RE: liposuction

[michael_kohlbrenner@xxxxxxxxxx]

- -----Original Message-----
From: tedcrum@domain.elided

> One a related subject, I have been able to acheive
> a much sleeker, cleaner look when riding my motorcycle
> by wearing a helmet much smaller than my normal size
> and then removing that plastic foam crap so it will fit.

While I find your presumably tongue-in-cheek reply
entertaining, I don't think that it is quite applicable
here.  5 mph bumpers have little to do with protecting
the occupants of the car, they are merely intended to
protect the car itself.  I would be lying if I said that
I had proof, but I'd certainly be surprised if collapsing
the bumpers in this way had an appreciable effect on the
safety of the occupants in an accident serious enough to
actually put them at risk.  A couple of hydraulic cylinders
designed to absorb a 5 mph bump will likely only absorb
a small fraction of the total energy of a hit at a speed
an order of magnitude higher -- energy goes up with the
square of the speed.  At 50 mph, there is 100 times more
energy than at 5 mph.

FWIW, the P.O. of my old E28 completely removed its 5 mph
bumpers and simply hung some cheesy fiberglass copies of
the Euro bumpers in their place.   In this case, I am
sure that there was an effect on occupant safety, since
there was essentially NO bumpers, but I still felt safer
in that car fighting through my 80 mph highway commute
than I did in my old 2300 lb. '90 Civic Si, even with its 
styrofoam filled bumpers.

Regards,
Mike Kohlbrenner

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