2009 Mazda 3 in metal, and Euro NCAP controversy

So, the recently unveiled Mazda 3, seen for the first time in sheet metal in the Los Angeles Auto Show have earned itself the nickname "smiley face" car. The reason is quite obvious.

This is the most unflattering angle of the car. The new 3 looks fabulous in other shots.



Kinda reminds me of this guy's face.


Now we know why Mazda wisely choose to reveal to us the first set of pictures during the Australian International Motor Show preview. None of the official press release photo sets (below) show this particular unflattering view of the car.




But I don't for one bit blame chief designer Kunihiko Kurisu for the result. I rest the blame on Euro NCAP crash safety standards. See consumers now perceive Euro NCAP crash test results to be the final authority in vehicle safety. Thus car manufacturers design their cars to specifically score well, ideally a maximum 5 star in Euro NCAP tests. The vehicle's front crash structure / crash box, A-pillars, engine cover and hood, and even wiper and windshield washer placements have been designed with great care to conform to the demands of Euro NCAP's testing methodology - mainly an offset frontal collision with deformable barrier, pedestrain collision and the static pole side impact test.


As a result, we are now getting increasingly weird looking cars with disproportionate looking front ends. Think of recent Peugeot and Renault models and you get the picture. Some cars do naturally adapt better to Euro NCAP demands, like Audi. Whose corporate emblem design and designs of historic models like its pre-war Auto Union racers make it easier to create a massive trapezoidal grille to house the crash impact absorbing structures. They can use the excuse that they are merely drawing inspiration from its illustrious heritage.


Notice that an increasingly number of new car models have a very large grille area, and their hood is sloping downwards at a higher angle (to create more "buffer" space between the engine and hood). This is even more apparent in compact cars as their small sizes make it very difficult for designers to strike a "visually balanced" look. Think of the Nissan Versa (Latio), Toyota Yaris (Vitz) and Vios (Belta / Yaris 5-door), Honda City (Fit Aria) and Jazz (Fit), etc etc I think you get the picture.

The design task is made more complicated by car clinics and focus group studies results suggesting that consumers demand a high hip point for ease of entry, high eye-point for a commanding view, plus increasingly large interior space as it is a fact that people are bigger now than say 40 years ago. In this time and age, car design is no longer a "heart-and-feel" thing, like it was during Ferdinand Porsche or Sir William Lyons era, where one man assumes complete control of the design. No, cars now are designed by a committee, to satisfy a set of demands inferred from results of car clinics and focus group studies. The angles and type of steel stamping required for the designs must be approved by accountants to keep costs from ballooning out of control. As a result, you get hatches and supposedly compact B/C segment sedans that look like an MPV have been grafted to the middle section.

I have yet to see the new 3 in sheet metal but I strongly suspect the horizontal beam running across the front bumpers are a critical part of the crash structure. A similar structure is found in all Peugeot and Renault models as well. Audis (and other 5-star cars) have them too, just that they are better concealed. Notice the length of the "extension" starting from where the hood piece ends, the raised hood and missing windshield washers, they are all to designed to satisfy pedestrian crash safety standards.

The problem with this obsession with Euro NCAP extends to more than just ugly looking cars. Euro NCAP only rates the passive safety aspects of the car - the stuffs that work when you crash the car. It doesn't really evaluate how well a car AVOIDS a crash in the first place. It does give points for fitments of stability control (ESP) and ABS but these points were awarded by default if the vehicle is fitted with such features. No real dynamic test is done on how well the car actually stops or steers away from a crash. Thanks to Euro NCAP, we are getting heavier cars (which are harder to brake) and less agile to change directions and thicker A-pillars which increases blind spots and...make it harder for you to see out, which would of course lead to more accidents because you cannot see well. (Duh!).

A smaller, lighter car with good visibility that would be able to avoid a crash by stopping earlier or swerving away might be penalised against a car that would, in the same situation end up in a crash! It's a bit absurb when you think about it.

Renault have been widely regarded as a manufacturer who build the safest cars these days as most of their passenger car models ace Euro NCAP tests with a maximum 5 stars. But this is where I feel Volvo have not been given due credit. Volvo realised that car's structural pillars are getting thicker to conform to Euro NCAP and visibility have been greatly compromised by the now larger blind spots. In response, Volvo pioneered Blind Spot Indication System (BLIS), now available as an option on all new Volvo models. Euro NCAP does not award any points for BLIS but Volvo, true to their Volvo For Life philosophy went ahead with it anyway. 50 years ago nobody requested or mandated seat belts, but Volvo invested in seatbelt research and introduced it anyway.


During my experience with a S80 model, I was delighted to find out that the S80's tail lamps turned itself on to warn other cars, when I stepped out to open the car's boot. There is no additional material cost (not that I know of) related to this feature. The boot opening switch is already linked to the body control unit's microcontroller. All that is needed to introduce this is a few more lines of code in the firmware for the function to flash the tail lights whenever the boot is opened. All these little thoughts goes to show how sincere is Volvo when it comes to safety. I still regard Volvo as makers of the world's safest cars, irrespective of what Euro NCAP says. With the current financial state of Volvo, it would be unfortunate if the motoring world lost Volvo and along with it, the Scandinavian way of building cars. Unfortunately people do not appreciate what they will be missing. People naturally do not know that they need / appreciate until someone shows it to them. This is something no car clinics or consumer studies will be able to replicate accurately, case in point is seatbelts and ESP. Maybe more on that on another post.

Back to the 3, I still love the new 3 to bits. Too much for a minor "smiley face" to bother me. I think eventually more and more cars will look like this anyway. Also, pictures of the hatchback version of the 3 have been revealed, ahead of its official debut at the Bologna Motor Show (December 3 - 14).


Hatchback


Sedan. Image from GoAuto.

Related link :
2009 Mazda 3 and Mazda's Design Led Revival
4,703 brand new Mazdas destroyed!