New R4 Car - Think Tank

RS · 19th January 2015, 23:47

Originally Posted by Mirek

The negative side of all of that is the look when even really big wheels look strangely small in the mass of steel around.

Too true, I had 13in alloys on my Felicia which looked ok, now you need 15in minimum on a Citigo or 16in on a Fabia to look right.

**Mirek** · 20th January 2015, 00:43

Originally Posted by stefanvv

May be there is some truth in this don't know, I'm not that expert in current factory cars safety. For me it just looks like 2 door small car with little more space for the passengers and for the luggage, than cars 15-20 years ago, attached with all kind of aerodynamic elements, and big asphalt 18' wheels. They just doesn't seem like aesthetic proportions.

I'm working in car industry R&D although only in interior controls but even there we need to do kind of crash tests like a head impact on the rotary knob by which You adjust the temperature... maybe it's all crazy but in the end it helps people to survive crashes and if the only thing which we need to sacrifice is a bit of the sexy look I think it's a right thing to do.

**stefanvv** · 20th January 2015, 01:00

Originally Posted by Mirek

maybe it's all crazy but in the end it helps people to survive crashes and if the only thing which we need to sacrifice is a bit of the sexy look I think it's a right thing to do.

It's ok for the safety. Though it seem to me only the smaller cars need that bonnet uplifting, cause I don't see the same in bigger car classes. So somehow when the bonnet is shorter (on a small car) the safety must be compensated. BTW I'm far from the definition as "sexy" of aesthetic design. This is narrow minded, and I don't really care how people would call it, there are some universal proportions which are in harmony and just "catch the eye", most people would really call it "sexy".

At the end this is how the world spins, the technology develops, manufacturers can construct smaller vehicles with same effectiveness, no need of extra parts/weight like middle differential like in Ur Quattro, engines must be smaller, etc. etc. No one today cares much how their racing cars look like, and how close to the road cars which anyone would by. Probably this is one of the problems with the relation sport - marketing.

**Mirek** · 20th January 2015, 01:10

It's the same with bigger classes. Just put Passat B5 next to B6 to see the difference in one generation (they could go a little back with B7 since they stopped using PD engines with high cylinder head). The thing which compensates it partly with the bigger and more expensive cars is bigger wheels. Nowadays the standard rims for C class are 17" while not so long time a go it was 15". And of course making 40 mm higher bonnet is way more visible on a small car than on a big car even though it's the same value.

Actually here are the Passats, it's easy to see on the windshield lower edge.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/asurro...n/photostream/

**stefanvv** · 20th January 2015, 01:44

True, these are more visible on smaller cars indeed. Here the difference also comes from the bigger wheels probably and overall car height, but the most visible difference is the height of the bonnet. Overall it suits much better bigger cars no doubt.

**Jack4688`** · 20th January 2015, 17:45

Cars like the GT86/BRZ and BMW 2-Series manage to look good in the bonnet height department and they're quite small. Perhaps because they don't have any direct predecessors to compare them with?

OK OK I know, the 1-Series coupe is the 2-Series' predecessor, but that's one generation ago, not a direct equivalent from 1994

**Jack4688`** · 20th January 2015, 19:02

Speaking of the BMW 2-Series I often google a car with 'WRC' or 'WTCC' or 'DTM' tagged on the end to see if anyone has photoshopped one and I give you the BMW M235i WRC

http://www.gtspirit.com/wp-content/u...am-88323_1.jpg