Sunday, October 7, 2012

Chilly Sunday Proportion Correction

Working so close to GM, I'm frequently surrounded by managers driving their XTSs with manufacturer plates, towering over my car who's roof comes up to the XTS' beltline.  I can't help but to think that although GM has arrived upon a favorable form language, they may have forgotten to take a step back to think why their cars aren't as popular as BMW or Mercedes.  The proportion of the XTS is deplorable.  If one squints their eyes, the XTS can be confused for a plump Jetta.  So I had to shoop it; no change in wheel size or wheelbase, just a sunken DLO and sectioned body, with slight reductions in headlamp and grill height.  I think the results speak for themselves.  Too bad it takes more than 30 minutes to do this to a real car.  

Thoughts regarding attention to proportion in modern vehicles?

5 comments:

  1. I agree completely. I think it's all down to tighter safety regs and its not necessarily just a bad design trend. The challenger and camaro both need to be about a foot lower

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    1. Re: safety regs- yes, I'd agree that's the primary contributing factor, and it seems like there's a much wider scale disconnect than ever before between American exterior design and engineering. Mercedes and BMW's vehicles are living proof that requirements can be met while maintaining desirable proportions. I don't think there's enough product planning or interdisciplinary awareness/communication during development, which results in $55k cars that are the shape of $25k cars.

      Then again, it may be an antiquated belief that expensive cars should be unusually desirable to look at. I'm sure the XTS is quite comfy inside.

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  2. It's amazing how much longer the wheelbase LOOKS with those modifications.

    I haven't liked much that Cadillac's been doing lately. Lots of fat forms and 70's glitter flake paint. That XTS looks like a Chrysler 200 got brand slapped.

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  3. When I first looked at this, something was bugging me (bugging isn't the right word, I'm not irritated.) The rear window is split on the door, in theory, could you do a full window in there or no (because the door shape wouldn't allow for it? Or could the chrome trim come back to the pillar and do a solid window? I looked at the CLS and Passat CC and they also have slit windows although the hard window is in the pillar. I know it's nitpicking, just curious how it could look. Would be an awesome car to see in the flesh. It's a shame SEMA is all about Scions and Pony cars, would love to see a show car of this nature.

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  4. Love it - please do a XTS-L as well (8"). Keep up the good work!

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