Are all car designers 'vertically challenged'?
Discussion
Went to the Geneva Motor Show on Friday - excellent show, by the way - stars have to be the new Peugeout 307cc and the Mangusta MG whatever they call it. And the concepts all have suicide doors, so expect to see lots more of those.
But here's the thing. I'm 195cm (6'4") tall and none of the new supercars from Aston Martin, Lamborgini, Ferrari, etc. actually fit. Even in the Bentley GT I'm stuck with my head in the rooflining and everything else had the top of the windscreen so low that even if I could get my bonce in, I can't see anything past the next 10 metres of road.
Why oh why oh why can't anyone make a seriously quick car that comfortably fits? (Yes, I know TVR's are bigger, which was the reason I bought one in the first place - but it wasn't what I really wanted and they're not really supercars - but let's not start that one up, eh?).
Or are all rich people miniscule?
But here's the thing. I'm 195cm (6'4") tall and none of the new supercars from Aston Martin, Lamborgini, Ferrari, etc. actually fit. Even in the Bentley GT I'm stuck with my head in the rooflining and everything else had the top of the windscreen so low that even if I could get my bonce in, I can't see anything past the next 10 metres of road.
Why oh why oh why can't anyone make a seriously quick car that comfortably fits? (Yes, I know TVR's are bigger, which was the reason I bought one in the first place - but it wasn't what I really wanted and they're not really supercars - but let's not start that one up, eh?).
Or are all rich people miniscule?
The problem is that the space required to fit in lanky gits leads to slightly heavier cars with more drag. This is exactly the sort of thing that causes arguments between the engineers so unless you have lots of tall people on the project chances are that you head room will be "optimised" away until you don't fit.
Not a problem for me because:
1. I'm average height.
2. I'm poor.
Not a problem for me because:
1. I'm average height.
2. I'm poor.
ARE ALL CAR DESIGNERS 'VERTICALLY CHALLENGED'?
Not only that they're obviously artistically challenged as well. The new Rolls, Bentley, Audi, Maybach are all UGLY slabs of porcine brick that look as if they've just crawled out of a thunderbox. What happened to the elegance of line that they used to have? The new jag is the only one which seems to have been able to keep some elegance and style, the rest just look like the ugly squareheads who designed them....... All IMHO of course!
Not only that they're obviously artistically challenged as well. The new Rolls, Bentley, Audi, Maybach are all UGLY slabs of porcine brick that look as if they've just crawled out of a thunderbox. What happened to the elegance of line that they used to have? The new jag is the only one which seems to have been able to keep some elegance and style, the rest just look like the ugly squareheads who designed them....... All IMHO of course!
JMGS4 said: ARE ALL CAR DESIGNERS 'VERTICALLY CHALLENGED'?
Not only that they're obviously artistically challenged as well. The new Rolls, Bentley, Audi, Maybach are all UGLY slabs of porcine brick that look as if they've just crawled out of a thunderbox. What happened to the elegance of line that they used to have? The new jag is the only one which seems to have been able to keep some elegance and style, the rest just look like the ugly squareheads who designed them....... All IMHO of course!
Be fair - the jag only looks ok as all they did was scale up the old one.
Bruce, at 6'4" you are just above the usual design threshold for "standard" car interiors. Designers tend to focus on comfortably packaging 5th percentile (5'2" or so) to 95th percentile (6'3" or so) occupants. I'm 6'3" and verge on the 'can't fit' in some cars, especially Honda-based Rovers, anything Japanese, and cars with sunroofs as options...
Particular problem with supercars is that the stylist has a strong influence over the shape, and the engineer / designer also wants the lowest roofline he can get to give the smallest frontal area and lowest drag coefficient, to gain the best performance from the car whilst still keeping most of the people happy inside.
BTW our car the Coram LMP was designed around me 'plus a bit' as we're aware of many taller people out there who struggle to fit into most if not all kit cars - but I don't think our car qualifies as a 'supercar' in the context you are talking about!
And in my experience, yes - most rich people are indeed titchy :runsforcover:
James
Particular problem with supercars is that the stylist has a strong influence over the shape, and the engineer / designer also wants the lowest roofline he can get to give the smallest frontal area and lowest drag coefficient, to gain the best performance from the car whilst still keeping most of the people happy inside.
BTW our car the Coram LMP was designed around me 'plus a bit' as we're aware of many taller people out there who struggle to fit into most if not all kit cars - but I don't think our car qualifies as a 'supercar' in the context you are talking about!
And in my experience, yes - most rich people are indeed titchy :runsforcover:
James
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