i drive around town in 5th
i've been wondering... woudn't a partial infaltable nose be workable? make the whole nose out of rubber, maybe sectioned and pump it up... it can be shaped aerodynamically, will deform on impact and should pressure leak you can reinflate it same as the tires... in fact it might not even have to be really pressurised to keep it's shape, but that way it could also serve as an actual bumper... (some airbag tech to deflate/inflate as appropriate to minimise the crash effect would be nice too, because all these modern cossision prevention measures won't do much is someone decides to hit you
back to the real world it's quite understandable carmakers take such a coarse approach... looking at the aerodynamics of cars i see in dayly traffic it's unbelievable how much airdams etc at the front of the car, have been mangled torn or just clean ripped off...