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Human Elements and Automobile Design
Gahmrious
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So today while at work I'm having a discussion about cars with co workers. The topic of Japanese automobiles comes along, and we start discussing the average size car in Japan compared to cars in America.
A few minutes go by, and I make a statement that totally opened a can of worms with one of my co workers.
I simply stated that "I would imagine that the fact that the average Japanese person is shorter than the average american, possibly has something to do with the design of Japanese automobiles."
One of my co workers being Asian, immediately took offense, started laughing and told me I was completely assinine for saying such a thing. I was then corrected and told that "Its because of road taxes and the fact that roads are small there". Being a subordinate to my co worker, I just shut my mouth and stopped the conversation since he took it way out of context and started telling me that I probably assume they all have a small penis as well. Whatever. Anyways...
I'm not argueing that road tax and small roads and gas prices arent reasons why cars are smaller, but I'm simply stating that the human element probably has a something to do with how cars are made.
What do you guys think?
A few minutes go by, and I make a statement that totally opened a can of worms with one of my co workers.
I simply stated that "I would imagine that the fact that the average Japanese person is shorter than the average american, possibly has something to do with the design of Japanese automobiles."
One of my co workers being Asian, immediately took offense, started laughing and told me I was completely assinine for saying such a thing. I was then corrected and told that "Its because of road taxes and the fact that roads are small there". Being a subordinate to my co worker, I just shut my mouth and stopped the conversation since he took it way out of context and started telling me that I probably assume they all have a small penis as well. Whatever. Anyways...
I'm not argueing that road tax and small roads and gas prices arent reasons why cars are smaller, but I'm simply stating that the human element probably has a something to do with how cars are made.
What do you guys think?
Gahmrious on
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I didn't know that Japanese roads are narrower than North American roads. That would definitely be a major factor in car design. You have to design your cars to fit in the roads, after all. And fuel consumption is also a major issue. If fuel prices are higher, you want a car that consumes less. Physics dictates that that will be a smaller, lighter car.
But the human driver's size? That would influence the size of the driver's seat and the layout of the dashboard, and that's about it IMO.
Roads also do tend to be smaller, and have little, or no shoulder (essentially, it's a country of 130 million people occupying a space the size of California, where 60% of that is undevelopable mountain). Coupled with the fact that concentrated population means you don't need to drive that far (relatively speaking) to get to school, the store, or work means that light cars with small engines are highly practical.
You could easily build a car the size of the Miata that could acommodate a 6' tall driver. Yet the first two generations of Miata can't comfortably accomodate a driver taller than like 5'9"-ish. Your superior is an ass.
That does not mean that fact is the reason for the cars being smaller.
Cars in Europe are generally smaller than our big honking gas guzzlers, too. But Europeans are not smaller than us on average, to my knowledge.
Being only 5'8" I do find that I need much less space than my 6' tall acquaintances to be able to comfortably reach all the controls and see all the mirrors in a car, yes.
And your reason for repeating this is...?
That the expected size of the driver isn't terribly relevant to the overall size of the car, but that that doesn't demonstrate that cars aren't (or rather weren't, things like moving pedals and telescoping wheels are becoming more prominent) frequently designed to cater to drivers within a particular height-range. Setting the seat right to be able to drive the Camaro I had for many years was a pain and looked ridiculous.
So we're not in disagreement.
All I was talking about was the overall size of the car.
Okay.
There is also a reason I'm always the one who gets dumped into the back-seat in a full car. Well, me and girls anyway.
If I were a car manufacturer, I'd make sure my cars were easily adaptable to people of all sizes. With the case of the Miata, I know that those cars have often been marketed towards women, and so it's possible the small size was meant with that in mind rather than being just a design flaw. (Since women aren't just small in Japan.)
Actually it was marketed to the people who wanted an Alfa Romeo Spyder without having to suck their mechanic off three times a week to keep it running. Note that the new model MX-5 accommodates tall drivers comfortably, that was a major hindrance to sales on previous generations and so they corrected it.
Personally I like my car to feel like a cockpit instead of the 60s bench seat, but seeing how popular SUVs have become, I'd assume I'm in the minority.
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
In that case, their design team was retarded and hopefully were forced to commit seppuku. What kind of fuckwit designs a car to not seat anyone taller than 5'9"? Did they just not realize that average-sized males from different countries might not want to have to shoe-horn into their auto?
What kind of fuckwit designs a car to not seat anyone shorter than 5'10"?
I think the road size consideration is key. Didn't the U.S. highway system get massively upgraded by Eisenhower, who had his eye to logistics (e.g. military mobilization and containers)?
Which is probably part of why they're losing out to Toyota.
That and have a look at what they spend every year on retirement benefits. GM's almost more of a healthcare-company than an automaker anymore.