Okay, before I begin, let me say that I hate tailgaters, whether they are in motion or stopped behind you. I especially get annoyed by people who just have to stop (what appears to be) inches behind you while at a stop light. If I can't see their headlights in my rearview mirror, then they are too close. I do not understand what kind of advantage these people think they are gaining by inching forward toward my rear bumper--makes me paranoid. There have been cases where I feel they have tapped my bumper because they are freaking so close to me. One case in particular I had to pull over to see if my bumper was touched--that's how close I felt they were to me! Anyhow, here is my question. If, say, you are at a stoplight and you feel the car is too close on your rear. In fact, it's inching forward, as if to express impatience with the redlight. If that person even slightly (key word is "slightly") taps your rear bumper, would you be able to notice it. By that, I mean feel it or hear it? (Suppose this car you're driving in is an 89 245.) I guess I'm trying to figure out if people can actually hit you and you not being aware of it.

On a slightly different note. I know when driving a sedan or any car with a trunk, an object behind the car may seem closer than it actually is. But is that the same for a wagon? I figure since that the wagon has a flat back, objects that seem close are in fact too damn close. Is that true?

I'd say yes, you could feel somebody tapping your rear bumper. I say this assuming that people with their grille up your rear end are rather impatient and therefore are not careful or skilled-enough drivers to ever-so-slowly touch your car without you feeling it (unless your car idles roughly or the woofers are blasting).
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Mike F - 1984 244 DL - 216,000 miles (give or take)

From my experience, you can surely feel a tap. When I was a kid, my parents both drove 240's. My mom used to take us to school and sometimes when we and Dad left at the same time, dad would tap our 240 while sitting at a light as little kids, my borther, sister and I would get a kick out of it. Anyway, we did feel it, no matter how lightly he tapped us.

Speaking as one who has been rear ended in several 240s, none of which suffered enough damage to bother with, the worst was a gouge in the bumper cover and in that accident the Jetta III that hit me was totaled, I never even made a claim as the bumper cover already had gouges from a previous rear ender. One time I was smacked really hard at a stop sign, my head striking the headrest pretty good. I jumped out expecting so see some serious damage and found that the dust on the bumper had not even been disturbed, same for the 240 (nissan) that hit me.

Not that you asked, duckling, but I really think one should just relax about it and avoid getting emotionally involved as there really isn't anything practical you can do about it. On the rare occasions I'm tailgated, I just make sure I have much more than enough space between me and the car in front, and on roads where it may be possible I pull off the road to let them pass.

This sort of thing happens far more often when I'm driving the Miata than either Volvo, odd also because the MX5 is much faster car and I tend to drive it a bit faster than the Volvos. On occasion it can be fun, several times I've had idiots follow me into really tight fast turns right on my bumper only to watch them overdrive their tires, and on occasion leave the road.

What many Miata drivers have done is to use a motorcycle "Back-off" module on the third brake light, this works well even at stop lights where it gets peoples attention as they are coming to a stop.
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'92 240 @45k & '96 960 @41k