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Why are “dead straight panels” not advantageous in manufacturing or functionality? Are curved panels easier to deal with?
by financypants 3y ago
Why are “dead straight panels” not advantageous in manufacturing or functionality? Are curved panels easier to deal with?
- mattlondon 3y agoGetting all of those dead straight lines to line up perfectly and not look awful is the challenge I think. The eye is quite good at spotting straight lines, so a tiny difference will be obvious immediately. On a more "normally" shaped car there are curves and sweeps and things that change radius and direction as they move down the car, and other straight things like window sills etc are broken up by door pillars etc) so it is harder for the eye to ntice when things are 2mm out front-to-back.
- Geisterde 3y agoAn allegedly leaked email from musk described it as important that the straight panels are ruthlessly dimensionally accurate because imperfections are easier to spot. Real? Who knows.
- csours 3y agoFlat metal panels are subject to oil-canning, among other problems. Any distortion may cause ripples to show up. It can also cause a vibration due to airflow sometimes. Making the panels out of thicker metal help both of these problems, but also increase weight. Using a curved panel gives you a little margin to move small problems to the top or bottom of the panel. A curve next to a curve doesn't give a strong visual cue for lateral offset, but a sharp angle next to a sharp angle does. This is also why a very slight orange peel texture in paint is not always a bad thing.