What's with all these "aerodynamic" cars where the windows are super squinty and useless!? I know they're adding cameras and such to make side and rear visibility better but why can't they leave windows larger? Cameras don't work when it's -40F, blizzarding and they're covered in road salt/grime. Unless they start adding mini washer fluid sprayers with a wiper...:doh:

 

I can't stand they tiny windows they have these days all in name of making the vehicle look more "sporty" everyone wants sporty right?

 

Those squat windows is what turned us off on the Chevy HHR--looks OK (sort of...) from the outside, but inside, it's claustrphopic!

 

I'd rather see what tree, person, car, or animal I'm about to run over...and stop it*

*depending upon person

 

You can blame a lot of that on forced design requirements from the government. things like pedestrian crash safety, and in this case roll over crash safety. The roof has to be much much stronger than it used to be, so that means pillers have to be thicker, which forces windows to be smaller.

Slab sided cars allow for more side protection and air bags in the doors.


Just about every design he complains about in the article relates directly to either 1) safety, or 2) aerodynamics.

Physics are physics and once you start forcing the two things on car makers, then cars will start to naturally look alike, Kinda like all drops of water look alike.

 

Just about every design he complains about in the article relates directly to either 1) safety, or 2) aerodynamics.

How are bigger rims associated with safety or aerodynamics? I think smaller rims would actually be more safe since they can have a bigger tire side wall for potholes.

 

As an owner of several classic Mercedes in the 70's...it hurts now to see a car coming, and unless you can see the badging, you can't tell a MBZ from a Camry...sure.."wind-tunnel" designs...

 

EPA regs. They are required to chase every tenth of a MPG possible.

 

Not sure that's true. If that were the case you would have tiny european engines producing 70mpg+ in American cars

 

Hasn't been a good looking car designed in the last 40 years

 

even the patriot has problems with its windows. need to stop 5ft in front of the line to see the traffic lights without hunching over the wheel!

 

lol exactly! I'm usually using the lower light on the pole unless I'm in a turn lane, then I have to hunch over.

 

got to disagree

bugatti veyron
jaguar xf
most tvr's
a lot of ferrari's

without wishing to be flamed, most yank designs fail miserably.......my 5 yo daughter draws better....you have very little style

design from the heart, not the wallet....my 2c

even base peugeot's and citroen's have some design flair......can't say that american designed cars have anything more than ... bling, crass, look-at-me-ness. bigger-is-better-ness

 

I think it all started with computer design. It's sooo easy to take a line, grab it and move it, and come up with all kinds of "modern" looks. I noticed it toward the end of the '80's, when Lee Iacocca called the Ford Taurus the "flying potato" look. I know that many designs start on paper, but I wonder if THAT isn't even true anymore.
But- Look at any era of automotive design. The gaudy chrome of the 50's, the 60's tail fins and rocket influenced design, the 70's land yachts, the squared off look of the '80's, leading to the round looks of the 90's, to the exaggerated caricature look of today. If someone figures out a huge seller, it will be copied. If a trend, such as the rocket age, or even aerodynamics, takes hold, THAT will dictate what we see coming out of Detroit, Japan, Korea, Germany or wherever. I don't think it's a strictly American thing at all, given that the Koreans are considered (aesthetic) design leaders.

 

They are going to stop producing the Jeep Patriot with its square box style and now produce the Jeep Renegade with its square box style, WTF ? :doh: I'll take the Jeep Patriot and the old Jeep Cherokee square box over the all brands look the same style any day. At least you can tell right away that it's a Jeep. Yes the square box brick look anytime, IMO.

 

Maybe the MK replacement will be what we've all been asking for... But probably not

 

I remember the good old days...

Every garage had a full inventory of mufflers and fan belts because you had to replace those items at least twice a year.

The bias ply tires wouldn't last a road trip without a flat, not uncommon to see Mom, Dad and the kids in the station wagon going to the lake with two spares strapped to the roof.

Points, condenser, distributor cap. Need I say more.

Brake pedals that sunk to the floor at a stop if you forgot to pump the brakes, chokes that either didn't work or were so flakey most tore them out and put in a manually operated one, windshield wipers that basically stopped as you accelerated.

Dashboards that mangled you up if you were in any kind of frontal accident.
Steering columns that killed the driver.
Bumpers that killed.
8 mpg.

My first car was a Hudson Hornet.
The only good thing you could say about it was there was enough room in the back seat to really have a good time...as for the rest I'll take today's modern vehicles.

we have better performance, better mpg, better pricing, better safety, better driving experience across the board.

Think of the children or something.

 

American vehicles are lunky and uninspiring. Even the new Camaro looks like it's looking worse each year out. Challengers are nice better get one before FCA changes the platform on that. It's all about saving money, maybe a reason the Patriot might hang out for a while longer. The Compass will be a Baby GC but the Patriot will see it's end. Belvidere Plant employs a ton of people in the Rockford area. Rockford is the second most populous city in Illinois the area can ill afford a decrease in employment. We might have flaws with car design but at least American cars can flush the tranny fluid easily unlike most European and other vehicles. German high end vehicle customers have money and it is easy for them to upgrade to new vehicles after 4-5 years. Americans tend to use their cars longer. I will buy uninspiring vehicles over flashy trash any day of the week. BTW saw the Renegade on I-94 Downtown Chicago. At first I said to myself that's what the Pat should upgrade to. Once I got closer I saw the X's in the taillight. It was a white one and it definitely looked smaller than our vehicles.

 

I too, hate the tiny windows they put in the new vehicles. I don't care about rear view cameras either, I wouldn't trust someone who only learned how to drive depending on those systems.

I blame the EPA CAFE standards that have been foisted upon our auto makers to make our vehicles lighter, with less visibility, less emissions, and more MPG. That's not really what anyone wants, except for reasonable MPG which our modern engines/transmissions have no problem doing without all that other crap.

 

I too, hate the tiny windows they put in the new vehicles.

That, and those huge A-pillars.

 

lol, Ever driven one of those new Camaro's? My ex girlfriend had a 2010 RS and let me drive it. I hated it. Couldn't see anything out of the windows. The sun visor is the size of a credit card for ****'s sake! But then she was able to borrow her uncles 40th anniversary edition, with a 6-speed and a drop top... man, THAT thing was fun! I could actually see with the roof down!

 

I agree and am NOT a fan! Bring back the classics!

 

Also probably why Ford dropped the successful money making Econoline Vans after 2014. Those things are built so well but probably killed the fleet average MPG.

I've driven 4 of them (E-250, and E-350) over the years for a job of mine, they are my favorite van by far. Their replacement, the Transit, is such a joke.... I would never get one.

 

the transits are GARBAGE! I had to drive one for my old job, the transit-connect. GUTLESS 4 cyl, and no towing capacity. the radio was strictly am/fm... not even an AUX input. POS van. and they have weird ass keys too.

 

Well Harold, your list is rather short considering we're talking about the last 40 years. Agreed on US styling, and its simply following the Japanese model. I wish any of them could come up with interesting colors -- seems we have a 'choice' of several shades of white, black, silver, and then a red. Do we need multiple shades of black, white and gray? How about a couple attractive shades of green, brown or blue? I'd suggest a color scheme, like the 2-tone cars of the 1950's but they'd probably come up with something bizarre.

 

I'm 6'4" and I feel the Patriot is one of the most comfortable cars. I agree with the light thing though. In the loaner Pat I had had an adjustable seat I liked but it still didn't go quite far enough back. Otherwise trucks are the most comfortable for me.

 

I generally agree about the comfort factor but I still wish it had some padding on the arm rests. I've done several drives from LA up north going as far as Vancouver CA and the hard plastic is not good. Although I'm under the impression that may have changed.