Up until recently, most car bodies extended significantly past both the front and rear wheels. However, in recent years the trend seems to be to eliminate as much over-hang as possible. I was curious as to what is the reasoning behind this new trend. Is it ease of parking? Is it styling?

If it is for styling purposes, then I do not like it. I'm not saying massive over-hangs are a good thing, but some amount of over-hang can add a nice touch to the car's styling. Case in point: the C5. The C5 has just the right amount of over-hang. However, the C6 looks as if it got it's front end and especially the back end cut off by a giant chainsaw. It looks odd to me. And a lot of new cars seem to be following suit.

 

......about 1984.

 

yeah, its the latest style, just like humongous headlights, taller cars , and boxy styling is coming back too can't forget the ricer clear tailights, humongous wings, and ridicuolus body kits.


I know there is one distinct advantage to having no overhang, you won't scrape it like the Camaro's. And if its a Jeep or 4x4, less overhangs or no overhangs are much better because they won't get hung up going up and down steep hills.

 

Style wise, is a lot cleaner. I didnt understand the overhang issue either till I started really looking at cars with short overhangs, ie european cars. I like it much better as far as styling, and pushing the wheels to the corners has always been part of enhancing styling. It gives it a much more agressive stance as well as improve interior room. Just look at the room found in the Maxx and G6 over the cars they replace, or even compare the space of the Maxx to the Malibu sedan.
The C6's short overhangs makes it a much more agressive looking car over the C5.
Another reason is pushing the wheels to the corners is help with handling. Keeping weight more twards the center of the car helps with ballance.

 

I like some overhang, without it cars look weird. Third Gens had the right amount and C5's were pretty good too, I just wanna see the C6's in person.

 

Short overhangs help the ride because the wheels are further away from the people. When a wheel hits a bump, the amount of motion transferred the passenger compartment is reduced. In turn this can allow the manufacturers to make the suspension a bit stiffer to aid handling, yet keep the same ride characteristics. Long wheelbases tend to make a car more reluctant to change directions quickly which in a way hurts handling, but it also makes it more forgiving and less likely to spin out.

Overhangs are shrinking partially because of the move away from FWD. FWD cars have their engines ahead of the front axle which necessitates the long front overhangs. RWD has no similar constraint.

I'm with Al in that I like the short front overhangs of a BMW far more than the 3-foot overhang of my Camaro.

 

Cause of a pesky thing called the laws of physics.

Ever sat in the back seat of a long bus - waaay back past the read axle - when the bus turns a 90 degree bend? You feel the accelleration as the bus swings you (and all the weight behind the axle) around. All this weight has to be hung onto! If you have a wheel at each corner, all of the mass is located between the wheels, so it all tracks within the car.

 

Enzo has a HUUUUGE over hang

Short overhangs also help the car from bottoming out

 

Remember Chrysler's "Cab Forward" ad campaign. Much of it has to do with creating more usable space between the four wheels. Push them out to the corners, so that the wheel space is eaten up there, as opposed to eating up space near/in the passenger area. Also, handling issue. Longer wheelbase cars tend to feel more stable, and handle better for a given weight.
There was a time when the overhangs seemed natural, but they don't anymore. I used to love the mid-80s Monte Carlo SS, but these days, the overhangs on them looks completely ridiculous to me.

 

1. Don't tell me you never dragged that flexible plastic "air dam" under the nose of your F-body? Heck, there are plenty of gas stations that I don't go to when I'm driving my Z28.

2. Big rear overhangs, like on a pre-downsizing Cadillac or a full-sized wagon, created the risk of "tail-dragging." It was a big enough problem that GM attempted a radical hydraulic suspension on 1959 Cadillacs.

1. Big overhangs - remember the Pinto-based Mustang II - were a styling trick to get people to believe they were getting a bigger car than they were actually getting. Cheap tricks of this sort are slowing disappearing from American products.

2. GM wanted to make the C6 Corvette smaller so they could notch up European sales. However, the C5 failed in Europe because they priced it around $70k!!!

3. If you don't like the C6, blame Tom Peters, who also designed the Pontiac Aztec.

4. It looks as if all of the post-Chris Bangle BMW are sporting somewhat longer overhangs. For instance, the front overhang of the 7-series is longer than that of the 300C, and rear overhang of the 7-series is quite a bit longer than the Chrysler's. BMW started the trend, and they appear to be backing away from it.

 

I still think short overhangs is a good idea.

but taken the extreme, sometimes yields odd results for some cars.. cause overhangs seem to help smooth out the proportions a bit.. Like an easy way to lengthen the hood and bring the nose down to a nice slope.. or give the rear deck extra space and size.

I still love how the C5 looks, overhangs or not... because of that, the C6's still looks a little odd in my book at certain angles, but its a step in the right direction.

 

I think short overhangs are really nice.
Styling wise it makes the car look more light on its feet IMHO, look at the 350Z for example. Whenever i see that thing, just looking at it it looks like it could handle incredibly well... and it wants to (to personify it a little).
Also you wont scratch nearly as much, if ever, if you have low over hangs. In Cali i scratched all the time coming out of parking lots simply because there are such deep dips for drainage. ssssccccrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttcccccchhhhh aint a pleasant sound. I always cringe when that happens. meanwhile ill see minis not even worry about it. theyll go over big speed bumps at 20 when i have to go at max 10 and that is pushing it.
As stated before more room for passenger compartment if the car would be the same length with or without overhangs.

 

I for one like the overhangs of the 4th...maybe they could have been a little less, but I think it looks kind of cool when the facia is above the curb (albeit a low curb) when your parked.

 

I think short overhangs look so much better. Why do I need all that extra weight hanging out there doing nothing? I think the C6 looks a million times better than the C5 due to it's tighter, more taught shape. Besides, short overhangs are one of the reasons that the MINI looks as cool as it does.

BTW, BMW uses a short front overhang and longer rear overhang to help achieve a 50/50 weight distribution.

 

You pretty much nailed it.

As for me, overhangs went out of style when I drove my Camaro off the dealers lot, and it scrapped badly. The 1st time I ever had a car do that.