automotive design
It’s A Man’s World In The Crash Test Facility
Notice the design of the chest, biceps, neck and jaw…
Take a look at your typical crash dummy – the sort they use in the ANCAP and similar tests (see the photo, sourced from ANCAP). Notice anything about them and what they’ve got in common? Ten points (or should that be five stars?) for you if you noticed that a crash test dummy tends to look like a guy. I don’t know if you can really refer to a crash test dummy as a male but it (he?) is definitely masculine.
Yes, indeed. Skipping the whole thing about gender identity and all that, there are only two basic human skeleton and tissue types: the male sort and the female sort. And, in case you haven’t been paying attention, they aren’t the same. Women (in general) have wider pelvises, narrower chins, a higher proportion of body fat, smaller hands and feet and thinner necks than men. They’ve also got their centre of gravity in a different place. When guys get a bit chubbier, they put it on their tummies; when women do the same, it goes on the butt and thighs. Men have flat chests and even my A-cup sisters have boobs. Women are, on average, shorter (yes, we’re talking typical and average here and I know perfectly well that there are tall women and short men). Male bones are denser and have a higher proportion of muscle mass. Women have a larger lumbar lordosis (the curve in the lower spine that lumbar support in the driver’s seat is supposed to fit snugly into), which means that their pelvis tilts at a slightly different angle, which affects the walk. In fact, high heels are designed to increase that lumbar lordosis, the tilt and the swaying walk. And the list goes on.
Unfortunately, in spite of the key role of my heroine Bertha Benz in getting the whole horseless carriage thing started, car designers have used “standard” or “typical” human figures when designing cars. Unfortunately, as most car designers up until now have been guys, guess what they see as being “standard” or “typical”: the others sitting with them around the drawing board, who are all guys.
Surely, I’m not the only woman driver who has sat there fiddling with the lumbar support control and wondered why the heck it doesn’t come out any further because it’s not quite getting into the right place, and why the seat angle is never exactly right. We tend to start playing around with cushions at this point. As for the problems that crop up when you’re a female driver in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, trying to negotiate a seat belt around the baby bump and the set of Pamela Andersons you’ve picked up… don’t even get me started! Apparently, women sit in the “wrong” driving position when they’re behind the wheel.
However, the safety systems that have been put in place by car designers have been developed and tested with the standard crash test dummy. Which is based on the average male. The smaller size, the different shape, the different centre of gravity, the different tissue density and all the rest of it means that a female body does not behave like a male body during a collision. OK, they did try during the 1980s to introduce a feminine crash test dummy, but this (1) had the same proportions as the male ones but just scaled down rather than having curves and (2) is usually put in the passenger seat during crash tests.
Can we just pause and think about that for a second? When they do crash tests, they mostly put the female dummy in the passenger seat. This was pointed out just last year by a pair of (female) Swedish road safety researchers*. Crash tests, in general, assume that women don’t drive. These tests weren’t being carried out in Saudi Arabia, for goodness sake! What were they thinking?
A truth that’s even more inconvenient than Al Gore’s is that women have a much higher rate of being injured in a car crash than men. Given the same speed and impact type, women get hurt worse. The simple reason for this is because the cars’ safety features have been engineered and tested with the average male body in mind.
To take just one example, think of whiplash. A lot of new cars have active head restraints that are designed to cradle the head and neck to prevent whiplash. However, you can guess what these have been tested on most of the time. In fact, when the NHTSA started using “female” crash dummies (which they started doing in 2003), they used them for the side impact tests… which aren’t quite such a problem for whiplash, given the vectors of the forces involved. Now, no woman is Barbie but we do have thinner necks than guys. In fact, if you’re an artist or cartoonist, one of the quickest ways to make a head and shoulders to look masculine or feminine is to adjust the proportions of the neck.
Women’s necks don’t have the muscle and sinew there that guys do, so our heads and necks don’t behave the same way during the sort of crash that is most likely to lead to whiplash. Add in the fact that women aren’t “sitting right” in the driver’s seat because we’ve got different pelvises, plus the fact that seatbelts are hard to get right if you’ve got anything on your chest bigger than a B cup, which is the case for most women. Heck, we all know that fitted T-shirts and jeans for men and women are cut differently, for goodness sake! Given all these differences, and it’s no wonder that women’s rate of getting whiplash is much, much higher than that of guys.
I’m going to be charitable here and put forward the notion that the guys designing cars and doing the crash tests are nice guys at heart rather than a bunch of sexist pigs. Perhaps the idea of using a crash test dummy that looks more like a real woman jars with their inner knights in shining armour and a plan to put even a replica of a damsel fitted with lots of sensors so you can see just how much distress she gets into is upsetting. If this is the case, well, that’s sweet of you guys, but you’re actually not doing us any favours.
However, change is afoot and more and more women are getting into car design and the safety side of things, although anything like a 50–50 proportion in the workplace is a long way off. Yet another (female) vehicle safety researcher from Sweden has looked at the stats and is developing a proper female crash test dummy with female proportions. Known as EvaRID, this dummy is designed with the whiplash issue in mind. You can hear Dr. Astrid Linder introduce this dummy in her TEDx talk (in English, don’t panic!):
As you can expect with those safety-minded Swedes, Volvo is getting on board with the E.V.A. initiative (which stands for Equal Vehicles for All as well as cleverly echoing the name of the dummy, which is the Swedish for Eve, the first woman). The senior technical specialist at Volvo Cars Safety Centre, Dr. Lotta Jakobsson (yes, another Swedish woman), is doing her bit by collecting real world crash data and heading a design team to make cars just as safe for women as they are for men. In fact, Volvo’s existing WHIPS design was tested on the EvaRID dummy as well as on the male one (the name of the most recent one is Thor, continuing the Nordic theme), and Volvo’s getting right behind the initiative. This makes me want to run out an buy a new Volvo right away. However, as we saw many years ago with the invention of seatbelts, where Volvo goes, others are soon to follow.
The fact that the designers, modellers, engineers, researchers and analysts focusing on the gender differences happen to be mostly women is also noticeable, which is also an argument for encouraging just as many girls as guys to get into the field of engineering. We don’t need to go to the extremes of having a vehicle that is designed solely to fit a woman’s body – although it sure would be a best-seller – but making sure that we don’t forget 50% of the population (and let’s not even get started on ethnic differences in body size and type) by ensuring that some of said 50% knows their stuff with engineering will make better cars for all humans.
And, gals, you’ve still got no excuse for not wearing a seatbelt even if sits badly on your chest, so buckle up!
* Linder, A., & Svedberg, W. (2018). Occupant safety assessment in European regulatory tests : review of occupant models, gaps and suggestion for bridging any gaps. Presented at the 18th International Conference Road Safety on Five Continents (RS5C 2018), Jeju Island, South Korea, May 16-18, 2018, Linköping. Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vti:diva-12886
Playing Big In A Small SUV: Kia Seltos
It’s a big market that has small(ish) SUVs selling almost as quickly as they come off the production line and Kia has revealed details of the forthcoming Seltos. 
There will be four specification levels: S, Sport, Sport+ and GT-Line. Kicking off at around $26K the S will have 16 inch alloy wheels. Up front will be halogen driving lights, whilst inside will be cruise control, an 8.0 inch touchscreen that will have the Apple CarPlay/Android Auto apps, whilst safety in the entry level will have Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Keep Assist, rear camera and sensors.
The second level Sport is slated to be sub $30K also and will roll on 17 inch alloys, plus the spare is looking to be a full sizer. Aircon is climate control, and the touchscreen goes to a HD style 10.25 inch. Kia keeps baiting the hook with the Sport+. Seats will be wrapped in cloth and faux leather and front pews, plus the tiller, will be heated. The top of the ladder GT-Line will appeal even further with a sub $40K price tag. That brings LED driving lights and their now traditional ice cube fog lights. Factor in mood lighting, venting for the front seats, and a wireless charge pad for compatible smartphones, and there’s plenty to like. All cars will have LED headlights and tail lights.
Exterior design cues harken to the outgoing Soul with a hint of Volvo XC40 in the rear window line. The traditional “tiger nose” grille is here with a new, raised, diamond look. Depending on trim, tyres will be 205/60 R16, 215/55 R17 or 235/45 R18. Paintwork is taken up a level too, with a vibrant choice of colours. Cherry Black, Snow White Pearl, Steel Gray, Gravity Gray, Mars Orange, Neptune Blue, Dark Ocean Blue and Starbright Yellow will be available in various markets and this also covers a two tone offering. Buyers can select the roof in Cherry Black, Platinum Gold or Clear White to go with the various body colours.
Sizewise the Seltos nudges at a medium SUV, with 4370mm in length and overhangs of 850mm. The wheelbase, of 2,630mm, provides plenty of human friendly space inside. It’s possibly the biggest for space in its segment and that includes the bootspace of 498 litres VDA or 752 litres SAE. Front seat passengers will enjoy up to 1051mm legroom, 1409mm shoulder space, and 1017mm headroom. Basic trim will be greys and blacks, however the materials will be soft touch, and the seats will have geometric motifs. 
Engines will be a 1.6L turbo four with 130kW and 265Nm, a naturally aspirated 2.0L with 110kW and 180Nm, and there will be the familiar drive modes of Eco, Sport, and Normal. The smaller turbo engine will power either the front or all wheels via a seven speed dual clutch auto, with the other running a new for the brand CTR, and again front or all wheel drive. Suspension tunes were finalised here in Australia and will be a mix of torsion beam rear and MacPherson strut fronts for the two wheel drive. Multilink rears will handle the AWD versions.
Expected Australian sales will commence in the fourth quarter.
Corvette Goes For A Mid-Engined Sting.
General Motors have confirmed details and American pricing for its forthcoming 2020 Corvette Stingray. It’s a mid-engined machine and will kick off at under USD$60,000. The engine configuration puts it into the same sphere as Ferrari, McLaren, and Lamborghini. Importantly, it will be produced in factory fitted right hand drive, and is due to start production later this year.
The engine is the same sized “donk” as before, at 6.2L. It’ll be naturally aspirated, and with an optional performance exhaust will pump 495 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque. In Aussie numbers that’s just shy of 370kW and 637Nm. Without that exhaust horsepower and torque drop by five each respectively. Expected weight is around 1530 kilos before fuel and passengers.
The engine is dry sumped, meaning a smaller oil pan. It also means, for the track day drivers, more consistent oil pressure as there’s far less oil to slosh around in a traditional oil pan. As it means a lower engine height as it sits behind the driver and passenger, it could mean a supercharger for later on…
Transmission will be an eight speed dual clutch auto. Sadly, for the traditionalists, the manual transmission is no more, however the DCT will have paddle shifts as a semi-consolation prize. Expected 0-62mph/100kmh time is expected to be under three seconds.
Of course, the big talking point will be the relocation of the powerplant. Not only has it given the exterior a sleeker design, it’s given the engineers a new platform to work on for handling. Mark Reuss, the former head of Holden, said: “The traditional front-engine vehicle reached its limits of performance, necessitating the new layout. In terms of comfort and fun, it still looks and feels like a Corvette, but drives better than any vehicle in Corvette history.” Each corner has coil-over suspension with the stiffer chassis. Those going for the option list can specify struts with what GM calls adjustable spring perches. Get the spanner out and this means adjustable ride height and stiffness.
GM also offers Magnetic Ride 4.0, a system where magnets and a specific liquid work together to provide an adjustable ride height. There’s even a GPS enabled nose lift setup, where kerbs or speedhumps will hit the GPS and lift the nose to provide safe clearance. If you check the Z51 option box you’ll also get Pilot Sport 4S tyres over the 245/35/R19 front and massive 305/30/20 rear wheels, but Michelin ALS all-seasons will have to do for the bottom spec. Seat spec offers three choices: the comfortable GT1, the sportier GT2 or the track-focused and carbon-backed Competition Sport.
Outside is different yet familiar. A choice of 12 colours will be available to coat the redesigned body. That body leaves little doubt where some of the inspiration has come from. Massive air intakes on the flanks, a 3.2mm glass pane to showcase the engine, a sharper and more angular nose cone with strakes underneath the headlights. Oh, and don’t forget the removeable roof sections. There’s also room in the rear behind the engine and up front in what is called a “frunk” or front trunk, for some bags. The relocated engine pushes the seats and cabin forward, leading to a lower roofline that tapers off at a more slender angle.
Inside are cues taken from the top line fighter jets in the form of F-35 and F-22. A 12 inch screen will provide information, and the relocated engine has the driver’s position feeling more in tune with the car’s chassis and suspension setup.
There is no word yet on its expected Australian release date or its Australian pricing. At the time of writing though, the USD was around a$1.42 or so AuD, meaning a starting price of $85K plus the “Australia tax” and “on-roads”…it’s more likely to be, according to sources, closer to a $150K starting point.
Bentley Unveils A Future Showcase In EXP 100 GT
When it comes to finding a car maker to put forward a concept car for the future that’s packed with technology, and luxury, then Bentley is the company to do so. Its recent unveiling of the EXP 100 GT provides us with a look at what they feel a Grand Tourer for the year 2035 could look like, and was built to be part of the marque’s centennial celebrations.
It’s motorvated by a fully electric powertrain. Bentley say the 1,105 pound-feet or 1,500 Newton metre engines will propel the 1,900 kilogram/4,188 pound, 5.8 metre long, machine to 62mph/100kmh in 2.5 seconds. Range is said to be 435 miles or 700 kilometres on a single, full, charge. A fast charging system gets 80% in with a timeframe of 15 minutes. It’s also future ready as there is a built in provision for a hydrogen fuel cell power pack.
Outside it’s pure Bentley. A long, lithe, low slung coupe styling starts with the trademark Bentley “eyes”, a pair of LED powered headlights bracketing a massive mesh grille, apparently comprised of 6,000 LED lights. It draws the eye to the signature Bentley “Flying B” before running along its length, seeing the sculpted aero design, the massive pair of upwards hinging doors, and the sleek fastback rear with deep red coloured LEDs for the tail lights. Although wheel size doesn’t appear to be stated, the Active Aero wheels look to be of a minimum of 22 inches in diameter.
It’s a big car in width too. Measuring 7.9 feet across, the interior gives a new definition to sumptuous. Recycled 5000 year old wood with copper inlays, aluminum, leather (of course) and high quality wool house a series of fiber optic cables to bring light and life to the massive interior. That interior also features a rather unique and definably ecological bent. Called Air Curation, it has the ability to filter out road smog, but allow through the scents of a forest, a rain shower, and the like to the 2+2 seating configuration. 
Those seats are perhaps the most comfortable available. With weaving utilising the Trapunto Method that goes back to the 14th Century, and ecologically sustainable cloth sources, created from vegetable materials and wine skin waste, the whole process minimises wastes and eliminates waste water as a result. There is an extra ultrta-luxury touch, with hand cut crystal elements from Cumbria Crystal. Each piece located in the centre consoles for front and rear seats took between 10 to 18 days of painstaking mastercraftsmenship to create. One houses the cars Artificial Intelligence module, and it’s voice activated for five driving modes. One is called Cocoon, and recycles purified air and opaques the glass roof and windows.
There is no price available for the Bentley EXP 100 GT. It’s a one off and built to be a concept only. But Bentley being Bentley, there would be no doubt at all of seeing some of these elements incorporated into their forthcoming cars in the short term future. Part of the intent was to showcase Bentley’s “Sustainable Innovation” look to the future. Bentley’s director of design, Stefan Sielaff, notes. “Like those iconic Bentleys of the past, this car connects with its passengers’ emotions and helps them experience and safeguard the memories of the really extraordinary journeys they take.”
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