New Dodge Ram's forward leaning grill

[Frank Lee]

We don’t concern ourselves with aero too much when we’re doing theme searching.

There is nothing wrong with this statement at all.

Theme searching is supposed to be pretty much without constraints. It is where you are seeking inspiration to build from.

Development is where all the mundane realities of engineering compromise come along and take much of the fun out of it.

[orange4boy]

The idea that a functional requirement would be excluded from the design process of a functional object is, to me, anathema to the whole design exercise. A truck is not merely a sculpture or stationary object. For this to be a truly well designed tool which both looks good and is efficient, it's functional needs should be at least equal to it's aesthetic ones during the design process. They need not be separated as though they cannot coexist. The best designers combine the functional with the aesthetic. Could you imagine if aircraft were designed first by "theme searching" excluding aerodynamics? If they are separate it is because they want them separate.

What is implied by the statement is that aero can not be a theme in itself or be incorporated into design. That's B.S.

You are correct that there is nothing wrong with the statement, it just points out their priorities. Style over substance. Same old same old.

[Frank Lee]

You don't get it yet.

Have you designed a vehicle?

Theme searching is where designers are TRYING to come up with something new and appealing. Surely you have seen concept sketches where, if the thing was directly translated to real life, would have 40" wheels and no room for the passenger's heads.

THEME searching. Looking for styling cues.

Aircraft are not sold on the basis of styling. Road vehicles are.

[Christ]

The new Ram QUAD CAB has nearly the same Cd as the original 1994 Ram (not quad cab.) So what's so wrong with that?

They screwed up in 2008, obviously, with a .46x Cd, but they're trying to fix it this year while maintaining the same upbeat truck styling that has gotten them sales in the past. In fact, given the times, I'd wager that they're trying to style it for better sales than in the past, to help "make a comeback".

Isn't .4x average for a pickup truck of the full size variety?

[Frank Lee]

AFAIK they are all pretty much the same Cd.

[evolutionmovement]

Frank's right, though the obvious results of the Dodge don't show it, the goal is to come up with something original, outside the box. I came up with a coffee maker inside a ski jacket once. Is it practical? That's not the point. That was also one of about 50 ideas. That's a start. Then you reduce them, refine them, merge them, come up with something completely different than any of them, and the result to market is probably nearly the same thing as every other manufacturer has.

[Frank Lee]

Additionally, as you should well know re: response to Aeroshell, truck customers are not impressed by "aero". They are impressed by "macho".

[Christ]

Yep, every woman driving the new Ram for a DD will want it to look as manly as possible, aerodynamics notwithstanding.

[Frank Lee]

You know women!

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

You know women!

Well, I know my wife, at least. She has quantified the "manliness" of trucks on more than one occasion. Apparently, the worse offender to fuel economy the truck is, the more "sexy" it is.

She's getting more into less-gross polluters, though, and wants a small pickup (lowrider) that "gets good mileage and doesn't pollute everyone."

Since we had a Son, she's starting to wake up to the kind of damage people are doing with their attitudes toward everything.