Shorter rear bumper available?
- Thread starter Kentrob11
- Start date
Kentrob11 said:
The reason for the long overhang is because of the space the trunk takes up. It would look nicer if the front could have been the trunk and the overhang were shorter but oh well.
The car itself is still pretty average length-wise. About as long as a 4 door sedan.
I don't recall seeing any off-the-shelf aftermarket ones, but if you're willing to sacrifice the bumper beam/support, you could always have a one-off bumper cover built.
Check out the booty on Vrooom's amazing NSX:
Check out the booty on Vrooom's amazing NSX:
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IMO the rear overhang looks too long. The original prototype was tested by one of the magazines in 1990. It was I think 4 inches shorter, several hundred pounds lighter and without v-tec. Somebody at Honda decided the trunk needed to carry TWO damn golf bags in the back!, so they screwed up the body. It's still a miracle though that it turned out as good as it did.
They didn't screw up the body to carry two golf bags. The design criteria of "two golf bags" and "simplicity" of exterior (not big-ass wings, etc) actually prooved to not present the trade-offs Honda (or we) would have thought. Their wind tunnel testing in development showed a longer tail improved stability / reduced lift (more effective than a high wing) / and maybe even reduced drag (I'll have to look up an provide direct quote RE this). It was a win/win: Simplicity, room for 2 golf bags, and aerodynamics were complementary to each other. (I also, like satx, think the long tail is aesthetically pleasing.)Tanto2 said:
The bumper could be prettier, but it was designed in 1991...likely to comply with some insurance standard or government regulation (like there should be no damage in 5MPH impact).
There are some signs that the original design was changed. The rear bumper rail has an extension welded to each end extending it another 2-3 inches to both sides. I'm sure there were modifications done to make the DOT and others happy.
I was able to trim off the side tabs on the rear rail and also about 2 1/8" of depth by removing the foam core.
Jeff
I was able to trim off the side tabs on the rear rail and also about 2 1/8" of depth by removing the foam core.
Jeff
That's a small sedan. If you compare it to the current Acura line-up it is 1.8" longer than the RSX (a coupe), 9.1" shorter than a TSX (sedan), 14.5" shorter than the MDX (suv), 15.4" shorter than the TL (sedan), and 19.4" shorter than the RL (sedan).6i9 said:
If you compare it to a "compact" sedan of the same timeframe (90-93 Accord), the NSX is 10.6" shorter. The latter was pretty obvious to me as my third garage stall (where NSX is) is about 10" shorter than the other two stalls (two accords there), but the NSX's front bumper lines up with the Accords' bumpers when they're all parked similarly. You can find sedans of similar length, but they are tiny sedans (i.e. NSX is 1.2" longer than a 97 geo prism 4-door).
(Two more random data points: NSX is 7.5 inches longer than a Ferrari 348 GTS and 3.4 inches shorter than a Ferrari 430.)
I understand what you would want to achieve.
However, that bumper is there to protect both you AND your car. Honda would have had to redesign the rear wall of your car to make the bumper stick out less. And I know from personal experience that that rear bumper beam is very strong.
The pictures below show just the bumper beam fitted to my car and the complete assembled rear bumper ready to be mounted on the car.
And just for the record, that bumper beam pictured here is the same one that was on the car when I spun out on the track at 90 mph and hitting the tirewall backwards hard enough to have to competely replace the trunk bottom and rear wall. But still, the bumper beam was/is reussable.
However, that bumper is there to protect both you AND your car. Honda would have had to redesign the rear wall of your car to make the bumper stick out less. And I know from personal experience that that rear bumper beam is very strong.
The pictures below show just the bumper beam fitted to my car and the complete assembled rear bumper ready to be mounted on the car.
And just for the record, that bumper beam pictured here is the same one that was on the car when I spun out on the track at 90 mph and hitting the tirewall backwards hard enough to have to competely replace the trunk bottom and rear wall. But still, the bumper beam was/is reussable.
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The Mugen NSX has a refabracated "flat bumper" that is flush with the rear lights. IMO it did not look right ( as is with most of Mugens stuff:smile: ).
