Tough enough

[Raymantan]

I feel that conti car is still tougher than Japanese car. Once I saw a merc Taxi bang onto the truck doing tree prunning at the right lane. The bumper protection guard of the truck totally smash into pieces but the Taxi only subject minor damage. Just my views.

[Jack_jack]

used to be that my dudes always joked about how easy you can make a dent on jap/korean rides..

 

once they start owning some , they arn't joking much now..

 

but all cars can have dents no matter what ..

 

just have to get some good people to fix them up .. $$ per dent...

 

Flimsy sheetmetal is the price people will have to pay for savings from frugal fuel-consumption. But on the flipside, weak outer shells will usually mean higher repair costs, since more engine components are vulnerable to damage even from low-speed collisions. My brother has incurred so much in repair bills to his Vios due to minor knocks from motorcycles that it's no longer funny.

[Rickster]

Wanna compare soft?

 

My dad's Renault side from the front door, all the way to the front bumper, is

FIBER GLASS (a material that feels like plastic) material! I can depress teh whole section with my small finger BTW, all renault models are made like that.

 

@ least my Kia still has sheet metal all round

[Rickster]

And "plastic" material for external is what people pay for certain conti makes.

[Jack_jack]

I'm not surprised your dad's Renault feels a little flimsy. Carlos Ghosn may have done a good job with Renault's finances, but those are car designs dictated by accountants, not engineers.

 

Anyway, not all Conti cars are rugged in construction like typical German makes. Fiats feel cheap too.

[Silver_blade]

...FIBER GLASS (a material that feels like plastic) material!

That's not cheap leh. The earlier A-class front fender is also made of that. That's for safety reason...but due to the high cost, I think renault has use a lot less of that material and use metal sheet instead.

[Rickster]

Hey long time no c u in RCC! Its been ages since I last visited there

 

Yea, understadn taht they use fiber glass coz so that it can fly off upon impact. and not like sheet metal - crumple and jam ur front doors Other than that it has a much more robust frame than jap makes. Euro NCAP 5 star not for nothing.

 

But I still can't shake the strange feeling on having some flimsy plastics on the front...haha thats just me perhaps.

[Silver_blade]

I'm fine. I still go to RCC and MCF almost every day.

[Cklasse]

Those "plastic" on the A-class and Renault are meant to have its use. Did we talk about dents? those "plastic" will flex when hit and rebounds to its original shape. It is better able to absorb impact and crumple to save the occupant.

 

You should really give yourself a pat on the back if you are driving a Renault with those "plastic" panels. They are the high tech stuff that saves life and you have made the right choice for a safe car.

 

Talking about A-class, it sits high so that a side impact will only hit its ladder frame chassis, it's not even at the side panel. In a frontal impact, the curve engine slides below the chassis without intruding into the cabin.

[Rickster]

Hey, my dad's renault also has this feature..they call that something like the engine is sitting on "snap bars" so that during an impact, the bars will snap and the engine block will slide 45 degree downwards and not intrude into the cabin.

 

Haha looks like nowadays conti cars enphise more on crumple than hardness

[Hicksau]

hmm.. jap/korean rides seemed to be following this trend too