It’s actually more for aerodynamics and efficiency. This is why all cars have started to look really similar. The best shape for a car won’t change because physics so there’s not a lot of room for artistic flair.
It’s really funny they care about aerodynamics so much because the mileage on some of these cars is just truly awful. We could have cool looking cars that aren’t aerodynamic but they wouldn’t be as good at crushing pavement and plowing children…
they don’t really care that much, just enough to hit the legal bare minimum to keep making bigger SUVs than last year. If they actually cared about efficiency we’d all be driving these.
I think a more realistic idea of what everyone would be driving if everyone actually cared about maximum efficiency would be the 1st generation Honda Insight, a car famous in the hypermiling community for its efficiency.
I disagree that aerodynamics optimization is the reason that a lot of cars have started to look for the same. Here are 3 highly aerodynamic cars that have been explicitly optimized for aerodynamics, each with their own unique flair:
1st generation Honda Insight
1st generation Tesla Model 3
5th generation Toyota Prius
It’s impossible to confuse one of these cars for each other. Automakers absolutely can make gorgeous and distinct looking cars without compromising aerodynamics, they simply choose not to.
It’s impossible to confuse one of these cars for each other.
You say that but my partner seems to be entirely incapable of telling the difference, even here. All cars are just “an car” to her. Kind of awesome in a strange way. It’s like vehicular face-blindness.
I started training my wife so she could recognize cop cars sooner. My weaponized autism is literally noticing a cop car from a blurry vibe 2 miles down the highway.
they could at least give them interesting patterns or something, right?
Manufacturers can offer all the options and decorations they want but as long as most people are slaves to resale value, most cars will be boring and inoffensive. It’s much easier to find a buyer for a black or white car than it is for a pink car.
I feel like we could hijack toxic masculinity and get them all on bikes with this.
“Oh, big baby getting in his nice padded comfortmobile? Or can your weedy little legs not pedal fast enough to keep up on the road?”
I occasionally do this to alpha male types IRL and let me tell you it is fun.
But, to be fair, mostly it will come down to danger as leisure, much like many other dangerous coded activities. If you can do it, you’re cool, if you have to do it, wow look at you you fucking poor person, because it all exists intersectionally with the whole hierarchy and class status thing
I mean, stuff like NYC bicycle messenger culture and LA e-bike outlaw culture are already explicitly about flaunting the speed, danger, and illegality of their riding. In NYC, it’s about getting places fast, which involves weaving through traffic, running reds, hopping curbs, and going wrong-way. In LA, it’s more about doing stunts, like wheelies, burnouts, and running from the cops.
Genuinely I don’t think people generally consider bike messengers as manly. To stick with the terms here, it’s sort of like omega coded. you just vibe outside the spectrum
thicc A-pillars and that ugly ass slope up the bottom of the window line from front to the back so you can’t see shit are supposedly safety features, yeah.
look I do love a beautiful 60s Triumph or Corvair convertible but if you roll over in one of those everyone inside will be flattened. Need better materials for thin A-pillars that don’t kill the occupants. (Right now they kill people outside the car bc visibility)
Those headrest hoops are usually cosmetic. If you take a Miata to track you better invest in a roll bar and proper race helmet, head restraint, and harness.
you need both the A-pillars and (effectively) a roll bar behind the seats in order to protect the passenger area from getting crushed. With weak A pillars I think a rollover will fold the windshield down onto the occupants and possibly crush them into the seats, depending on impact angle
in addition to bad steering input at highway speeds there’s actually a lot of rollovers caused by running into someone else’s tire. the car just climbs up it. that’s why you occasionally see rollovers in residential areas from low-speed collisions. video is an extreme example of the mechanic
Modern cars mostly (disregarding
) look the same because they’re made to be safer and have crumple zones, right?
It’s actually more for aerodynamics and efficiency. This is why all cars have started to look really similar. The best shape for a car won’t change because physics so there’s not a lot of room for artistic flair.
It’s really funny they care about aerodynamics so much because the mileage on some of these cars is just truly awful. We could have cool looking cars that aren’t aerodynamic but they wouldn’t be as good at crushing pavement and plowing children…
they don’t really care that much, just enough to hit the legal bare minimum to keep making bigger SUVs than last year. If they actually cared about efficiency we’d all be driving these.
I think a more realistic idea of what everyone would be driving if everyone actually cared about maximum efficiency would be the 1st generation Honda Insight, a car famous in the hypermiling community for its efficiency.
if we truly cared about efficiency we’d be riding recumbent pod bikes mostly. Most efficient machine ever made babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
electric velomobiles ftw
I don’t think making a car entirely out of coal and glue is super efficient…
I disagree that aerodynamics optimization is the reason that a lot of cars have started to look for the same. Here are 3 highly aerodynamic cars that have been explicitly optimized for aerodynamics, each with their own unique flair:
1st generation Honda Insight
1st generation Tesla Model 3
5th generation Toyota Prius
It’s impossible to confuse one of these cars for each other. Automakers absolutely can make gorgeous and distinct looking cars without compromising aerodynamics, they simply choose not to.
You say that but my partner seems to be entirely incapable of telling the difference, even here. All cars are just “an car” to her. Kind of awesome in a strange way. It’s like vehicular face-blindness.
I started training my wife so she could recognize cop cars sooner. My weaponized autism is literally noticing a cop car from a blurry vibe 2 miles down the highway.
You know you’re near a cop car when you feel the aura of satanic racism come over you.
Counterpoint: I do so on purpose to piss off Tesla fans. “Oh neat car, is that the new Prius?”
I just noticed that the Tesla Model 3 kind of looks like a Porsche, and I don’t think that’s an accident.
The headlights and grille seem highly inspired by the 911.
SAFETY IS BORING
On a more serious note, they could at least give them interesting patterns or something, right?
More like Dirt_Owlon, amirite?
I feel like they try this for rich people cars, but I hate them 90+% of the time lol
That’s because rich people have no imagination and can’t art to save themselves.
Manufacturers can offer all the options and decorations they want but as long as most people are slaves to resale value, most cars will be boring and inoffensive. It’s much easier to find a buyer for a black or white car than it is for a pink car.
I feel like we could hijack toxic masculinity and get them all on bikes with this.
“Oh, big baby getting in his nice padded comfortmobile? Or can your weedy little legs not pedal fast enough to keep up on the road?”
I occasionally do this to alpha male types IRL and let me tell you it is fun.
But, to be fair, mostly it will come down to danger as leisure, much like many other dangerous coded activities. If you can do it, you’re cool, if you have to do it, wow look at you you fucking poor person, because it all exists intersectionally with the whole hierarchy and class status thing
I mean, stuff like NYC bicycle messenger culture and LA e-bike outlaw culture are already explicitly about flaunting the speed, danger, and illegality of their riding. In NYC, it’s about getting places fast, which involves weaving through traffic, running reds, hopping curbs, and going wrong-way. In LA, it’s more about doing stunts, like wheelies, burnouts, and running from the cops.
Genuinely I don’t think people generally consider bike messengers as manly. To stick with the terms here, it’s sort of like omega coded. you just vibe outside the spectrum
thicc A-pillars and that ugly ass slope up the bottom of the window line from front to the back so you can’t see shit are supposedly safety features, yeah.
look I do love a beautiful 60s Triumph or Corvair convertible but if you roll over in one of those everyone inside will be flattened. Need better materials for thin A-pillars that don’t kill the occupants. (Right now they kill people outside the car bc visibility)
easy solution: make the tops out of paper and have those convertible headrest hoops on everything
Those headrest hoops are usually cosmetic. If you take a Miata to track you better invest in a roll bar and proper race helmet, head restraint, and harness.
really? they’re kinda uggo and ruin the lines so i figured they had to be a safety thing
you need both the A-pillars and (effectively) a roll bar behind the seats in order to protect the passenger area from getting crushed. With weak A pillars I think a rollover will fold the windshield down onto the occupants and possibly crush them into the seats, depending on impact angle
See in the split between protecting someone who manages to roll their car and everybody else you’ll find me firmly on the side of everybody else
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYMfy1LYF0U
in addition to bad steering input at highway speeds there’s actually a lot of rollovers caused by running into someone else’s tire. the car just climbs up it. that’s why you occasionally see rollovers in residential areas from low-speed collisions. video is an extreme example of the mechanic
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: