OK,

To make a long story short I got rear ended the second week I had my spankin new evo.

I thought it would be a good idea to replace the rear bumper with something aftermarket since it wouldn't really cost anymore, so obviously my first choice was the EVO9 rear bumper.

Well after doing some research and emailing accolade, (body-kit.com) I've come to find out that if I want the EVO9 bumper I'll either have to find a JDM rear bumper beam or run without a bumper beam.

If I was keeping the car stock I wouldn't care THAT much about the rear crash beam, but since I plan on racing quite a bit something explosive will undoubtedly be resting in my trunk. (whether it be alchohol, methanol, or nitrous is unrelated at this point).

So here is my dillemna;

I want the EVO9 rear bumper but I am afraid of safety issues in regards to whatever explosive material finds it way into my trunk. Should I look into a JDM crash bar? Should I shave the USDM crash bar to fit the EVO9 bumper? Would that even work? Is there another replica EVO9 bumper that fits the crash bar? Do you know of any cool looking rear bumpers that could be an alternative? (I've already seen all the obvious ones..)


Any comments, tips, or information based on past experinece or even hearsay is very welcomed.


Thanks EVOM

-Justin

 

You should be ale to shave or bend the crash beam. Besides the Crash beams are only rated at like 5 mph. Trust me I had mine in when I t-boned a guy that ran a stop sign a couple weeks ago and it does nothing except bend in half...

 

Thanks for the input.

The point of the crashbar is to flex and bend so that it absorbs the impact as opposed to me absorbing the impact or the trunk (which would be holding the explosives) abosrbing it.

Bump

 

True, I have nitrous and soon Alky in my trunk and I honestly doubt the crash beam will save them if you are rear ended. If you are worried mount the bottle/ whatever to the back of your seats instead of the floor of your trunk. This means they would have to crush your entire rear end up the rear seats before hitting said container. Hopefully the frame would stop the rear end from crushing that much.

 

I read somewhere on those Evo9 group buys and I believe the vendor advised that
Japan spec does no have crash beams..becuase in Japan it's not required. Same as
you I'm holding off on the bumper until there is a way to incorperate a crash beam
before i get one.

 

I think its more a question of what will happen in a low impact crash. If someone hit you at 5 mph with a crash beam the damage would probably be less than $1000 dollars. Without the crash beam it could be in the thousands. I want the Evo IX bumper in a bad way but Im afraid someone will bump me from behind when Im parked or something and I'll get stuck with a huge $$ bill. And was already stated there are no crash beams in Japan.

 

..yes you have stated...my bad...

 

Ok that's fine but if they rear end you they have to replace it all. Keep your reciepts people!~

 

Insurance could refuse to pay because of the lack of a rear bumper beam. I have heard of this on the reverse end; people put in a front mount intercooler and lose the bumper beam... insurance denies claim. (remember this is just hearsay, so check with your insurance or whatever)

 

u could just buy an I/C that RETAINS the stock crash beam...


as far as this topic goes, you may want to check into the UK & aussie markets for crash beams. they might have them but i'm unsure. the US is still the ONLY country that requires crash testing. also cuz the dollar has fallen rapidly (thx katrina) if you are able to obtain the part, it will be costly. for example, the EVO 9 FQ-340 in the uk is $32,994 GBP which is $59,654 US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hmmm this sucks pretty bad.

I wasn't so pissed about the whole situation when I thought I was getting the EVO9 rear bumper, but at this point im pretty flustered. I guess I'm gonna probably get a stock one....... either that or c-west, and thats still a little flagrant for my tastes

 

I have an idea someone should make an intercooler that acts as the crash beam to save some weight.

 

took out my front beam and saved a lot of weight along w/ cf front bumper. added a lot of weight w/ turbo xs fmic. i too got rear ended in a small collision. virtualy no damage to rear cover, but beam was trashed and i had to put my car on a frame straightenr to reshape my frame rails in the trunk. crash beam doesn't do much. however, for a IX bumper, you will need all the metal support pieces from the stock bumper, those are probably trashed on your car, and you will need to purchase those items.( i already looked into this for mine after i got rear ended.)

 

Btw. in Europe crash test requirments are a lot stricter than in the US so don't post false information. They get the real Evo 9 rear bumper.

 

actually, the get a different bumper. ( the one w/ the single rear foglight)