not why would you swap on a JDM front, but why are they different...

i understand why the ZC and Si-R bonnets have humps (duh), but why the different headlights, bumpers, et. al.? especially since the Wagon/Beagle/Shuttle/Pro are all the same except for corner light colours...

later Civics are the same worldwide, aren't they?

just wondering if anybody knows...

 

you cant just put the hood, the jdm lights are approx an inch longer. you can bolt up just the jdm hood, but then theres a gap before the headlights and it looks like ***.

so with a crx, when you go jdm, you have to use the whole thing. the hood bumps the other way, which gives added clearence and the lights are longer and more rounded. the bumper has wrap around bumper signals.

its just a better front. for the sedans you get sick one piece headlights for no seam blinkers.

the hatchback gets the hood bump and the wrap arond signals.

also, why not? its fun. makes the car different.

 

i dont know its got me thrown off. i always wondered why integras had wrap around turn signals and the efs didnt. the 88-89 integra also had the wrap around turn signals. either way the usdm frontends for the efs sucked but the rest of the car made up for it

 

I believe he's asking why Honda decided to have so many minor variations that look pretty much the same.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MattP &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I believe he's asking why Honda decided to have so many minor variations that look pretty much the same.</TD></TR></TABLE>

cause we're Americans...and Americans get the big Japanese shaft in our asses!

 

Well the typical answer would be US - DOT regulation. Headlights must be DOT cert and the same with bumpers. Bumpers must stand up to 5 or 10 mph crash tests with little to no damage to the body itself. This is not just for Honda's but all other makes in the US as well. USDM EF's actually look pretty good compared to the JDM version. Other cars like the E30 BMW 3 series didn't fare so well. In europe they had clean small aluminum bumpers but in the US we got big *** "diving board" bumpers that stick out a good 5-6" from the body mounted to hydraulic shocks. H4/H1's E code lights were replaced by basic sealed beams or DOT spec projector lights which were no where near the E code lighting.

 

It's because different countries have different laws.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ukdm crx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's because different countries have different laws.</TD></TR></TABLE>

And different styles of taste.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Reelizmpro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Bumpers must stand up to 5 or 10 mph crash tests with little to no damage to the body itself. . . . Other cars like the E30 BMW 3 series didn't fare so well. In europe they had clean small aluminum bumpers but in the US we got big *** "diving board" bumpers that stick out a good 5-6" from the body mounted to hydraulic shocks.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No kidding about the e30, but that's not even close to how bad the 5-mph bumpers screwed up the looks of the 2002.
Before:

After:


The bumper laws changed to 2.5-mph in 1989 or so, which is why the later US e30's have bumpers that look identical to the euro ones of the same year.

 

wow the US bmw is ugly as hell compared to that euro one. that thing is nice.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MattP &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

No kidding about the e30, but that's not even close to how bad the 5-mph bumpers screwed up the looks of the 2002.

The bumper laws changed to 2.5-mph in 1989 or so, which is why the later US e30's have bumpers that look identical to the euro ones of the same year.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Same **** for the mid 70's-84 911/912 Porsches. Compare those with 66-69 models. Bumper difference is HUGE. They hang off the body like those bmw's in the pics.

 

Wasn't a euro, just a pre-'71 US 2002 (note the US side reflectors). The big bumpers showed up in '74.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Reelizmpro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well the typical answer would be US - DOT regulation. Headlights must be DOT cert and the same with bumpers. Bumpers must stand up to 5 or 10 mph crash tests with little to no damage to the body itself. This is not just for Honda's but all other makes in the US as well. USDM EF's actually look pretty good compared to the JDM version. Other cars like the E30 BMW 3 series didn't fare so well. In europe they had clean small aluminum bumpers but in the US we got big *** "diving board" bumpers that stick out a good 5-6" from the body mounted to hydraulic shocks. H4/H1's E code lights were replaced by basic sealed beams or DOT spec projector lights which were no where near the E code lighting. </TD></TR></TABLE>

this is what i figured; what i don't understand is why they'd bother to have different tooling/molds/etc. why not just make them all the same for all markets - as long as they are correct for the lowest common denominator (the US market). it's what Land Rover and Jaguar do (and have done for years). other than the location of the steering wheel and number of options available, the USDM XJ sedans are identical to any other market's cars. rear fog lamps and side markers are not required for the US market, but neither are they illegal. so they just make all the cars the same (when it comes to body fittings and lamp placement). that way, they only need to make one type of panel, bumper cover, etc.

i realize that there is amuch smaller market for the XJ, making different market versions more expensive to produce than on a mass-market car like the Civic, but it seems the production and design level savings would be massively higher (with a homogeneous design), given the huge number of units produced...

 

I agre with what you are saying. I think Honda should have included some stuff that was given to oversea countries and that arent illegal to have installed here in the states. But i think it all boils down to 1 MAJOR factor...cost. Decisions like these always revolve around $$$.