It's A Drag: Does Wind-Tunnel-Vision Kill Car Design?
Do you think that cars have lost their soul? Nina Tortosa, General Motors aerodynamicist for the Voltec/E-Flex programs, says that cars look more and more alike because “we all have to abide by the same laws of physics. It doesn’t matter if we don’t like them,” Nina Tortosa told WardsAuto.
Mere mortals have to contend with two certainties – death and taxes. Car designers are faced with a third one: Cd, or the drag coefficient.
When I was in advertising, countless engineers tried to explain the drag coefficient (a.k.a. “Cw-Beiwert” – we were in Germany) to me, until one found an ingenious solution: “You want a low one.”
They also told me the secret why the final car never looks like that flashy design study. The wind tunnel, or now rather the drag simulator is the big equalizer. “It’s a drag,” complained one designer to me, “those damned aerodynamics kill all my ideas.”
Joe Dehner, chief of Dodge and Ram Design at Chrysler, had the same experience: “We, as designers in the late ’80s and early ’90s, were in an organic phase, but aerodynamicists didn’t want organic lines,” he told WardsAuto. “We would take it to the wind tunnel and they would put corners on (it), and (we) would say, ‘You’re ruining my design.’”
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
More by Bertel Schmitt
Comments
Join the conversation
cancel edit
I don't know what the Italia's CD is, but I suspect it's good, and it's still sporting homewrecker good-looks. The obvious solution is to make everything mid-engine. Problem solved. I will post my forwarding address for royalty checks later this afternoon.