Narrow Rear Quarter Panel Window "Disease" ?

[Victor Roberts]

Does anyone know why the rear quarter panel windows on so
many wagons and SUV's are becoming so small?

This "disease" seems to have infected cars as diverse as the
Outback/Legacy, Toyota RAV4, Jeep Cherokee, and many others.
Is this driven only by a misguided (in my opinion) sense of
design, or is there some cost or other reason driving this
change. The small windows seem to reduce visibility and may
lead to more highway accidents during lane changing.

 

[mark jb]

Does anyone know why the rear quarter panel windows on so

many wagons and SUV's are becoming so small?

AFAIK, because there's more roof to hold up on the C-pillars.
Wagon vs sedan in an identical car has the same problem with the C pillars,
but when you try to streamline the whole package if not remove the
B-pillars, leaves a lot of weight to hold up. Looks nice and curvy from
outside most of the time, inside is fine unless you want to see behind you.


-mark

 

[Victor Roberts]

AFAIK, because there's more roof to hold up on the C-pillars.
Wagon vs sedan in an identical car has the same problem with the C pillars,
but when you try to streamline the whole package if not remove the
B-pillars, leaves a lot of weight to hold up. Looks nice and curvy from
outside most of the time, inside is fine unless you want to see behind you.

More roof than in past years???? Also, most of the size
reduction is in the height of the window, not the length.
The lower edge of the windows are now sloped up while the
upper edge is sloped down, leading to a rather short height
by the time you get to the rear of the car.