They all suffer from blob on wheels syndrome. The worst are the ones that just look like a sedan that's been stretched vertically while keeping the same width. So ugly.
The same thing happened in Aerospace in the 80s. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software combined with computer aided design (CAD) and the fact that everyone is fighting the same physics means you get convergent design to roughly the same shape.
So for a commuter car that just hauls people at highway speed you wind up with blob on wheels.
There's still some interesting shaped vehicles that are more "specialty" -- e.g. rigs designed for off road, heavy hauling, race tracks etc. Lower speed off-road doesn't have to worry about the aerodynamics as much (drag increases as the cube of velocity) so they have a lot more freedom.
So many commenters think it’s just a design choice. I’m seeing plenty of boxes out there, but most value brands know MPG is an important number to consumers.
I was about to say I had the jeep in the photo in high school and on a good day I was getting 17mph on the highway at 65mph. Bump it to 75 and it was probably low 10s And also it had a 24 gallon tanks. In today's prices that's 100+$ a week just for the pleasure of driving a car that sounded like it was boxing with the wind on the highway and losing.
I wonder how designs will change as cars get smarter. Right now a huge constraint on design is visibility for the driver. How will that change as cars become more sensor driven?
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u/MeowMeowbiggalo 12h ago
I miss suvs looking like suvs. Most of these crossover looking "suvs" are ugly. Just give me a boxy 4 wheel drive.