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How cultural, regional, and physical differences can influence car design

By Rain Noe - July 5, 2010

in Object Culture

Years ago when I was a car nut, most of the car magazines I pored over agreed that the Germans made the best suspension systems. The reasoning was that cars designed in Germany, specifically for German use, had to contend with the no-speed-limit Autobanh--where rock-solid steadiness is important--as well as the centuries-old cobblestone streets of many villages, where the suspension had to provide enough cushioning to avoid a teeth-rattling ride. The Germans, it was said, had best managed to strike a balance between the need to accommodate these two extremes.

An article I read in the American magazine Car and Driver put forth a fascinating hypothesis about Japanese suspensions. The author suggested they were more comfortable for Asian people, as opposed to (typically larger) Americans, and theorized that this was because the up-and-down motions of suspensions in Japan were tuned for people of average Japanese height--that is to say, a 5'9" Japanese man, while walking, was used to his head traveling up and down at a particular rate according to his size-determined stride; and that an American man of 6'2" had a different head-bouncing gait, one that a Japanese suspension did not feel quite right for.

I never saw anything like scientific proof of either of these points, but it always stuck with me that situations specific to a particular nation could influence their product designs in surprising ways.

So it was with great interest that I read the obituary of Charles S. King, the designer of the original Range Rover, which mentioned the Rover's specific, culture-based function. I never paid much attention to what I considered trucks, being interested more in performance cars; to me a Range Rover was something that hip hop stars or people who lived in SoHo drove. But the Times piece on King points out that it was designed in the 1960s for a very specific, and very British, purpose:

Equipped with a powerful V-8 engine, huge tires and coil spring suspension...the Range Rover was made to leave London on a Friday night for a 100-mile-an-hour sprint to a country estate, and rev up Saturday morning for a pheasant hunt across the rocky English countryside.

[In] the United States...it became prized less for its superior performance than for its exclusivity. To a generation of rappers, professional athletes and striving suburbanites, the Range Rover became the ultimate four-wheeled status symbol, which Mr. King regretted.

"Sadly, the 4x4 has become an acceptable alternative to Mercedes or BMW for the pompous, self-important driver," Mr. King told The Daily Mail in 2004. "To use them for the school run, or even in cities or towns at all, is completely stupid."

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Aditya

14 years ago

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From the very beginning, all the cars plying on the Indian roads had either been imported (earlier) or were manufactured here based on concepts developed elsewhere ( England and Japan). It was later that R&D centers were set up here and the same cars were manufactured to suit the local conditions. But the cars largely continue to carry the DNA from concepts developed outside India.
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Rob @ GruvDesign

14 years ago

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Interesting about the gait, and head bounce, but I don't think it is accurate. The only way your head would be bouncing inside a car is if your shocks/dampers are worn out. Furthermore, the up and down oscillations would be dependent on wheelbase, not springrate or anything to do with the suspension. A short car oscillates more while driving on choppy pavement... whereas a longer car oscillates less.
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Joe

14 years ago

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Working at the Land Rover dealership in MN as a high schooler led me to basically the same views as Mr King. I will, however, admit it was fun to see the occasional celebrity roll in with his/her (usually his) Range Rover. What was even more fun was to see some guy bring in his totally beat up, lifted 4.6 HSE with scratches all over the paint. I always enjoyed that. Kind of a waste of 80 grand, but it was refreshing to see it nonetheless.
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