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People Prefer Angry-Faced Cars

Posted by timothy on from the researchers-like-to-anthropomorphize dept.

fatalfury writes "Researchers from the University of Vienna asked 20 males and 20 females to rank vehicles based on their appearance. The list of traits included arrogant, afraid, agreeable, disgusted, extroverted, sad, and others. Cars with 'meaner' traits (such as BMW) ranked higher, whereas cars with 'nicer' traits (such as Toyota's Prius) ranked lower. With billions spent on developing new products in the automobile industry, this could spur a trend in meaner-looking cars and perhaps explain why sales of the Prius and other green cars are slow to take off with average consumers."

12 of 473 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yes you're right by elynnia · · Score: 2, Informative
    Another problem that I see with this survey is that it was restricted to one geographical location. Do people universally prefer similar traits in automotive design or are there regional discrepancies?

    I find the Mark 2 Ford Focus to be an interesting case study - the European and American branches of Ford made significantly different cars as a follow-up to the original Focus. The European Focus uses clean-cut, simplistic lines whilst the American equivalent treats it as a scaled-down large sedan with a much more aggressive tone.

    Is this a result of market demand or just a difference in design philosophy? Someone here should be an expert in automotive design...=]

    -Aly

  2. In Germany by mbierenfeld · · Score: 3, Informative

    you need angry looking cars on the "Autobahn" to get all the suckers out of the way. Serious this is sick. Families are drivin around with their kids in small Fiats and are attacked by old farts with 160mph.

    1. Re:In Germany by mschuyler · · Score: 2, Informative

      Going fast on the average Autobahn is a nice theory, but in practice most of them are old two-laners (two in each direction), in disrepair, and dominated by literally miles of semi-trucks in the right lane that have no problem pulling into the left lane to pass another truck doing half a klick slower than they are. Now throw in construction delays every few miles where you get to drive on the shoulder for awhile or encounter a ten mile slowdown because someone is harvesting white aspargus in a field beside the road and everyone has to slow down to look.

      Sure, driving on the A4 past Frankfurt is a joy because the road is modern, wide, and multi-laned, but by far the majority of the fabled Authobahns are more like Autotopia in Disneyland. Your bad-ass BMW 700 series is stuck in traffic like every other tiny SmartCar and tacky Opel in sight.

      --
      How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
  3. Re:As a non-driver by Racemaniac · · Score: 2, Informative

    on the other hand, people do tend to go out of the way far sooner when you approach behind them in something like a bmw.
    my mother sometimes complains when she's driving the bmw that every car just makes way for her on the highway, rather forcing her to overtake them, even when she doesn't intend to.
    the few times i could drive it, i also noticed it. i usually drive a ford focus, people respond less agressively to your manoeuvres, but on the other hand, noone is inclined to get out of your way if you want to pass them -_-.

  4. Fiat Multipla - does not look bad by Chrisq · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just weird. Especially the early models, later ones look much more standard.

    1. Re:Fiat Multipla - does not look bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      It looks like a ninja turtle

    2. Re:Fiat Multipla - does not look bad by FJR1300+Rider · · Score: 2, Informative

      Maybe because Alfas of old used to be some of the best looking cars of the time. Not the most reliable things, granted, but still stunning machines.

      And maybe because Alfas of today are both very good cars _and_ also damn sexy.

      Check out google images for Alfa 147, Alfa 159, Alfa GT, Alfa Spider, Alfa Brera, Alfa Mito and Alfa 8C.

      Probably the only automobile marque of today that hasn't a single dud/ugly duckling in its line up.

    3. Re:Fiat Multipla - does not look bad by Kokuyo · · Score: 2, Informative

      It isn't. But that's just my opinion. Obviously, Slashdot Mods don't know humor when it kicks them in the face ;).

      (I wan't to see whether I can manage another Troll rating *g*)

  5. It's too bad that aerodynamics... by dpbsmith · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...don't favor angry-faced cars. Alas, anything that has low drag is going to end up looking more or less like a Prius. (Those little longitudinal wrinkles on the roof are not styling, by the way).

    The stylists need to get busy on color schemes that suggest angry red faces, or trompe l'oeil designs that make the car look a different shape than it is.Maybe they can design a bunch of terrifying-looking spikes that poke out from the front, but are made of marshmallow and retract harmlessly into pockets on impact.

    --

    "How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!

  6. Re:What about a flex-faced car? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Take a look at BMW's GINA if you want that.
    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kTYiEkQYhWY

  7. Re:As a non-driver by PachmanP · · Score: 2, Informative

    A significant portion of my driving philosophy is the person with the worst car has the right of way. Who's gonna flinch? The guy in the brand new BMW 7-series or the guy in POS 80's ford escort?

    --
    You're thinking small. Why miniaturize the laser, when we could instead enlarge the sharks? -John Searle
  8. Multi-Sound Horns by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Multi-Sound Horns:

    http://www.jcwhitney.com/Multi-Sound-Horns/600002600.jcw