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Automotive News & Views What's with all the plastic body panels?
23 messages, Last post on May 22, 2006 at 9:06 AM
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when GM used plastic front fenders on its C- and H-bodies, and I think Chrysler used plastic front fenders on its first few years of LH car before switching over to metal. I'd be curious to see how much weight they really saved with the plastic parts.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 04, 2006 9:46 am) Unfortunately, they are putting all the weight back with gadgetry, so go figure..... |
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| where weight is getting put back in is in the structure under the sheetmetal. For instance, when I took the fender off my '68 Dart, and especially my '69 Bonneville, there really wasn't much bracing beneath it. I guess the reason the Dart had a bit more substance underneath was because it's unitized. But anyway, that sheetmetal, to an extent, had to protect you in an accident. Well, try to anyway. Nowadays though, with the stronger internal structures in cars, bracing and such, stuff like fenders is just cosmetic. | |
| ....if weight savings is the main concern, that could be achieved by using light weight alloys. They are even lighter than plastic, stronger, and considering the high prices of today's vehicles, there's no reason they couldn't use more of it. | |
| what all is packed into cars today, I don't think they're really all that expensive. Sure, more money than I might want to pay, but for the most part your money gets you more car these days than in the past. All that stuff like airbags, emissions controls, computers controlling everything, power stuff, OHC engines, trannies with 6-7 forward gears, etc, comes with a price. And to keep the overall price of the car reasonable, they have to cut costs somewhere. So you're going to get cheaper, more plasticky interiors, more plastic in the body, etc. Using more alloys is probably still too cost prohibitive, at least in mainstream vehicles. | |
| ....and I'm told by the sales person that an absolute bottom of the line basic commuter car like the Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris is going to sell for $13K-$14K, vehicles are way too expensive. You can't buy anything worth having that's large enough to haul a family these days for less than $20K, and SUV's, full sized pickups, sports cars, and luxo vehicles sell for $35K on up. For those kinds of prices I see absolutely no reason why alloys couldn't be used in place of cheap plastic. | |
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Does anyone know if the new Saturn Aura and Sky have the dent resistant wonders called doors on these new models ???? I'm assuming yes.... Rocky
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Replying to: rockylee (May 05, 2006 2:02 am) A few Facts about plastic body panels: -Dent resistant. You will not get those annoying parking lot "dings". -Only Smart has molded-in-color body panels (GEs Xenoy). They will fade over time. -Those "cheap" plastic body panels actually cost more than steel (pound for pound). BMW currently used plastic on front fender because of the premium attributes it brings (long term durability) -Pre-1995 Plastic body panels had issues that have been mostly resolved as of 2006. Paint adhesion, heat, ductility, etc. are not the problems they used to be) -Chryslers LH vehicles of the early 90's had Dow's Bexloy resin in the fenders. Poor dimensional stability lead to their replacement. -Fascias (bumper covers) are made of lower quality materials than side body panels (typically) because the repair strategy for them is replacement. The best material would still need to be replace even in a minor crash (including steel). -As someone stated earlier, auto weight savings are cumulative. The more heavy metal parts you can replace with plastic, the lighter your car will get. Auto makers currently rank priorities this way: 1.cost 2.quality 3.weight. Very often, car makers will be forced to take weight out at the expence of 1 and 2 due to CAFE (Cumulative Anual Fuel Efficincy)ratings. -Plastic used in todays body panels will not crease. you are more likely to get a crack before it would crease. And, the forces required to crack the plastic would produce a truly unsightly gouge in a steel door or fender. -make a fist and punch a steel car door. make a fist and puch a plastic car door. which will require repair? There's more but i've said enough.
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Replying to: plasticar (May 12, 2006 9:54 am) My guess would be your fist.
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Replying to: snakeweasel (May 12, 2006 9:59 am)
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