Where car designers are getting inspiration from these days.

[Cd]

Why are "cars" turning into rolling blimps ?

Example : This "car" ( image is unmodified ) :

After digitally squashing it down :

And this is where I think their inspiration is coming from :

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Cd

Why are "cars" turning into rolling blimps ?

Some newer cars remind me more of a catfish instead of a blimp

[redpoint5]

I think manta rays.



Possibly baleen whales

[freebeard]

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr -- Good call. And I'm sure aerohead will agree.

I'd settle for a stanced 8/10th scale reproduction of the McKeen Motorcar. The early ones with the wood body and brass portholes.


justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/04/baggage-car-for-mckeen-motor-car.html

[Autobahnschleicher]

I don't understand why cars are so tall these days.
It's as if the metal section of the doors was verticaly stretched for some reason.
And then they mount massive wheels and grilles to hide it somewhat, wich results in realy weird designs.
Noteable exception:
Mazda MX-5 (ND)

[Isaac Zachary]

Popular demand + fuel mileage requirements

Popular demand is the SUV, in particular, the original Hummer as well as the Jeep. People I've talked to want "a heavy vehicle because 'it's safer'" and to be able "sit up high" in their vehicle. They also want lots of ground clearance because of potholes and snow.

But the original SUV is a terrible shape for fuel mileage. Both the general public and the EPA want better fuel mileage. Give people the option of a full fledged SUV that gets 10mpg and a smaller crossover that gets 25mpg and the majority will opt for the crossover simply for that reason. The thing is that you can't just take the original SUV shape and just throw in an efficient engine and suddenly get 25mpg or better. People also want to drive fast and the SUV shape is terribly non-aerodynamic.

So take an SUV shape and tweak it to make it aerodynamic enough to get "good" fuel mileage. That's where modern vehicle designs are coming from.

The thing about aerodynamics is that there are only so many shapes that are perfectly aerodynamic (have a Cd of 0.015) and they are pretty similar looking. The more aerodynamic a vehicle is the more it will look like one of those shapes. This is why airplane fuselages all look pretty similar.

But in trying to keep the traditional vehicle shapes alive (sedan, coupe, SUV, pickup, etc.) companies have to make some sort of compromise. They have to fit somewhere between an aerodynamic shape and a traditional shape. This has made most vehicles the same shape.

[Isaac Zachary]

Personally I don't see why we need to stick with traditional car layouts so much.

There's no real need to keep the typical front hood/bonnet. The 2nd gen Prius and many older minivans already proved that.

There's a growing number of "coupés" especially among the SUV/crossover segments. Although some people are going to need a box-tail, for most people it's really not necessarily to have one. The closest we can get to a "boat-tail"without making the vehicle impractical (everyone's needs and circumstances are different) the better.

[jakobnev]

The current car trend:

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

People I've talked to want "a heavy vehicle because 'it's safer'" and to be able "sit up high" in their vehicle. They also want lots of ground clearance because of potholes and snow.

But the original SUV is a terrible shape for fuel mileage. Both the general public and the EPA want better fuel mileage. Give people the option of a full fledged SUV that gets 10mpg and a smaller crossover that gets 25mpg and the majority will opt for the crossover simply for that reason.

Not every crossover has the ground clearance good enough as a traditional SUV often has, yet they're still often classified as a "light truck" for some random bureaucratic reasons.

[Autobahnschleicher]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Personally I don't see why we need to stick with traditional car layouts so much.

There's no real need to keep the typical front hood/bonnet. The 2nd gen Prius and many older minivans already proved that.

There's a growing number of "coupés" especially among the SUV/crossover segments. Although some people are going to need a box-tail, for most people it's really not necessarily to have one. The closest we can get to a "boat-tail"without making the vehicle impractical (everyone's needs and circumstances are different) the better.

Indeed, the MR2 Spyder (hardtop) for example has the lowest CDA of all Toyota models I could find.
And that car has a very unconventional layout and a very low windshield/hood angle.