Reducing weight is next to gaining miles per gallon directly from the engine, and so Mazda is crowing about new materials and processes in the 2013 CX-5 sport utility bumpers.
Working with Japan Polypropylene Corporation, Mazda has developed a new plastic resin used in forming bumper caps that is lighter and thinner than the previous resin.
Less resin means a lighter bumper, enough for a 20 percent weight savings when counting both front and rear bumper caps.
Top: Front bumper, Bottom: Rear bumper
The new bumpers are also thinner, and with their reduced mass, they don’t have to cool as long once molded. Toss in some computer modeling of the molds and Mazda says they have halved the time to mold a bumper from one minute to 30 seconds. There is no loss in strength, either, says Mazda, noting that the new bumpers are as rigid as the old ones.
The bottom line is less material used, and less energy consumed in manufacturing and driving the latest CX-5.
Sounds like a winner, unless you’re Mazda’s resin supplier.
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