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Thinnest fenders on earth?

6K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  I call her Sheila 
#1 ·
I was taking advantage of the nice weather to put a coat of wax on the OB. When doing so, I was very pleased to find that after a full year and 13K miles, I still do not have a single ding or scratch in the paint.

I thought this would also be a good day to finally remove the lug nuts one at a time and clean the assembly goo off of the lug nuts and wheels. I just finished the 4th wheel (LF), and slipped while getting up. My shoulder bumped the fender above the front wheel and but a big dent in it! So much for no dings....:3: I reached behind the inner liner to push the dent back out, and could not believe how easily the metal bent. These have to be the thinnest fenders ever used on a car. :28:
 
#2 ·
My bicycle has thin fenders

Subaru has hardened steel sheet stamped. You push on any car in the wrong spot today and you can push in the sheet metal covering the cage. Added features - and increased mileage comes at a cost - weight savings is found by using lighter higher quality stronger steel for other stuff.
 
#10 ·
Wrong- go find a new Golf or GTI and try to find a soft spot..you wont- trust me as a former owner of one. Things are so incredibly solid, but there is a weight penalty to be had.

I remember the first time I saw my hood flexing in the wind at highway speeds in the OB, but I guess that's my price for a 30mpg AWD wagon :cool:
 
#13 ·
yep...i made that mistake....
 
#8 ·
Yes the Outback is made of EXTREMELY thin sheet metal skin. I keep the paintless dent removal guy on speed-dial and in just over 1 year and 14K of ownership I have had to call him twice to remove dents. He says he makes alot of $$ on new Subarus and they have one of the thinnest skins of all the cars he works on.

Just watch your hood when going 80mph on the freeway, it literally is "flapping" in the breeze b/c its so thin. At least it saves weight for gas mileage...
 
#23 ·
Mine flaps from the air blowers at the car wash. First time when my OB was new and it did that I freaked out, lol.

I got a little dent in my fender a couple of months ago by, literally, bumping into it while getting out of the car and squeezing through a tight spot in my garage. It's no bigee, but I'll check out the paintless dent guy since I can't pop it back myself.

If I'd bumped into my 83 coupe de ville's fender, my butt would have been the thing dented. lol.
 
#12 ·
Thin gauge steel equals better MPG.
 
#15 ·
After reading this, I spent my afternoon washing my cars. Pressed on the slab sides of my 2013 Outback, and it flexes like a beer can. Thinking this was thin metal/light weight/better mpg I walked across my driveway an checked my 2012 Prius. Some give, but much less and a thicker skin. Think 25% of the flex of the Outback. I suppose this is not about mpg. Then I went in the garage and pressed on my 2001 Porsche 911. No flex, stiff as a board. And far and away it's the lightest, yet most expensive of the lot.

I don't think this is about weight and mpg. This is about cost. Although my limited stickered above 30, and the SAPs well above that, this is really a $20K car. And to get it there, they had to compromise on materials and manufacturing process to sell a base model for that low. Which is why there was schmutz on the wheels to begin with.
 
#16 ·
What was behind the panels during your stiffness test?
Panel shape also affect stiffness.
 
#17 ·
Well, at safecar.gov, the OB gets 4 out of 5 stars across the board, while a VW Passat, for example, gets 5 stars. Even the Prius beats the OB in the side collision test.

I do think the thin metal is an attempt at weight savings. Sometimes it's more expensive to make something lighter than not. Of course, we don't have access to the engineering details so we'll never know.

I do think 4 stars is pretty good, when you consider the MPG ratings & vehicle size combo we get with this car.

But yes, if you want the best safety, you probably should go European (Volvo, Audi, VW).
 
#18 ·
But the of course then, VW, Audi, Volvo, Mercedes Benz, BMW, and of course Porsche are actually cars that are generally undependable (people do have exceptions, but generally low reliability ratings), overpriced (except perhaps VW), full of unnecessary bells and whistles and cost a fortune to own and repair. Actually, the thinner the metal, the better it is for the planet. Generally, lightness in design is useful up to a point, (think laptops, airplanes, carbon-fiber, bicycles, etc.

Off-road you find very few if any of the European cars, generally Asian and American, unless someone wants to take their MB up trail which happens once in awhile. So press on the side of your Porsche as much as you want, even if you have to drop the exhaust to change the oil, but don't drive it off-road.
 
#19 ·
But the of course then, VW, Audi, Volvo, Mercedes Benz, BMW, and of course Porsche are actually cars that are generally undependable (people do have exceptions, but generally low reliability ratings), overpriced (except perhaps VW), full of unnecessary bells and whistles and cost a fortune to own and repair. Actually, the thinner the metal, the better it is for the planet. Generally, lightness in design is useful up to a point, (think laptops, airplanes, carbon-fiber, bicycles, etc.

Off-road you find very few if any of the European cars, generally Asian and American, unless someone wants to take their MB up trail which happens once in awhile. So press on the side of your Porsche as much as you want, even if you have to drop the exhaust to change the oil, but don't drive it off-road.
Very true. I owned MANY european cars before my Subaru. They were mostly OK with reliability, but once you hit 60-80K miles the gremlins showed up and the nickel and dimeing started. They were much nicer and more refined that my Outback, but not by much. I do miss some bells and whistles, but having the Outback keeps more money in my wallet to spend on my old Porsche (fun/track) car.
 
#20 ·
Excellent crash safety depends on the crushability of the vehicle. Easily deformed structures absorb energy in the collision to save the occupants. Stiff vehicles are actually more dangerous. It's all in the physics. Extend the Delta-V and you live.
 
#21 ·
The panels may be thin but the safety cage is tougher than on most cars and that is why the OB is quite safe. There are special marker points on the OB's A & B pillars for the firefighter to use the jaws-of-life on, otherwise they can't cut them if needed. Not too many cars have that according to my firefighter friends who deal with the many accidents we have down here.
I have soundproofed my car with Dynamat and the doors at least feel more solid than before and they oilcan less when pushed on..
 
#22 ·
That "safety cage" also has crumple zones designed to absorb energy in a collision.
You don't want a "tough" cage, you want one that gives at impact.
 
#25 ·
Yep, mine is at the shop all this week thanks to Hurricane Sandy dropping mostly small branches on her (ok, one of them was about 3 inches in diameter and 6 feet long, but none of the other branches were thicker than an inch, or 3 feet long). Left about 7 dimples in the roof, 4 in the hood, one on the strip over the driver's door, and one big dent (from the larger branch) on the front right fender. Looks like it spent an hour at the driving range. Same parking space for 13 years of a 4Runner, never got a dent from a branch in any storm. Not sure what I will do in the future to avoid this from happening, as I do not have access to a garage, nor am I building a car port.

I'll be seeing my Subie again in a week. Meanwhile, I've got this Dodge Defender to play with. I hope it can handle my dirt road and tomorrow's forecast snow (no, it came without a snow brush, but I bring my own).
 
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