5 ms·

Hofmeister Kink

49 points by smacktoward 7y ago

RickJWagner 7y ago
Along the same lines as "Bangle Butt" on later BMWs. I suppose you know you've made it as a designer when there is a phrase with your name in it.
mywittyname 7y ago
Now you people will be seeing this everywhere. I've noticed that Infiniti goes out of their way to not have a Hofmeister Kink on their "BMW 3 Series killer" the G35/Q50. The Q50 has an especially pronounced Not Hofmeister Kink.
- akavi 7y ago
  I'm confused. Looking at pictures of the Infiniti q50 [0], it definitely has the kink, as I understand it. In fact, an even more "assertive" version, to my eyes. [0]:https://www.infinitiusa.com/content/dam/Infiniti/US/vehicles/Q50/2019/overview/2019-infiniti-q50-sedan-forward-emergency-braking.jpg.ximg.l_6_h.smart.jpg https://www.infinitiusa.com/content/dam/Infiniti/US/vehicles...
  - mywittyname 7y ago
    The Q50 has an inverted Hofmeister Kink: instead of having the window sill flow upwards like a wave, it has an abrupt angle that decays flat, like a shark fin.
J-dawg 7y ago
I'm not exactly sure why, but I absolutely love this type of post. Actually I do know why, it's because I get the warm feeling of knowing I get to be a smartass and point out Hofmeister Kinks to other people all over the place. And for anyone else thinking "that would make an awesome band name"... it seems a duo from Adelaide with 66 likes on Facebook have beaten you to it.
- IgorPartola 7y ago
  Several years ago there was an Ask HN post inquiring what it is called when you want that fuzzy feeling of knowing more random mostly useless trivia than others. Some obscure knowledge was left there. If you like random car stuff: apparently the fuel gauge on most cars points to the side of the car with the fuel fill, when it is at half full of course. And on cars with the muffler on only one side it is I believe the opposite side from the filler opening. Edit: there was also a thread many many years ago where it was agreed to not post links to just a random Wikipedia article and instead to something that provided a bit more context as to why the thing is interesting. But I guess a couple of years after that it was abandoned.
  - scatters 7y ago
    Knowing how to find out which side the fuel cap is is very much not mostly useless if you hire regularly; it saves considerable time and effort knowing you can just look at the gauge as you pull into the fuel station.
    - setr 7y ago
      All cars I can remember seen have a little arrow next to the gas symbol that much more explicitly tell you which side the cap is on Which makes this redundant, and therefore mostly useless :-)
      - iNate2000 7y ago
        Redundant != Useless
    - taneq 7y ago
      It's actually useful even if you just don't drive much and only fill up every month or two. My brain has filler-cap-side down as "readily available information, do not store" so I don't bother remembering it. Gotta save those neurons for something I can't just look up at a glance when I need it!
namdnay 7y ago
> the Hofmeister kink is said by BMW to suggest that all BMW models have rear-wheel drive And yet the 2 series active tourer also has it :)
- cs02rm0 7y ago
  I think that meaning was probably pretty tenuous when it was introduced and more or less gone today. I drive a FWD Ford Focus ST, which also has one.
kwoff 7y ago
One of those quirky HN posts. :) I didn't understand what was meant at first. It's the part at the bottom of the back window that changes angle toward the front. The link in the article to C-pillar was also interesting: "As an example, rescue teams employ pillar nomenclature to facilitate communication when cutting wrecked vehicles, as when using the jaws of life." (wondering if anyone can confirm)

49 points by smacktoward 7y ago

Along the same lines as "Bangle Butt" on later BMWs. I suppose you know you've made it as a designer when there is a phrase with your name in it.

mywittyname 7y ago

Now you people will be seeing this everywhere. I've noticed that Infiniti goes out of their way to not have a Hofmeister Kink on their "BMW 3 Series killer" the G35/Q50. The Q50 has an especially pronounced Not Hofmeister Kink.

akavi 7y ago
I'm confused. Looking at pictures of the Infiniti q50 [0], it definitely has the kink, as I understand it. In fact, an even more "assertive" version, to my eyes. [0]:https://www.infinitiusa.com/content/dam/Infiniti/US/vehicles/Q50/2019/overview/2019-infiniti-q50-sedan-forward-emergency-braking.jpg.ximg.l_6_h.smart.jpg https://www.infinitiusa.com/content/dam/Infiniti/US/vehicles...
- mywittyname 7y ago
  The Q50 has an inverted Hofmeister Kink: instead of having the window sill flow upwards like a wave, it has an abrupt angle that decays flat, like a shark fin.

J-dawg 7y ago

I'm not exactly sure why, but I absolutely love this type of post. Actually I do know why, it's because I get the warm feeling of knowing I get to be a smartass and point out Hofmeister Kinks to other people all over the place. And for anyone else thinking "that would make an awesome band name"... it seems a duo from Adelaide with 66 likes on Facebook have beaten you to it.

IgorPartola 7y ago
Several years ago there was an Ask HN post inquiring what it is called when you want that fuzzy feeling of knowing more random mostly useless trivia than others. Some obscure knowledge was left there. If you like random car stuff: apparently the fuel gauge on most cars points to the side of the car with the fuel fill, when it is at half full of course. And on cars with the muffler on only one side it is I believe the opposite side from the filler opening. Edit: there was also a thread many many years ago where it was agreed to not post links to just a random Wikipedia article and instead to something that provided a bit more context as to why the thing is interesting. But I guess a couple of years after that it was abandoned.
- scatters 7y ago
  Knowing how to find out which side the fuel cap is is very much not mostly useless if you hire regularly; it saves considerable time and effort knowing you can just look at the gauge as you pull into the fuel station.
  - setr 7y ago
    All cars I can remember seen have a little arrow next to the gas symbol that much more explicitly tell you which side the cap is on Which makes this redundant, and therefore mostly useless :-)
    - iNate2000 7y ago
      Redundant != Useless
  - taneq 7y ago
    It's actually useful even if you just don't drive much and only fill up every month or two. My brain has filler-cap-side down as "readily available information, do not store" so I don't bother remembering it. Gotta save those neurons for something I can't just look up at a glance when I need it!

namdnay 7y ago

> the Hofmeister kink is said by BMW to suggest that all BMW models have rear-wheel drive And yet the 2 series active tourer also has it :)

cs02rm0 7y ago
I think that meaning was probably pretty tenuous when it was introduced and more or less gone today. I drive a FWD Ford Focus ST, which also has one.

kwoff 7y ago

One of those quirky HN posts. :) I didn't understand what was meant at first. It's the part at the bottom of the back window that changes angle toward the front. The link in the article to C-pillar was also interesting: "As an example, rescue teams employ pillar nomenclature to facilitate communication when cutting wrecked vehicles, as when using the jaws of life." (wondering if anyone can confirm)