New Cars, Poor Visibility

[maneeno325e]

out of all the cars ive driven at work, i think the one with the worst rear visability has got to be the new ford taurus. the trunk is so damn high and rear window so small that you really cant see anything.

[Holland]

Also, windshields are further forward in case you aren't wearing your seatbelt. That's why you can play chess on the dashboard of any newer car. It seems new cars are designed around lawsuit prevention more than anything.

[masduro]

All of this is more complicated that can be said. Yes I agree that safety regulations have dictated some changes, but let's not forget the stylist and fashion trends that push proportion and package as much as the engineering dept. A good one is the og crx and the new cr-z. In twenty years honda managed to make a worse car in almost all aspects except safety.

[idanity]

Two things:

1). Rollover protection. Strengthening the pillars makes them a lot beefier.
2). Pedestrian safety. Euro NCAP requires a large amount of air space over the engine - 6" IIRC. As a result, you have to run the hood a lot higher than you otherwise would. This leads, of course, to a loss of glass. Some have coped with it better than others, but that is why cars suddenly got really high sided and flabby looking a few years ago.

I did not know this. makes sense esp. on later Ford Focus and Fiestas

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happily, mercedes has designed hoodpins that will "upon impacting a pedestrian" will pop the hood up 3 additional inches to further protect the ped...

but why not just make a thing that sees your gonna hit a pedestrian, and a giant arm whips out and slaps them before they walk in front of you..(jfa)

[Massimo]

instead of paying attention and avoiding.. or not doing stupid shit like texting, shaving, or brushing your hair while driving.

Ha reminded me of an incident at my work, some stupid bitch was walking through the carpark and hit her leg on a tow bar. So now everyone has to reverse park. Everything is now everyones problem, and no one person should be held accountable.

Anyways, I drove the same RAV4 they had in the Jurassic Park movie the two door model, I could not see anything out of that, besides what was infront of me.

[DisgustipatedAP1]

Ha reminded me of an incident at my work, some stupid bitch was walking through the carpark and hit her leg on a tow bar. So now everyone has to reverse park. Everything is now everyones problem, and no one person should be held accountable.

Anyways, I drove the same RAV4 they had in the Jurassic Park movie the two door model, I could not see anything out of that, besides what was infront of me.

Of course, when you're running over dinosaurs, you only need to see the dinos in front. Toyota got it right.

[chance]

Drove my neighbors 2010 370z. That car was awful to back down his driveway. I couldnt see shit.

[chance]

And as far as I am concerned about "pedestrian safety", I feel like adding a cow guard off a train to my truck. You step out in front of a moving vehicle, you better be prepared to be hit with a 2 ton battering ram.

[CHIF8008]

this is why a e30 with a wink mirror is so awesome. i can see everything! haha


edit* screw new cars

[mr.vang]

tell me about it, 2012 corolla rear visibility suck

[Holland]

As mentioned prior, nothing is worse than a new Camaro, save maybe an Element. My old TT had better visibility...

[VinniE30]

New cars suck! E30 god's chariot FTW!!!

[ohthejosh]

Volvo pedestrian airbag, LOL

[ZinnoBerrotEta]

part of the same trend towards the high sides/small windows is the lack of any trim or contrast. things have been moving towards body colored everything, and it's gone to the point where cars just look bland. the sides are just one bubbly curved sheet of metal with nothing in the middle to catch the eye, the bumpers are just one injected molded peice of plastic, all the same color.

This is so true!
I was just saying the EXACT same thing the other day while driving around with family/friends.
Original thinking and creativity have gone out the window. It seems that everything today is just mass produced, impersonal, and lacking any real detail.
They certainly "don't make em like they use to"

[ohthejosh]

This is so true!
I was just saying the EXACT same thing the other day while driving around with family/friends.
Original thinking and creativity have gone out the window. It seems that everything today is just mass produced, impersonal, and lacking any real detail.
They certainly "don't make em like they use to"

Now that I think of it, my e90 is a pretty bland one piece, I like the bumper + trim + valance + lip options on my e30. It allows for some unique combinations.