I was told today that the Japanese rear bumper is different from the US rear bumper. Is that true? I tried searching and didn't find anything. If it is true, anyone got pics? I was asking a body kit manufacturer about their kit and they said the rear lip would only fit Japanese bumpers.. they even showed me pics of the kit and how off it was..
I don't know about the Prius, but this is very possible. Many cars get different bumpers for the US, due to our "5 MPH" bumper standard (they're supposed to survive undamaged in collisions up to 5 MPH). Ours might not look much different on the outside, but might be different (stronger) on the inside. Other countries don't have this same standard. Other parts are often different too, typically lights, sometimes wipers, etc., and emissions and crash standards may also create differences. This is part of what makes it not always easy to ship a car from one country to another, to legally import a car may have to be modified to meet the new country's requirements.
This is why almost every car in the US has headlights that are different from their japanese counterpart. The US requires an orange reflector.. Anyways, here are pics of the rear add ons I was interested in. You can see where the rear bumper is totally off.. The add ons are for a Japenese spec bumper.. The white bumper in the pic is a US bumper..
It would not surprise me as crash standards would likely differ in the US and Japan - I know for sure that they are different in Europe. My guess is that they probably look almost identical, but what is under the bumper cover is quite different.
It looks pretty much like mine and mine's UK spec (so probably very similar to RHD Japanese model). I wonder if you've only purchased part of a body kit and there should be a section for the rear?
Are you saying your bumper looks like the White bumper in the pics above? If so, then the UK bumper is like the US bumper ..
There have been a thread or two or more on PC discussing modifications necessary to make a US Gen 3 bumper clear JDM aftermarket exhausts. There might be some useful info in those threads.
Typically the difference is the depth of the rear bumper because of the stricter bumpers standards that was mentioned above. Compare our Yaris to the Vitz and you'll notice that our Yaris has a larger a** because of the bumper. It just sticks out more. With the photo you provided, it seems like the bumper also extends further towards the ground.
When byuing aftermarket body or exhaust parts for the ZVW30 in Japan you aill always be asked if you have a standard or Touring version of the car. It seems that the touring version is the same like ours at least in EU (I can only speak of LHD) and US. The Standard rear bumper seems to be differt underneath only. IMHO, the part looks like it was designed for a 2nd gen Prius and not 3rd gen. But I could be wrong.
