VOL. 9, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2014 ISSN 1819-6608 ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences © 2006-2014 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. www.arpnjournals.com 2009 LEARNING BY FAILURES: THE "ASTURA II" CONCEPT CAR DESIGN PROCESS Luca Piancastelli 1 , Leonardo Frizziero 1 and Giampiero Donnici 2 1 Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento, Bologna, Italy 2 Innovation Center of Design Srl, via Laura Bassi, Bologna, Italy E-Mail: leonardo.frizziero@unibo.it ABSTRACT Accessibility has always been a problem in sport car. Very low car floors, small doors, almost horizontal seating position with upward cramped legs are the negation of comfort. In marketing clips long legged girls show their knickers for the joy of the potential buyer. In the old times there were rumors that the four seats, automatic transmission Ferrari was made for the Drake himself, who was "obliged" to own and drive a Ferrari. Yet the only place where people with impaired legs are identical to all the others is the car. However the sports cars are usually denied to people with problems of motion. The Ercolani's idea was to overcome these problems by several concurrent solutions. The idea proved to be nice, while the design approach from sketch to 3D-CAD proved to be a complete failure. The final project fulfils many of the requirements, but with a completely different style. This project proved the substantial unfeasibility of the outside-in approach in the automotive field. Keywords: car design, ASTURA II. INTRODUCTION Vaguely related to the fashionable old Lancia Astura, this project came from Luca Ercolani's idea [1] to make a sport car for people with motory handicap. These people should enjoy a small sporty environmental friendly car that levels all customers. The driver's door slides to increase the side room in the parking place. An easy access even for persons using a wheelchair is obtained by several devices. The car has an active suspension system to increase the height of the car to the ideal value. The driver seats can be electrically moved outside the car. Then this seat rotates to offer the best position to the impaired person. Finally a handle can be opened to help use arms in the transfer from the seat to the wheelchair. The Ercolani brilliant idea turned into a sketch and a 3D CAD concept. Unfortunately, this outside-in approach proved to be technically unfeasible, a complete redesign took place in a long and painful process. Figure-1. Inside out design process. Ergonomics and room for the components proved to be impossible even into a scaled up version of the Ercolani's design. A long design process had to be carried out to design all the new internal components in the most convenient way. At the end a complete new car was designed around these new components with a very different design concept. This design was validated for crash, dynamic behavior, aerodynamic efficiency and stability through CAE simulations [2]. Inside-out design concept: the M60 main battle tank (Figure-1) The M60 Patton first saw trials in 1957. It was designed to counter the existing reports of a new Russian tank armed with a 115mm gun. This fact provoked the urgent need to upgrade the then obsolete 90mm gun in the M-48 Patton, due to the threat posed by newer Soviet tanks starting to equip the Warsaw Pact Forces. At first the option to refit the M-48 with the new 105 mm gun was tested. However the restricted room inside the M48 tank proved the task impossible. The interior layout, based on the original design of the M26/46/47/M48, was the starting point for the new M60 tank. Since the US Army felt also the necessity to increase operational range and mobility also the powertrain was redesigned along with the track- wheel system. The crew compartment and the powertrain; compartments were then put together along with the new fuel tanks and the ammunitions storage. Steel cast armors for turret and hull where then tailored on the predefined inside. In particular, the hull was a one piece steel casting divided into two compartments, the crew in the front, and the engine at the rear. It was criticized for its high profile and limited cross-country mobility, but proved very reliable and underwent many updates over its service life. This was due to the interior layout that provided ample room for updates and improvements, extending the vehicle service life for over four decades. It proved to be a very