Supercar styling. A rant.

Eunos_Cosmo

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I'm currently watching the 24 hours of Le Mans. Every time an Audi R18 goes past, I am angered.

Take for instance, the new Mclaren MP4-12C. They could have made any shape they wanted with this car.

web630-mclarenp112.jpg


Instead they did that. It just looks so typical. Why can't we have supercars that look like this??

2011-audi-r18-front-view.jpg


2011-Audi-R18-Side.jpg


That represents the best possible shape for a car to be (within rule limitations of course) to go fast. More than that, it looks unbelievably sexy. Like a mutated 1930s streamliner. So why can't Ferrari, Mclaren, or Lamborghini make something like this? Road and race car design diverged in the 1960s I'd say. I wish it hadn't.

Some more prototype sexiness:

peugeot-908hy-1280-3.jpg


Toyota%20GT%20One%20Road%20car2.jpg


le_mans_1991_1.jpg



Sigh
 
While I get your point - and agree, for the most part - how sexy do you think a road car based on a prototype racer would look?

First, you need bumpers. Strong enough to take a hit at 2.5 to 5 mph with no permanent damage.

Then, headlights. Keep in mind that they need to meet a minimum height from the road surface.

Engine cooling. NACA ducts look great, but are basically useless below 100 mph. So you have to make the intakes larger.

Doors. Not every owner will be as trim and fit as a professional racing driver, so those need to be larger. And you might as well enlarge the cabin, if you expect the owner to actually drive the car. Not to mention that you need to make room for the airbags and climate control system.

The reason why road car and racing car design started diverging so much starting in the late 60's was because of encroaching government regulations. It's hard to make something look radically different when every manufacturer has to meet the same requirements.
 
I don't know. There are some cars that are pretty close to being race cars, but they tend to be low production cars from smaller companies.

https://pic.armedcats.net/t/to/tomcat/2011/06/11/Saleen_S7_Twin-Turbo_Competition_1w.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/to/tomcat/2011/06/11/mosler.jpg

I don't think they're very practical for everyday use though. I know that's a bit of a lame argument for a supercar, but they do have to meet certain requirements to be legal for the road. Like ride height and those buttons in some cars that you push to raise the front end for speed bumps and curbs etc. Form follows function afterall. Race cars that never see shitty public roads can afford to be superlow.
 
These are all street legal:

50633-c-cap-.jpg

r500a.jpg

11613-2006-Ariel-Atom.jpg


None of those have 'bumpers'
 
Mmmmm...prototypes. :drool:
 
But they are all exempt from government regulations for various reasons. Whether the numbers produced are below a certain figure, or they're sold as kit cars.

Most manufacturers - even those of supercars - are in business to make money. And that means selling as many cars as the market will bear. And when you want to sell a lot of cars, you have to deal with governmental safety and emission regulations.
 
I think US legalization of the Caterham and Atom have to go through a kit-car loophole, where the drivetrain and chassis are bought separately. Not sure how feasible that is with a supercar.
 
But they are all exempt from government regulations for various reasons. Whether the numbers produced are below a certain figure, or they're sold as kit cars.

Most manufacturers - even those of supercars - are in business to make money. And that means selling as many cars as the market will bear. And when you want to sell a lot of cars, you have to deal with governmental safety and emission regulations.

So Ariel and Caterham are not in business to make money? I refuse to believe it's impossible to get a road legal version of a Audi R18 or Bentley Speed 8, if they really wanted to bring them to market. And the difficulty of the central cockpit driving position would just alow designers to get even more inventive and exotic with doors! Remember the Saab Aero X?

Saab-Aero-X.jpg


Something like that?
 
I think the McLaren looks awesome.
See, typical for me is a Focus. Or a Corolla. Imagine seeing that McLaren at a junction near your home, what would your reaction be? "Whoa, that typical car again"? I think I would probably O-face for 5 seconds, and then take out my phone and shoot a million pictures of it D:
 
Perhaps. But what if it was parked next to an Audi R18. You wouldn't even notice it...
 
?cough? Zonda.

Besides, if you take the spoiler and the fact that in a reasonably roadworthy car two persons are supposed to fit, seated next to each other, out of the equation, the Mc Laren does follow the same rules as the Prototypes.
I mean: just imagine the canopy about two thirds smaller and the big spoiler on the back and the Mc Laren looks exactly like one of the prototypes. About the only car that doesn't follow this principle is the Porsche. About the only car, where this principle doesn't work is the Porsche.
 
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That's just a load of bullshit. Sorry, but it is. I DON'T like 911, I think they are the most lazily designed cars ever. Doesn't stop me turning my head for it just a bit.

A Fiat is typical. A Renault is typical. A Mclaren MP4-12C :)clarkson:eek:uuugggh) will NEVER be typical in my book no matter what is parked next to it...and I'm certain I'm not alone on this.
 
The original Zonda did have a bit of group C in it. I don't really find the new one very cool.
 
That's just a load of bullshit. Sorry, but it is. I DON'T like 911, I think they are the most lazily designed cars ever. Doesn't stop me turning my head for it just a bit.

A Fiat is typical. A Renault is typical. A Mclaren MP4-12C :)clarkson:eek:uuugggh) will NEVER be typical in my book no matter what is parked next to it...and I'm certain I'm not alone on this.

I was watching the race and one of the R18s was running past a 458 on the Mulsanne. It made the 458 look positively pedestrian and old fashioned. I happen to think the 458 is beautiful, but next to an R18 it just looks decades behind.
 
That's just a load of bullsh*t. Sorry, but it is. I DON'T like 911, I think they are the most lazily designed cars ever. Doesn't stop me turning my head for it just a bit.
This might do ?
gemballa-mirage-gt-06.jpg



some "untypical" Supercars

mercedes-benz-slr-stirling-moss-01.jpg


ford-gt-104.jpg


jaguar+xj2.JPG


2009-Pagani-Zonda-R-Front-Side.jpg


bmw-m1-final.jpg
 
So Ariel and Caterham are not in business to make money?

Ariel and Caterham are hardly major manufacturers, with a board of directors and shareholders to answer to.

And again, they skirt US regulations by selling the engine and the car separately. I'm not sure more than a handful of customers would be willing to spend the time and money to have to buy an engine and install it in their million dollar supercar.

But making a Prototype car for the road has been done before. Witness Willy Koenig and the Koenig C62 - basically a road-going version of the Porsche 962.
https://pic.armedcats.net/p/ph/phoenixsac/2011/06/11/koenig126135db.jpg
Produced in 1991, it was the McLaren F1/Bugatti Veyron of its day with a top speed of 237 mph.

But if more than 10 were ever built, I'd eat my hair.
 
I think the MP4-12C is actually quite pretty, as is the 458 Italia. All of those race cars look cheap and scientific IMO. I'd rather have something that actually works as a car.
 
No, that was just a fancy computer render.

A shame really.
 
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