I was at the San Jose Auto Show yesterday, and one thing I looked at in
all the cars was the cup holder designs, and how they accompany
different size cups.

I had along a Contigo Extreme insulated mug for testing
("http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=bxgy_cc_img_b_13160581/602-0242754-9761410?asin=B000FE9OP8"),
since any car I buy will have to be able to accompany a mug with this
diameter base. My current 4Runner will work with it well, while my
wife's older Camry (1996) has cup holders that are too small.

Almost all new cars have larger cup holders than previous generations,
there were only a few vehicles with tiny cup holders.

Different designs

Single size: You have to buy a cup that will fit properly and snugly.
This may actually be the best design, least likely to ever break, though
the single size cup holders are too large for holding a soda can or a
smaller bottle of water securely. You could insert a foam insulator for
use with smaller diameter containers.

Laddered: a small circle at the bottom, so the cup stops when it's at
the smallest circle that the base will fit in. This is fairly unstable
since you don't get much side support at any of the levels, though you
could add some foam to make it more secure.

Rubber flaps: A large diameter cup holder with some flimsy rubber flaps
that are intended to hold the smaller cups in place. These don't work
well as the flaps are too flimsy to do much of anything. Once they fall
off, you could add some foam.

Swing arm: This type was in a Dodge RAM truck. It was big diameter cup
holder with a strong plastic arm that swings over to match the cup
diameter. Did not appear flimsy. A simple, straight-forward design, but
you need to manually adjust the size. I liked this truck, which was a
crew cab that seated six. When was the last time you saw a vehicle that
seated three people in the front seat?

Plastic flip: This was a spring loaded plastic flap that flips up or
down to fit different cup diameters. It was very flimsy, and one of the
two was already broken on the 2007 Camry that was on the show floor. The
Camry may be a great car, but the engineers clearly missed the class on
cup-holder design.

Three spring loaded fingers: This was a good adjustable type. Three
solid plastic fingers with springs behind them push against the base of
the cup. These held the cup pretty securely, and appeared as if they
wouldn't break easily. No manual adjustment was necessary. It took a
little bit of a push to seat the cup into the cup holder, and a good
pull to remove it. This type requires a larger console, since the spring
-loaded fingers need to retract into the console. Only issue might be
that eventually the springs will fatigue.

Three foam fingers: These fingers were vinyl covered foam. The cup
compresses these fingers as you slide it in. They worked fine, but they
won't last, the vinyl will peel off after moderate use and exposure to
the elements. The advantage to the manufacturer is that these fingers
don't have to retract so a smaller console can be used.

I didn't see any of the super-flimsy slide-out or pop-up cup-holders
that tend to break very quickly. The only broken cup-holder I saw was in
the 2007 Camry.

Research shows that cup-holder design, while not a primary selection
factor in a vehicle, often is a secondary and deciding factor in
narrowing down the final choice of vehicle.

"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:45ad13e1$0$69041$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...

<snipped>
>
> Research shows that cup-holder design, while not a primary selection
> factor in a vehicle, often is a secondary and deciding factor in narrowing
> down the final choice of vehicle.

Car buyers' deciding factors must have changed drastically with the advent
of the cup holder. Up until now, the top selection factors (in no
particular order) have been brand, safety, fuel economy, reliability, style,
performance, and price.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On GM's new Volt, a plug in electric car due in 10 years, small circular
motors regulate a camera aperture type design to custom fit the hole for
virtually any size cup. Tiny sensors feel the pressure as you pull on the
cup and instantly open the aperture which cannot be damaged since it is
fully expanded and out of the way when no cup is in place.

"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:eT9rh.11697$w91.1489@newsread1.news.pas.earth link.net...
> On GM's new Volt, a plug in electric car due in 10 years, small circular
> motors regulate a camera aperture type design to custom fit the hole for
> virtually any size cup. Tiny sensors feel the pressure as you pull on the
> cup and instantly open the aperture which cannot be damaged since it is
> fully expanded and out of the way when no cup is in place.
The car won't make an appearance for 10 years ...but they've already figured
out how to gadget up the cup holders???? Why does this sound SO much like
General Motors?

"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:eT9rh.11697$w91.1489@newsread1.news.pas.earth link.net...
> On GM's new Volt, a plug in electric car due in 10 years, small circular
> motors regulate a camera aperture type design to custom fit the hole for
> virtually any size cup. Tiny sensors feel the pressure as you pull on the
> cup and instantly open the aperture which cannot be damaged since it is
> fully expanded and out of the way when no cup is in place.
>

Except you haven't quite got a grip on the cup, so it falls straight through
the hole soaking you with coffee.

In article <eT9rh.11697$w91.1489@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink .net>,
"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote:

> On GM's new Volt, a plug in electric car due in 10 years, small circular
> motors regulate a camera aperture type design to custom fit the hole for
> virtually any size cup. Tiny sensors feel the pressure as you pull on the
> cup and instantly open the aperture which cannot be damaged since it is
> fully expanded and out of the way when no cup is in place.

Verrrrrry innovative.

Multi-posting is frowned upon and I try to catch myself when I reply.
--

Ray O wrote:

> Car buyers' deciding factors must have changed drastically with the advent
> of the cup holder. Up until now, the top selection factors (in no
> particular order) have been brand, safety, fuel economy, reliability, style,
> performance, and price.

Judging from my neighborhood, the first criteria is to eliminate every
make other than Honda, Toyota, Acura, and Lexus, and then choose between
those models based on style, performance, and price. The brands with
poor long term dependability aren't even in the equation. You see the
odd Volvo, Subaru, BMW, or Mercedes, but these are rare. Sometimes the
Koreans, Taiwanese, and Chinese that won't buy Japanese cars, and end up
with a U.S. brand, or a Hyundai. In my area, people tend to keep their
cars for a long time, there are a tremendous number of third generation
Camrys (1992-96), and fifth (1994-97) generation Accords.

It's once you narrow things down, say between an Accord and a Camry, an
Odyssey or a Sienna, a Civic and a Corolla, a Pilot and a Highlander,
etc., that the other factors come into play.

"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:45ad13e1$0$69041$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
>I was at the San Jose Auto Show yesterday, and one thing I looked at in all
>the cars was the cup holder designs, and how they accompany different size
>cups.
>
> I had along a Contigo Extreme insulated mug for testing
> ("http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=bxgy_cc_img_b_13160581/602-0242754-9761410?asin=B000FE9OP8"),
> since any car I buy will have to be able to accompany a mug with this
> diameter base. My current 4Runner will work with it well, while my wife's
> older Camry (1996) has cup holders that are too small.
>
> Almost all new cars have larger cup holders than previous generations,
> there were only a few vehicles with tiny cup holders.
>
> Different designs
>
> Single size: You have to buy a cup that will fit properly and snugly. This
> may actually be the best design, least likely to ever break, though the
> single size cup holders are too large for holding a soda can or a smaller
> bottle of water securely. You could insert a foam insulator for use with
> smaller diameter containers.
>
> Laddered: a small circle at the bottom, so the cup stops when it's at the
> smallest circle that the base will fit in. This is fairly unstable since
> you don't get much side support at any of the levels, though you could add
> some foam to make it more secure.
>
> Rubber flaps: A large diameter cup holder with some flimsy rubber flaps
> that are intended to hold the smaller cups in place. These don't work well
> as the flaps are too flimsy to do much of anything. Once they fall off,
> you could add some foam.
>
> Swing arm: This type was in a Dodge RAM truck. It was big diameter cup
> holder with a strong plastic arm that swings over to match the cup
> diameter. Did not appear flimsy. A simple, straight-forward design, but
> you need to manually adjust the size. I liked this truck, which was a crew
> cab that seated six. When was the last time you saw a vehicle that seated
> three people in the front seat?
>
> Plastic flip: This was a spring loaded plastic flap that flips up or down
> to fit different cup diameters. It was very flimsy, and one of the two was
> already broken on the 2007 Camry that was on the show floor. The Camry may
> be a great car, but the engineers clearly missed the class on cup-holder
> design.
>
> Three spring loaded fingers: This was a good adjustable type. Three solid
> plastic fingers with springs behind them push against the base of the cup.
> These held the cup pretty securely, and appeared as if they wouldn't break
> easily. No manual adjustment was necessary. It took a little bit of a push
> to seat the cup into the cup holder, and a good pull to remove it. This
> type requires a larger console, since the spring -loaded fingers need to
> retract into the console. Only issue might be that eventually the springs
> will fatigue.
>
> Three foam fingers: These fingers were vinyl covered foam. The cup
> compresses these fingers as you slide it in. They worked fine, but they
> won't last, the vinyl will peel off after moderate use and exposure to the
> elements. The advantage to the manufacturer is that these fingers don't
> have to retract so a smaller console can be used.
>
> I didn't see any of the super-flimsy slide-out or pop-up cup-holders that
> tend to break very quickly. The only broken cup-holder I saw was in the
> 2007 Camry.
>
> Research shows that cup-holder design, while not a primary selection
> factor in a vehicle, often is a secondary and deciding factor in narrowing
> down the final choice of vehicle.

Beats the hell out of my old Dodge Shadow - an inverted pyramid with flat
bottom. WTF?!? On the plus side, drinks can only spill at up to 45
degrees, and once you're backed out of the driveway, there's not enough
left.

Art wrote:
> On GM's new Volt, a plug in electric car due in 10 years, small circular
> motors regulate a camera aperture type design to custom fit the hole for
> virtually any size cup. Tiny sensors feel the pressure as you pull on the
> cup and instantly open the aperture which cannot be damaged since it is
> fully expanded and out of the way when no cup is in place.

Yes, the new digital cup-holders are coming. I think the Volt will have
heated cup holders as well.

OT, I saw the Saturn Aura at the car show. Someone had mentioned that
you have to remove the bumper to change the headlight bulbs, and it
appears to be true, as you cannot reach the bulbs from the top. Scratch
the Aura from my list.

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:40:58 GMT, "Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote:

>On GM's new Volt, a plug in electric car due in 10 years, small circular
>motors regulate a camera aperture type design to custom fit the hole for
>virtually any size cup. Tiny sensors feel the pressure as you pull on the
>cup and instantly open the aperture which cannot be damaged since it is
>fully expanded and out of the way when no cup is in place.
sensors like the ones used as the send unit for oil pressure guages?
>
>