Design Details: CHMSL Edition

"Amoore100" (amoore100) 08/13/2015 at 20:25 • Filed to: Design Details, CHMSL, Renault Master, BMW 6 Series GC

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Welcome back to Design Details! This Thursday the topic is: CHMSL as mandated on all new cars. For those of you who have no idea what that acronym means, it stands for Center High Mounted Stop Light and applies to that little strip of red brake lights that are separate from the rest of the cluster. These lights were first introduced to the US in 1986 and became standard in most of the Western world when the EU adopted them in 1998. As with any regulation, automakers began incorporating the CHMSL into their design languages, creating all a manner of odd and cool placements.

For example:

The Renault Master as well as its corporate cousins the Nissan NV400 and the Opel/Vauxhall Movano have this odd triangle of red above the rear door handle. Why? Because the French designed it, probably...

Then there’s the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe, an example of CHMSL done elegantly.

High enough to be seen by trucks, and goes all the way across so it doesn’t drive my OCD insane...So what do you think, Oppo?

What are the most recognizable/unique/prettiest CHMSL designs seen on modern cars?

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Amoore100 08/13/2015 at 20:31

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*the one that Clarkson bitched about

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > Amoore100 08/13/2015 at 20:34

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The 6-series GC is a perfect example of it done correctly. That and the A7 have the right idea: high mounted and all the way across. It's a small thing but it looks great.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Amoore100 08/13/2015 at 20:37

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Previous gen Escalade did it well as did the previous gen CTS which utilized it as a spoiler.

Amoore100 > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul 08/13/2015 at 20:43

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I don’t recall that instance...got any video/literary footage?

Amoore100 > Van Man, rocks the Man Van 08/13/2015 at 20:53

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Tesla’s got the same idea...

DoYouEvenShift > Amoore100 08/13/2015 at 21:13

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Milky > Amoore100 08/13/2015 at 21:16

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Cayman and Viper take top spots imo. Cayman’s because it must mean legally the 3rd brake light only needs to be above the bottom of the others.

And the Viper’s because …. obvious.

Amoore100 > Milky 08/13/2015 at 21:21

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Yep, great skirting of the rules on Porsche’s part, and great design decision on the Viper team’s part...

punkgoose17 > Amoore100 08/13/2015 at 23:06

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I honestly like both examples you gave.

Amoore100 > punkgoose17 08/14/2015 at 01:46

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I didn’t say they were bad; in fact, I was highlighting their idiosyncrasies in a good way...although maybe that’s what you meant...

Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders > Amoore100 08/14/2015 at 05:09

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It was on a Jaguar XK I think. Basically they put it in the spoiler and that made the front lose grip/feel/responsiveness at higher speeds. Might have been BS though.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Amoore100 08/14/2015 at 09:41

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unique - Chevy / Holden Cruze sedan in shape of Chev logo.

Amoore100 > Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders 08/14/2015 at 11:42

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Well that’s a spoiler, not a CHMSL, so who knows...

Amoore100 > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/14/2015 at 11:43

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Really? That’s cool. Got a picture?

Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders > Amoore100 08/14/2015 at 13:35

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Well I think the problem was that they only put the spoiler on the car so they would have somewhere to put the brake light. They couldn’t put it in the trunk because it wouldn’t have been high enough.

boxrocket > Amoore100 08/15/2015 at 00:04

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Bonus: when braking, the McLaren's goes upward because of the airbrake, further indicating the vehicle is slowing.

Amoore100 > boxrocket 08/15/2015 at 00:48

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Priceless, that McLaren genius in action...

pip bip - choose Corrour > Amoore100 08/15/2015 at 01:52

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all sedans have chev logo shaped CHMSL (my10-14/15)