
aZa Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Noida / Delhi Posts: 1,595 Thanked: 21 Times View My Garage	Bumper of a M800 is of light plastic maybe it was the m800's bumper which absorbed it all lol !! and sometimes there is a huge sound but the damage is very less
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 10:49	#3
revharder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 460 Thanked: 56 Times	everything is fine but there has to be some scratchs, if not something big, atleast something very negligible. but if even those small scrtachs are not there, then Optra sure is the car for Indian roads. and i won't mind wrapping my whole car in a bumper's plastic sheet!
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 10:54	#4
jesal BANNED Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	we trashed a new optra on christmas eve last year. managed to tear the bumber the light and a dent on the bonnet banged into a accent which was in much worse shape than us.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 12:12	#5
deepakhon Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,441 Thanked: 65 Times	I guess these bumpers are made of some material which absorbs crashes at a certain lower speed. The same thing happened to my Palio. When I was reversing, I hit a stone and saw that the bumper had a huge dent. I felt very sad and went home thinking about it. I saw the same bumper when I parked my vehicle at my home. To my surprise and relief, I found that the dent is now gone!
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 12:20	#6
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,832 Thanked: 45,619 Times View My Garage	Once a Maruti 800 reserved into my stopped Santro in a good speed. Only thing that broke was my plastic license plate and not even a scratch on the Santro bumper.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 13:07	#7
BUSA Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bombay Posts: 5,130 Thanked: 20 Times View My Garage	Had happened to my Optra as well. One Stupid Premier Padmani did not brake and hit the rear bumper of my Optra. Came out to shout at the person and saw that the Padmanis bumper was hanging after the hit, wheras the Optra was not affected. Didnot say anything to the Padmani guy as he was already scared, but since nothing had happened whats the use saying anyway. Also rear bumpers touches are very common in todays high density traffic. Whenever my New Honda City was hit by any vehicle from behind the bumper would slip and then you have to push it to get it back into position.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 13:39	#8
Revvhead BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Bombay Posts: 450 Thanked: 20 Times View My Garage	Its the Daewoo Bumpers I tool o pretty big hit from an indica fool that failed to slow & stop on time on the western express once when i was going to the airport ( The guy failed to give any allowance speed reduction for wet raod stopping distance ) My friend and me went flying forward - were wearing belts . I thought the rear of the car would be one of those caved in ones!! Nightmares and baaad pictures in my head But all that had happened was the rear bumber had a small mark where the bull bar had hit it. crazy. My baleno got lightly tapped by a dreaming clown in an esteem at maybe 10 Kph and the bumber collapsed and half fell down.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 14:06	#9
prabuddhadg BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 812 Thanked: 81 Times View My Garage	I think I had read somewhere that the Opel Astra bumper and fender both had some kind of shock absorption mechanism built in that prevented the bumper/fender from bending on small knocks. But if the same thing works so well on the Optra, then nothing like it. In today's bumper to bumper traffic, such back to front knocks are common. But those bull bars are pretty dangerous since they take all the impact to the body and only save the fender. Wonder why so many people get them fitted.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2006, 17:34	#10
Lukeskywalker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,397 Thanked: 1,243 Times View My Garage	hey there lemon, was thinking u have disappeared along with ur new car, anyway about the optra bumper, i took delivery in the evening and it had gotten dark, i am not used to dark tints which my optra now has, it felt like every person on the road was out to scrape my car that night, anyway i was full of relief that i reached home safe, but while backing the brand new car into the compound i reversed it into my cielo because i still had not got a good idea about the rear overhang, it was just a nudge but i was shattered, i saw no damage that night, but i checked first thing in the morning and like u said not a scratch, it was like it never happened. also i got the chance to see what lies behind the bumper before i took delivery because they exchanged the front bumper with another one as the original had a tiny scratch on it, it has a thermocole kind of material behind the plastic, maybe that takes the impact in minor collisions.
	() Thanks

24th March 2006, 12:14	#11
Lemon BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chennai Posts: 125 Thanked: 25 Times View My Garage	hi lukeskywalker, ya i suppose it is made of something really good. But its so annoying right that some people just arent as careful as you on the road. The other annoying thing is bikers touching ur car from the rear at traffic signals. you can feel the small minute touch on ur car. when u turn around to glare they look away and act as if they didnt even notice. i am so wary of these guys now, that i dont even like having a conversation while driving my new car lest i miss someone trying to use mycar as a stopper. the other scary bit is these mtc buses. while u might in the all law abidding sense want to slow ur car down at the orange, ur rear view pics up the speeding mtc fast occuping ur rear view as he is trying a squeeze through. i just do a hard left and let him go ahead and run over someone elses property......
	() Thanks

27th March 2006, 12:50	#12
amit mohan BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: new delhi Posts: 40 Thanked: Once	amazing bumper for the optra 1.6 I had a cielo earlier and the same thing happened to me except the car which hit me was an amby. His car got badly dented and mine was actually not effected at all. The cielo bumper design was unique as I saw at the workshop once, it had fins beneath the skin which helped in spreading the force of the impact. Since optra is also a korean(daewoo) model of chevy most probably they are using the same technology. I also have an optra 1.6. I will try to find more about this.
	() Thanks

27th March 2006, 14:00	#13
Rudra Sen Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 11,590 Thanked: 6,532 Times View My Garage	Cielo bumper's inside honeycomb design (top pic) to resist impact... Due to cost issue, Optra bumper's (bottom pic) is solid blocks... Both do the same job but Cielo's bumper was very expensive if I remember..
	() Thanks

27th March 2006, 15:39	#14
dodge3p BHPian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: TVM Posts: 56 Thanked: 53 Times	I wasn't lucky as you guys were... This weekend a speeding biker used my Wagon R as his stopper. Everthing was same like yto guys.. big sound from rear,anger, frustration, jumping out of the car to "kill" the guy who hit my car. But once I saw the the big dent on left side of the rear bumber I was devastated. Amazing me, the guy responded by accepting his mistake and paid me the sum for repairs.
	() Thanks

27th March 2006, 19:54	#15
hot_rod BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: mumbai Posts: 166 Thanked: 2 Times View My Garage	man every one is not so lucky and as far as i know the maruti cars have cheap materials.th case was with my brand new zen was taken to town for a long drive while we stopped there was a maniac biker on a rx 100 who came zooming and banged against the rear bumper we were all sad as the car was brand new!well the bumper was damaged it had a crack but it has held on like dat only till now and my car is a 03 model but it still looks bad the poor biker guy we would have killed him but he was already bleeding(his toe nail broke)so we did not do anything and he shamelessly zoomed off again!when wil bikers ever learn!???
	() Thanks