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Possibly the Coolest Car Ever Designed

Started by Josh M · 10 months ago

There’s not too many cars out there that just jump out and slap you upside the head with incredibly astounding design.
I recently came across the Lamborghini Reventon and I gasped (in a real manly sort of way with choking and spit) with awe at how freakin’ cool it ... Continue reading »

16 comments

  • Seems since 2003 car design has been moving towards more "edgy", hard lines rather than smooth, bubbly (ex. Cadillac, Titan, Raider, Maxima, etc). Wondering when the trend will end up going back to smooth, bubbly and the current designs will be considered "so yesterday"
  • Too True and I don't mind it one bit. Like the Mustang, it's finally starting to look tough again. The honda prelude was the first I remember going toward this in 97 but it looked small and feeble. THere's definitely a right and wrong way to use those edges, just like the bubbly. The new Cadillacs are great looking, but IMO all the angles and proportions on this thing are just perfect.
  • Its perfect because it's the Italian's designing it and the german's doing the under the hood stuff - the perfect combination. I love the way that Lambo is using this stealth grey colour in their new concepts - makes the things look utterly evil..

    Bruce Wayne should own one of these.. I love the gallardo thought, that thing is usable, if a little bit lairy... I saw a guy nearly ground one on a speed ramp in a car park last year - guy was shi**ing bricks.

    They use ICEM for technical surfacing, god know what they use for engineering, I'm using Catia.

    I went on a tour of the Ferrari factory in Marranello years ago - opens your eyes as to how these things get built.. Its not as "high tech" as you might imagine. But that's another story..

    Imagine having on of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lamborghini_...) coming up in your rear view mirror.. Like Jay Z says - you "got two choices y'all pull over the car or bounce on the double put the pedal to the floor"
  • you can check out the TopGear feature of the Reventon right here at YouTube.

    Wait till you see the Cockpit.
  • Was this lamborghini completely designed with SW????

    I just can't believe it...
  • Hi Mohamed. nope not with SolidWorks, but with ICEM if you read Al's comment above. However, they are owned by Dassault who also owns SolidWorks.
  • Thanks for the clarification, Josh.

    I had a question in mind, I'm not so great with SolidWorks, but can this be done using it?
    I know the Reventon can be designed using programs like Rhinoceros... but can SolidWorks do so ??
  • I imagine you could make a good go at it. There's definitely going to be some advanced surfacing elements that makes ICEM a better choice. They're not the same kind of modeling programs. While SolidWorks surfacing has gotten better, I'd still rather create something like this using a free-form surface modeler. Just seems much easier to get the right proportions.
  • Technically you could do it any surface modeling system - what a tool like ICEM Surf does is bring the surface specialist a whole host of tools to get it EXACTLY right. so that shadow and horizon lines are right, so the shut lines are right.

    ICEM's used pretty much up to first fillet and flange, then something else (I'm guessing Catia, maybe Unigraphics at a push) is used to develop onto those surfaces to engineer the Body in White.. Powertrain is probably done with Pro/E..

    Christ knows what they actually style these things with - probably Alias - maybe even the old way - pens, paper, clay..
  • Thanks Al, but what's "engineering in white", excuse me but English is my second language...
  • the automotive world uses different phrases for different processes - you don't design and manufuacture, it works like this.

    First stage is Styling - this is where the aesthetic form of the vehicle is defined - using a range of tools like alias autostudio, some ICEM, althought its rare in styling. Once you have your design approved and frozen, you then move on to:

    Technical Surfacing: this sees the styling concept taken up a notch, every surface that appears on that vehicle (inside and out) is created as a high quality surface to surface skin of the vehicle. The term First Fillet and Flange is used a lot (although not exclusively) used to describe where you stop with the Tech Surfacing workflow. Where body panels end or interact with others, you create the fillet and the flange that are used for the joint or edge. This gives the designer the ability to have exact control over the appearance, in terms of shut lines, panel gaps etc. This is usually done with a tool like Autostudio or ICEM Surf - there are also specialised tools for analysing the gap and flish etc etc (blatant plug but this stuff rocks (http://www.mcadonline.com/index.php?option=com_...)

    Once that's done, you then move onto Body in White and Engineering. Body In White is the end result of taking those Technical Surfaces and creating the body panels and the class B surfaces behind them that turn it from a surface into a manufacturable part. Engineering is adding all the other stuff, interior, mechatronics powertrain, drivetrain, harnessing etc etc etc

    WIth all this in mind, its worth remembering that if anyone ever claims that a car was "designed" in their software, chances are, its horse shit..

    SolidWorks made a big splash about Koenigsegg using their tools to "design the CCR" - truth is, they used SolidWorks to do the engineering and analysis , the Tech Surfacing was done in ICEM Surf - the thing is an incredible looking car, that's nothing to do with SolidWorks - its enabling of its performance on the other, is.

    (http://www.solidworks.com/pages/successes/views...).
  • In Arabic, there's a proverb that says "This who taught me a letter, I'm his servant for ever"...

    Well, it's not going that far :D , but Shukran = Thanks = Merci = Danke
  • Indeed, you read the press release and automatically come away thinking the entire car was done in SolidWorks. I did. No doubt, you could go through the same steps Al mentions and push solidworks to the limit with the surfacing. (furniture is tough enough, i can't imagine a car.) But still, shouldn't stop you from trying. Maybe you'll be the one with the PR that is factual with the "designed in SolidWorks" statement. ;)
  • well, when I finish it, I'll let you know... :d
  • nah GTbyCitroën is WAY tighter
  • You may be right about that. :) Very cool car

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