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Thread: Puffy-ness of modern vehicle bodies

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee DeRaud View Post
    It just doesn't look right without the flux capacitors on the hatch lid.
    But it will come with optional solar collectors .

  2. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    I agree with you Stephen. A lot of vehicles look like the designers puffed them up like an inflatable doll -- I guess because they think buyers want vehicles which look big. It is the McMansion phenomenon applied to vehicles.

    I've been driving pickups for thirty or forty years now. Today's truck has a bed which is the same size as those forty-year-old trucks, but the whole truck is three feet longer, a foot taller, and at least a half foot wider. That's puffing up.
    Which baffles me to no end. It seems like people want more of everything that makes pickups inefficient and a pain to drive. A tall and wide profile for poor fuel efficiency. A tiny bed not much bigger than a Model A pickup bed, yet a wheel base that makes feel like you are parking a pontoon boat, with about the same grace and ease. 200 more hp than a truck from the '80s, yet 95% of the time the bed is loaded only with air, and all the tow hitch is pulling is the drag vortex. All this can be yours for $50,000.

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Aerodynamics takes a big nod for a lot of this because even incremental increases in fuel economy are meaningful financially for the auto manufacturers over the fleet average. Doug is also correct that the industry is less constrained when it comes to materials and fabrication due to modern techniques. Automated assembly also helps with this. One thing, however....there is a "remarkable similarly" between many vehicles across multiple manufacturers in style and implementation and that's likely both for marketing and functional reasons...the latter being "what works" for the aforementioned average fuel economy targets as well as strength at the same time for meeting safety expectations.

    Of course, if you look at some of the 1950s and early 1960s vehicles, there were some pretty flowing designs! Mostly on a larger scale, however.
    I remember when the Ford Taurus came out. It was computer aerodynamically designed. After that a lot of cars that came out had a great deal of similarities to that design because it was fuel efficient.

  4. #19
    The Tesla pickup, what are they doing to make all the flat sheet metal stronger than a cookie sheet?

    And this 'puffed up' car thing is real. When in traffic, keep your eyes out for a '60's Camaro. When mixed in with newer cars on a 4-lane, they look like toys in comparison, almost everything dwarfs them...
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  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    The Tesla pickup, what are they doing to make all the flat sheet metal stronger than a cookie sheet?

    And this 'puffed up' car thing is real. When in traffic, keep your eyes out for a '60's Camaro. When mixed in with newer cars on a 4-lane, they look like toys in comparison, almost everything dwarfs them...
    If you watched the video introducing the truck the body is high strength stainless steel, they demonstrated its strength by hitting it with a sledge hammer (that was before they broke the glass demonstrating that it was unbreakable).

  6. #21
    I did watch the video, I know it's strong, what I don't know, is how they did it?
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  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    I've been driving pickups for thirty or forty years now. Today's truck has a bed which is the same size as those forty-year-old trucks, but the whole truck is three feet longer, a foot taller, and at least a half foot wider. That's puffing up.
    I've only been driving them for 20-ish, but what I've seen is a bit different. The trucks of yesteryear were far, far more likely to be a regular cab truck with an 8' bed on it that would haul 4'x8' sheet goods. Now, they're far, far more likely to be an extended cab, crew cab, or "super-crew" with a 5'-6' long bed so that they aren't so long, but can haul a family. I have an '07 F150 SuperCrew (4 full size doors) with a 5.5' bed that is essentially the same length as the '90 F150 I used to have that had a regular cab and 8' bed. But, for the same fuel mileage I got out of that little 5.0L V-8 in the '90, I get almost double the horsepower and torque in the 5.4L, with far superior handling (and this one is 4WD), despite probably weighing at least 1000 lbs more. Heck, it has better tow ratings than the '93 F250 I had with a 5.8L V-8, thanks to around 50% more HP and torque. I just looked up size specs on the two--my current truck is about 5" longer, but is 0.1" narrower. Wheelbase is about the same between the two, and the new one is 6" taller.
    Jason

    "Don't get stuck on stupid." --Lt. Gen. Russel Honore


  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    I did watch the video, I know it's strong, what I don't know, is how they did it?
    It's probably a skin over something more rigid.

  9. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    I agree with you Stephen. A lot of vehicles look like the designers puffed them up like an inflatable doll -- I guess because they think buyers want vehicles which look big. It is the McMansion phenomenon applied to vehicles.

    I've been driving pickups for thirty or forty years now. Today's truck has a bed which is the same size as those forty-year-old trucks, but the whole truck is three feet longer, a foot taller, and at least a half foot wider. That's puffing up.
    The newer "puffy" trucks are significantly more safe and quite a bit quieter inside. I went from a 1988 GMC 2500 to a 2007 GMC 2500 and the difference was immense. The 88 had a 150HP motor and the 07 had a 352HP. When I was in the 88 you could hear everything outside, even with the windows shut tight. With the 07 when you shut the windows it was almost silent inside. My 88 got 14.5 MPG, the truck weighed 3200lbs it was a single cab 8' bed. The 07 gets 13.5 MPG and weighs 6000lbs, and has a 352HP motor that is like a rocket when you shove the pedal it is an extended cab with an 8' bed.

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee DeRaud View Post
    If P.T.Barnum was right about "one born every minute", that's over three months' worth.
    Could be true. Pre-ordering is only $100 (refundable I believe) and more or less gets one a place in-line should they decide they want to buy once production starts. In the mean time...that cash earns Tesla a few shekels of interest and probably some accounting brownie points, depending on how it's, um...accounted for.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    The Tesla pickup, what are they doing to make all the flat sheet metal stronger than a cookie sheet?
    It's not exactly "sheet metal" in the sense that other vehicles use metal. Part of the reason that the vehicle is likely so angular is because the material they are using can't be stamped like is normally done for motor vehicle body panels. They had to do a rather deep score on the inside of the material and then carefully bend it.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #27
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    Speaking of puffy cars I realize they remind me of the Chevron car toys. Maybe the milineal designers grew up with them?
    Bill D.
    https://www.chevronwithtechron.com/cars

  13. #28
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    I wonder how you'd do something useful with that tesla, like pull a trailer....


  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Today's truck has a bed which is the same size as those forty-year-old trucks, but the whole truck is three feet longer, a foot taller, and at least a half foot wider. That's puffing up.
    Yes. I want one of those old Datsun pickup-sized trucks. Everything else has outgrown my garage.

  15. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Leo Graywacz View Post
    It's probably a skin over something more rigid.
    The body exterior is the frame, like a rigid exoskeleton. That's how they did it. With enough steel plate, anything can look like that. :^)

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