Cars with old fashioned gutters

50Twuncle

Are there still any cars made with rainwater gutters ?
They appear to have died out 20+ years ago - unless anyone knows different ?
My 1997 Astra may have had them - but every car since has lacked them
It can't be purely down to aerodynamics can it ?

Tiexen

50Twuncle wrote: »

Are there still any cars made with rainwater gutters ?
They appear to have died out 20+ years ago - unless anyone knows different ?
My 1997 Astra may have had them - but every car since has lacked them
It can't be purely down to aerodynamics can it ?

"Drip rails or rain gutters used to be de rigueur on all automobiles," said Matt Anderson, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. "They started to disappear in the mid-'80s. It was a concession to styling and fuel economy and reducing wind noise," Anderson said, "but you do get snow on the seat and rain falling on your head."


The change made cars more attractive and aerodynamic, said Peter Davis, vehicle design chief for consultant Tata Technologies. The rails on the roof disrupted air flow and altered the car's profile.


Getting rid of the rails improved fuel efficiency and reduced wind noise.

iolanthe07

Gutters were useful for attaching roof racks to, back in the day.

AdrianC

iolanthe07 wrote: »

Gutters were useful for attaching roof racks to, back in the day.

There are still ways to attach roofracks. They're just a bit less obvious and a bit less universal than the old gutters.

Sometimes you need to remove a bung or move a cover over a section of external plastic trim, sometimes you need to peel back the door seal a bit - but I doubt there's many cars you can't get a roofrack foot kit for.

It's the same deal as flush-fit bonded glass versus the old gasket-mount. The benefits are real, so everybody has gone that way. Yes, cosmetic benefits are there, but they're outweighed by functional ones.

jimbo6977

lada 4x4 (formerly niva) is still in production and definitely has gutters.

as to uk-marketed vehicles maybe the jeep wrangler or the dfsk loadhoppa van, but i don't know for sure.

jimbo6977

also from russia the uaz hunter 4x4 and uaz buchanka van are still in production and both have gutters.

facade

My new suzuki Jimny has gutters, and very good they are too. I can open the door with water on the roof and it doesn't cascade onto the drivers seat like a waterfall as the car leans over.

AdrianC

facade wrote: »

My new suzuki Jimny has gutters

Well, there we go. The case for the prosecution rests, m'lud.

A car that's designed to be deliberately retro, with zero nods to aerodynamics or efficiency. 100bhp to nudge 90mph, with <36mpg official and damn near 180g/km CO2...

daveyjp

AdrianC wrote: »

Well, there we go. The case for the prosecution rests, m'lud.

A car that's designed to be deliberately retro, with zero nods to aerodynamics or efficiency. 100bhp to nudge 90mph, with <36mpg official and damn near 180g/km CO2...

And full UK 2019 allocation sold in weeks.

Brilliant for what they are designed to do. A friend had an old model. He had to buy new because finding a 2-3 year old one was impossible.

He sold his at 4 years old and the phone never stopped ringing. It cost him £2,000 in depreciation.

AdrianC

Oh, don't get me wrong - I quite like it, and I admire Suzuki for actually building it. (Although I rather suspect there's going to be a lot of disappointment among some of the customer base when they realise that it's just another rolling computer under the skin...)

But, then, I own a series Landy, amongst other crimes against fossil fuel conservation.

seatbeltnoob

Not sure what the purpose of a 2 door 4x4 is. Usually when you go offroading you usually have people and things with you. But it looks good.

Rain water dispersion is really sleek and clever without gutters. Rubber seal on the door jamb and door makes water run down the edge of the door and onto the door sill . The door sill is angle down so water runs off it.

Wanting rain gutters is a bit like wanting manual wing mirror adjusts. Its nice and noatalgic but the newer way of doing it is so much better.