Proportions

Spotted today. Can you name these two saloon/sedan cars? Very nice but very similar. The interesting part is that only one of these saloons is a classic front longitudinal engined rear wheel drive car. The engine Mounted behind the front axle for perfect weight distribution. The other is a standard front wheel drive layout. The proportions are the same however. These are what are known as premium proportions. Originally they came from the drivetrain packaging layout, but now designers apply these proportions as an aesthetic to produce a premium product.

Lexus LS analysis

Well this debate began over on Twitter, with some other working car designers being quite vocal on how bad this new Lexus LS design is. I think it has problems, but I am willing to accept some progressive experimentation. Lexus in particular has been heavily experimenting in various styling and surfacing ideas, some good some bad. The LC coupe is particularly nice, but has gone through many iterations and concept cars to come out the other side. It still has some odd design details, but for a sportscar it is important to grab the viewers attention. The LS on the other hand, is intended as an executive model, with luxury in mind. It has traditionally appeared as quite a conservative design. The surfaces and design ideas are chaotic and a little messy, which is something designers have noted. The strangest thing is the proportions, with a great emphasis on cab-backward proportions. It is almost unique in the way that the peak of the side DLO is in the middle of the rear door. Similarities to other sedans (saloons) were noted, and similarity in supposed “bad” design. The new Civic sedan is something that I am not impressed by, for example. The most similar proportionally, and a possible clue to Toyotas intended rival and benchmark design, is the Tesla Model S. I decided to put together an image comparing lots of current sedans on sale now. Looking for that strange proportion (which must give great rear passenger headroom?). Maserati Ghibli seems a good candidate. 

 

 

Motoring Podcast Interview with the author!

Well this year has been incredibly busy, especially with my job where I’ve seen progress on my Vehicle Design course connecting with the industry. Meanwhile Twitter seems to be a place for my connections to grow and this led to a very fun situation where I was asked to be interviewed by Andrew Clews of The Motoring Podcast. Andrew managed to draw a lot of personal history from me, over the course of 3 hours chatting!  A very pleasant experience, it was split into two instalments due to length and I can part 1 and part 2 with you all now. Part 1 is about 1 hour, and covers similar topics to this blog. Part 2 is 2 hours talking about my own car ownership history!

Motoring Podcast – Rear View – Lee Walton Part 1

Motoring Podcast – Rear View – Lee Walton Part2

 

Pint sized Paris

Sadly I have not visited a motor show myself for many years, and Paris 2016 is no exception. I have of course been closely following coverage. The French are truly stealing the show, with the Renault Trezor concept an outstanding example of showmanship and the Citroen C3 proving to be the production car highlight of the show. The Germans seem a bit lost, especially Audi. Reveling in their tiny advances in production techniques (see an earlier post) is not something the public can appreciate easily (Apple have similar issues) and the visual language seems to be moving backwards. Skoda now appear to make and design better Audis than Audi. So this post is titled because of the small cars that are making big news at this show, one of which was underwhelming! The Volkswagen I.D. Concept is a little bland and ordinary, but such is the way at the conservative manufacturer of the Golf. Compared to sticking with their 1974 template, the I.D. concept was clean and smooth and tidy, but uninspiring. Three newly launched production cars impressed. The Opel Ampera-e is a very tidy little electric car design, with outstanding technical features. The Nissan Micra has suddenly been dragged into fashion with Infiniti brand-esque curves and swooping surfaces, a real shock! Finally the Citroen C3 takes cues from the outstanding Cactus C4, with its air bumps and urban utitily chic. So Parisien! I include these rear end comparisons though….. just look at that lower bumper area. The Opel seems to have parts stuck to it from a 1994 Corsa. Why? What are these multiple extra (cheap) lights for? Is this US regulations? It’s also sold as a Chevrolet. The rear ends of Micra and C3 are minimalist and quite wonderful in comparison. 

Please note! Photos are not mine…. thanks to Autoblog, and AutoExpress 

Apple’s $1 Billion Bet on Didi Chuxing, & 12 Big Questions About What’s Next for Cars

Apple’s $1 Billion Bet on Didi Chuxing, & 12 Big Questions About What’s Next for Cars

Big news story here, for the future of the automotive business.

Range?

Filled my diesel car up. This is the range remaining. An electric car can’t do this, but…. then I drove 2km round trip to local shops and back home. Any electric car CAN do that no problem at all! In fact- I should’ve walked (an extra km was used to drive to the cheapest petrol station).  

A good electric car like a Tesla is an iPhone compared to a Nokia (in 2007) It’s faster, more powerful, better in every way- but doesn’t last all week. Look what happened to Nokia. Same fate awaits fossil fuel powered cars.

Engineering vs styling…

Here is the new Gumpert Apollo Arrow…. which is one of the most perfect examples of why you should always hire a good car stylist to design your new car! Compared to the original Apollo, it has the same function, but improved styling. That is car design.

End of the car age: how cities are outgrowing the automobile

End of the car age: how cities are outgrowing the automobile

As an automotve design teacher, this is possibly one of the best and most important articles I’ve read recently. I have urged all my students to read it, this is the future we are entering, and it sounds very interesting and exciting. Vehicles will still need designing, and even private vehicles will continue to exist for recreational and non-urban use.

car design fraud

By the time you read this maybe this car has actually been launched, or maybe not. I suspect not. It’s vapor in my opinion, which will never be put into production (mostly because it can’t be engineered as it is). The design is a mess, poorly photoshopped together based on other mid-engined designs (Bugatti) and the packaging has been ignored in terms of driver/passengers visibility. This design could work perhaps, with some tweaks and development carried out by a trained designer (please speculators, hire professional car designers!). I couldn’t resist very quickly showing a few form tweaks that improve the design instantly. See my hastily hacked together GIFs below. The proximity to April 1st launch date is the biggest clue on this however…. so let’s see in a few days if it was all a hoax. Oh and this is how to design a proper hypercar.

Original article

edit: So the New York show has been and gone, and this car did not of course appear. Meanwhile, here’s a scruffy mechanic in a shed- who has bashed together a supercar. Styling was “a little bit ‘o this, and a little bit ‘o that” in the mans own words!

my job = teaching these guys

2015 is the year that our first Vehicle Design students will graduate. To showcase their skills they collaborated on a project led by a professional car designer. The project gained recognition in the automotive design world, being featured on Auto&Design Facebook page and kickstarting a lot of local press attention too.

http://blogit.lamk.fi/ajoneuvomuotoilu/2015/03/17/mercedes-benz-quantum/