New car fashion or function
 

So I'm walking out of work and there's a brand new 2011 Prius sitting right next to a brand new 2011 BMW X3. Now there's not a heck of a lot these two cars have in common, but there was something remarkably obvious; the upward sweeping body fold leading from the front wheels to the upper end of the tail light.
http://priushybridcars.com/wp-conten...20356693-E.jpg

http://www.carsview.net/up/images/2011-bmw-x3.jpg

Now that I look around, this trend is everywhere, so is it fashion or function? It appears like it might divert air from low on the car into the area where the most 'suction' would be in the slipstream of the car.

http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/hy...429102_717.jpg
2011 Elantra

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....80-003_opt.jpg
2011 Fiesta

im pretty sure its functional within a fashionable sense ;)

My 1966 Mustang had something similar, I think it's for attracting door dings from dingbats.

How To Replace Your Mustang Door's Outer Sheetmetal | Mustang & Fords Magazine Article at Automotive.com
http://image.automotive.com/f/howto/...mage_large.jpg

It would make sense that it would be at least somewhat functional. Most of us know, and if you don't your about to, that the wheel wells are an area where air is slowed down because of drag which makes that area a high-pressure area of the car. If you ever drive behind someone in the rain you can see the effects of this b/c there it a ton of mist and rain flying out of the wheel wells. So these body lines could be trying to suck that air out a little more and guide it to the place it is needed most - where the rear of the car creates a vacuum. If they can feed more air softly around the rear of the car, they can fill in part of that vacuum that is basically sucking the car back. Then again, the body line has been around for a while so it could just be a trend.

A very fashionable & trendy character line that parallels or tapers along with the beltline. It gives definition & personality. Depending on the design language, it could be casual, formal, slashing, or geometric. Sometimes too many lines could make it too fussy.

endurance -

Thanks for posting. I love this stuff. What I look for is whether it is "inline" with the door handles. Aesthetically that is what I prefer.

Here is one I have noticed. I call it the "J-Line" or "The Hook" :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...olet-cruze.jpg

(It also meets a corner of the rear tail light)

Now, you could argue that all cars have this detail nascent in their design because most cars have circular front wheel wells that "trigger" the design lines in some way or another. My distinction is how "crisp" the geometry of the J-Line actually is, aka how easy is it to see. In the case of the Chevy Cruze, the front headlights are partially shaped by the J-Line, and it continues without interruption to the end of the car, so it is very crisp.

CarloSW2

A crease like that is going to make the door skin stiffer as well, allowing for thinner door skin to be used.
Having hung out with industrial design students and instructors it would appear to me that they like the aesthetic of lines like that and it is what is being taught in school.

Hmmm...maybe one too many.
http://wot.motortrend.com/files/2011...ee-quarter.jpg

And an understated example. http://www.classicargarage.nl/common...6_exterior.JPG

Being a graduated industrial design student who still sketches I have to say I'm 99% certain it's purely cosmetic. From what I've learned about aerodynamics I doubt it would help FE. It may help downforce.?. The thing is, it probably doesn't hurt a lot since it is on the side of the car.

I've spent countless hours trying to sketch a car that is pretty aero and good looking. I wrestle with ways to get away from that aesthetic treatment, or minimize its negative aero effects.

Here is one which is an earlier example, maybe ahead of it's time by a few years.

Toyota Celica
Automotive info » Blog Archive » Toyota Celica
http://automodelsinfo.com/wp-content...-celica-10.jpg

On the soft side, the jellybean car has yet another adaptation of it.
1997 Ford Taurus