Piston Slap: Visibility's Unintended Rube Goldberg Effect?

TTAC Commentator Volvo writes:

Why does the design of most newer vehicles have very poor driver visibility for objects close to the car? This is pretty much all around but especially the rear. I find the current design even makes it difficult to judge front and rear bumper distance from an object. This definitely was not the case for most cars prior to 1995.
  • Is it to lower drag?
  • Safety mandates?
  • Just design esthetic?

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  • Orange260z I'm facing the "tire aging out" issue as well - the Conti ECS on my 911 have 2017 date codes but have lots (likely >70%) tread remaining. The tires have spent quite little time in the sun, as the car has become a garage queen and has likely had ~10K kms put on in the last 5 years. I did notice that they were getting harder last year, as the car pushes more in corners and the back end breaks loose under heavy acceleration. I'll have to do a careful inspection for cracks when I get the car out for the summer in the coming weeks.
  • VoGhost Interesting comments. Back in reality, AV is already here, and the experience to date has been that AV is far safer than most drivers. But I guess your "news" didn't tell you that, for some reason.
  • Doc423 Come try to take it, Pal. Environmental Whacko.
  • 28-Cars-Later Mazda despite attractive styling has resale issues - 'Yota is always the answer.
  • 28-Cars-Later Try again.