Shut Lines - Why is the Industry Doing This?

"Goggles Pizzano" (gogglespizzano) 08/01/2018 at 14:38 • Filed to: Bothered, Design

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Lately I’ve noticed a trend wherein car manufacturers refuse to do away with the leading edge shut lines of their hoods. In the past few years sweeping body lines have become very popular and the horizontal hood line in many cases all but ruins the design. Why does the Mazda 3 have 6" of body between the grille and the hood? Why not move the end of the hood to meet the top of the grille?

The Honda Accord is the car that started my brain to thinkin’ and has got to be the worst offender.

Is it the difficulty with alignment? I’d argue Mercedes has probably spent their fair share of time aligning hoods so the mini power bulges line up and in some cases, from some angles, the end result is still less than perfect.

Is it cost? Manufacturers would need to extend the lever used to release the hood 6 inches forward. I fail to see this being a huge cost. There would also be marginally more steel or aluminum in the design.

Yaris, really?

The Honda Fit manages.

The list of offenders is a very long one:

Is it to do with pedestrian safety? DB11 doesn’t care.

There are options.

Letters are being written.

jimz > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:41

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Is it to do with pedestrian safe ty?

yes.  that’s why basically everything in the sedan/coupe form factor has that same flat bullnose, low-set grille, headlamps pushed out to the corners, and the hood which droops from a high cowl down towards the nose.

Textured Soy Protein > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:42

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Pedestrian safety is the biggest reason.

The DB11 hood flips forward.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > jimz 08/01/2018 at 14:42

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SAD!

Goggles Pizzano > jimz 08/01/2018 at 14:44

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DB11 doesn’t care. Are there different laws for different segments?

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:46

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One reason to keep my e90 (pictured not my e90 but something prettier)  the hood meets up with the grills just as it should

Mercedes Streeter > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:46

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My guess would be weight, repair costs, and maybe anything that may reside under the bonnet . The car can survive a small love tap with a large vehicle or pole without needing a bonnet replacement on top of a bumper replacement. That and I’m sure that the vast majority of people who are buying these cars (typically much cheaper than that AM or the MB) aren’t going to care.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:47

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Likely mitigated by other factors. Much like the “air bag hood struts” that Volvo had for a while that popped the back of the hood up if you hit someone.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:47

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How does the hood opening a few inches further back increase pedestrian safety?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:48

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This has to do with bumper damage in the case of an accident - if they make the bumper run that far up, damage is restricted to the bumper in smaller wrecks. If the hood came down to the front edge, damage to the hood would also occur, which results in a bigger bill and potential totaling for cheaper cars.

The Hondas get around this by having a wonky long/complex bumper/grille that sticks out as far as other bumpers do beyond the hood, but without continuing into the grille.

dogisbadob > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:48

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I like it when the grille is part of the hood :o)

Goggles Pizzano > Mercedes Streeter 08/01/2018 at 14:48

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That is a great point!

Ash78, voting early and often > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:49

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I’ve bitched about this for a long time. I’m usually given the reason as aerodynamics, but now it looks like pedestrian safety is creeping in, too.

Ash78, voting early and often > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 08/01/2018 at 14:49

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I believe the idea is that the hood is less likely to immediately separate from the grille and become a giant blade or something. The pedestrian instead falls down onto the hood instead of being...um...bifurcated by it.

phenotyp > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:50

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Mostly it’s insurance and repair cost, I’d bet. If a quick bonk on the nose beats up a plastic piece, NBD. If it wrinkles the hood, that’s suddenly an expensive job.

Then combine that with the pedestrian-crash rules, with like 2" from bottom of hood to top of engine... it adds up quick.

The F10 and F30 were the first casualties that I noticed.

Goggles Pizzano > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 08/01/2018 at 14:50

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Initial impact with softer plastics vs. steel.

404 - User No Longer Available > Textured Soy Protein 08/01/2018 at 14:50

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You can have a front hinged hood AND a terrible cut line.

Sky doesn’t have this problem though... maybe that’s why people say the Sky looks better.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:51

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Maybe the whole hood is a composite, or something softer than steel 

Cash Rewards > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:52

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As soon as I started reading my brain shouted "the new Accord!" It's so noticable

Party-vi > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:52

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Picture your knees getting snapped out from under you - would you prefer they be hit by plastic or by metal?

Now picture you’re repairing a car after it kneecaps someone (let’s assume it’s a Mustang). Would you rather pay for a new front bumper, or a new bumper and hood?

Now picture (lots of pictures here) you’re designing a car. Would you rather pay for a little more plastic, or pay for more metal to paint and beefier hood hinges.

CompactLuxuryFan > Ash78, voting early and often 08/01/2018 at 14:52

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The real solution is to have the grille and hood be one and the same:

However, that leaves a huge part vulnerable to low speed impacts, creating the dreaded break line.

Goggles Pizzano > Party-vi 08/01/2018 at 14:54

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Many factors. It all adds up, I guess (unfortunately ) .

Ash78, voting early and often > CompactLuxuryFan 08/01/2018 at 14:55

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I do like the BMW/Merc approach here, but at the same time you’re making two expensive parts into a single part, which $ uck$ in an minor accident. But SOOO clean.

Goggles Pizzano > phenotyp 08/01/2018 at 14:56

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Miss Mercedes was the first to reply with repair costs. Something I’d not considered . Probably a large part of it.

Svend > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:57

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For me, Piglet has one of the best bonnet shut lines.

From the side, the shut blends into the crease.

The bonnet hinges forwards as the gas struts push the bonnet up.

From the front it follows along the top of the headlights and along the chrome of the grille.

The front profile is elegant and aggressive.

Party-vi > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:58

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It’s a bummer, and I for one will hate it until I am kneecapped by a Mustang.

phenotyp > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 14:58

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Probably the #1.

Goggles Pizzano > Svend 08/01/2018 at 14:59

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A clam shell with hidden cuts in the body lines. Wonderful .

Goggles Pizzano > Party-vi 08/01/2018 at 15:00

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I don’t walk.

Party-vi > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 15:01

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You don’t...walk? That’s the primary mode of bipedal transportation!

phenotyp > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 15:02

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BMW, under Bangle, was HATED for all the changes to style they did... but they did it all in advance of the rules they would soon have to adhere to. Say what you will about the 2000-2008 era BMW design, they figured out how to build things that looked lastingly-good (lookin at you, E60), and satisfied pedestrian-crash, insurance, airflow requirements for years to come.

Goggles Pizzano > Party-vi 08/01/2018 at 15:06

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Super lazy. Sidewalk parking. :-)x

Goggles Pizzano > phenotyp 08/01/2018 at 15:08

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Have you been looking back through my replies and posts? Biggest Bangle fan. : -)x

phenotyp > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 15:19

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Have you noticed that I owned 2 E60s, and have a degree in car design? :)

Goggles Pizzano > phenotyp 08/01/2018 at 15:26

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Ooo h, I’ve noticed...

phenotyp > Goggles Pizzano 08/01/2018 at 15:36

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We go back a long way.

Klaus Schmoll > phenotyp 08/01/2018 at 17:15

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My car told me to star your comment. I had to oblige.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Goggles Pizzano 06/16/2019 at 21:40

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VAG does it right.

Heck, even FCA got it right on our Pacifica.  And my old Dakota has it done right as well, except I’ve banged my head more times that I can count on the grill hanging down, but small price to pay for no goofy shut line across the nose.

Amoore100 > Goggles Pizzano 06/16/2019 at 21:42

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Funnily enough, (as is often the case) Volvo was one of the first with the V70 II. They went a step further, though, as the entire “nose-cone” is actually flexible and rubberized , presumably for pedestrian safety, and can be pushed in and out by approximately an inch or so.

Not only is it a safety curiosity , it also shifts my perceptions somewhat by imagining that the car truly ends at the hood, so to speak, and the entire bumper assembly is truly a “nosecone” similar to that on a jet or a Shinkansen :) Front of a Jag, rear of a Transit as Horbury himself called it!