Thats it. Thats the post.

  • LaGG_3 [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    9 months ago

    Modern cars mostly (disregardingmy-hero) look the same because they're made to be safer and have crumple zones, right?

    • WafflesTasteGood [he/him]
      ·
      9 months ago

      It's actually more for aerodynamics and efficiency. This is why all cars have started to look really similar. The best shape for a car won't change because physics so there's not a lot of room for artistic flair.

      • iridaniotter [she/her]
        ·
        9 months ago

        It's really funny they care about aerodynamics so much because the mileage on some of these cars is just truly awful. We could have cool looking cars that aren't aerodynamic but they wouldn't be as good at crushing pavement and plowing children..sicko-wistful

        • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]M
          ·
          9 months ago

          they don't really care that much, just enough to hit the legal bare minimum to keep making bigger SUVs than last year. If they actually cared about efficiency we'd all be driving these.

          Show

          • wopazoo [he/him]
            ·
            9 months ago

            I think a more realistic idea of what everyone would be driving if everyone actually cared about maximum efficiency would be the 1st generation Honda Insight, a car famous in the hypermiling community for its efficiency.

            Show

          • 7bicycles [he/him]
            ·
            9 months ago

            if we truly cared about efficiency we'd be riding recumbent pod bikes mostly. Most efficient machine ever made babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

      • wopazoo [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        I disagree that aerodynamics optimization is the reason that a lot of cars have started to look for the same. Here are 3 highly aerodynamic cars that have been explicitly optimized for aerodynamics, each with their own unique flair:

        1st generation Honda Insight

        Show

        1st generation Tesla Model 3

        Show

        5th generation Toyota Prius

        Show

        It's impossible to confuse one of these cars for each other. Automakers absolutely can make gorgeous and distinct looking cars without compromising aerodynamics, they simply choose not to.

        • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]M
          ·
          9 months ago

          It's impossible to confuse one of these cars for each other.

          You say that but my partner seems to be entirely incapable of telling the difference, even here. All cars are just "an car" to her. Kind of awesome in a strange way. It's like vehicular face-blindness.

          • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
            ·
            9 months ago

            I started training my wife so she could recognize cop cars sooner. My weaponized autism is literally noticing a cop car from a blurry vibe 2 miles down the highway.

            • VILenin [he/him]
              ·
              9 months ago

              You know you're near a cop car when you feel the aura of satanic racism come over you.

        • FALGSConaut [comrade/them]
          ·
          9 months ago

          It's impossible to confuse one of these cars for each other.

          Counterpoint: I do so on purpose to piss off Tesla fans. "Oh neat car, is that the new Prius?"

        • wopazoo [he/him]
          ·
          9 months ago

          I just noticed that the Tesla Model 3 kind of looks like a Porsche, and I don't think that's an accident.

          Show

          The headlights and grille seem highly inspired by the 911.

    • Dirt_Owl [comrade/them, they/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      9 months ago

      SAFETY IS BORING

      On a more serious note, they could at least give them interesting patterns or something, right?

      • LaGG_3 [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        9 months ago

        SAFETY IS BORING

        More like Dirt_Owlon, amirite?

        On a more serious note, they could at least give them interesting patterns or something, right?

        I feel like they try this for rich people cars, but I hate them 90+% of the time lol

      • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
        ·
        9 months ago

        they could at least give them interesting patterns or something, right?

        Manufacturers can offer all the options and decorations they want but as long as most people are slaves to resale value, most cars will be boring and inoffensive. It's much easier to find a buyer for a black or white car than it is for a pink car.

      • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]
        ·
        9 months ago

        SAFETY IS BORING

        I feel like we could hijack toxic masculinity and get them all on bikes with this.
        "Oh, big baby getting in his nice padded comfortmobile? Or can your weedy little legs not pedal fast enough to keep up on the road?"

        • 7bicycles [he/him]
          ·
          9 months ago

          I occasionally do this to alpha male types IRL and let me tell you it is fun.

          But, to be fair, mostly it will come down to danger as leisure, much like many other dangerous coded activities. If you can do it, you're cool, if you have to do it, wow look at you you fucking poor person, because it all exists intersectionally with the whole hierarchy and class status thing

        • wopazoo [he/him]
          ·
          edit-2
          9 months ago

          I mean, stuff like NYC bicycle messenger culture and LA e-bike outlaw culture are already explicitly about flaunting the speed, danger, and illegality of their riding. In NYC, it's about getting places fast, which involves weaving through traffic, running reds, hopping curbs, and going wrong-way. In LA, it's more about doing stunts, like wheelies, burnouts, and running from the cops.

          • 7bicycles [he/him]
            ·
            9 months ago

            Genuinely I don't think people generally consider bike messengers as manly. To stick with the terms here, it's sort of like omega coded. you just vibe outside the spectrum

    • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]
      ·
      9 months ago

      thicc A-pillars and that ugly ass slope up the bottom of the window line from front to the back so you can't see shit are supposedly safety features, yeah.

      • macerated_baby_presidents [he/him]
        ·
        9 months ago

        look I do love a beautiful 60s Triumph or Corvair convertible but if you roll over in one of those everyone inside will be flattened. Need better materials for thin A-pillars that don't kill the occupants. (Right now they kill people outside the car bc visibility)

          • quarrk [he/him]
            ·
            9 months ago

            Those headrest hoops are usually cosmetic. If you take a Miata to track you better invest in a roll bar and proper race helmet, head restraint, and harness.

          • macerated_baby_presidents [he/him]
            ·
            9 months ago

            you need both the A-pillars and (effectively) a roll bar behind the seats in order to protect the passenger area from getting crushed. With weak A pillars I think a rollover will fold the windshield down onto the occupants and possibly crush them into the seats, depending on impact angle

        • 7bicycles [he/him]
          ·
          9 months ago

          See in the split between protecting someone who manages to roll their car and everybody else you'll find me firmly on the side of everybody else

          • macerated_baby_presidents [he/him]
            ·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYMfy1LYF0U

            in addition to bad steering input at highway speeds there's actually a lot of rollovers caused by running into someone else's tire. the car just climbs up it. that's why you occasionally see rollovers in residential areas from low-speed collisions. video is an extreme example of the mechanic