Feature Spotlight: So, What Is A Platform?
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In our daily coverage of General Motors news, rumors, and reviews, we tend to often mention such words as “platform” and “architecture”. But it wasn’t until a letter asking us about what a platform is, that we realized that some may not be as familiar with the subject as they’d like to be. So, what is a platform?
Simply put, a platform is a set of fix hard points to which a vehicle is assembled. It’s a series of concrete dimensions in space. These dimensions are often what define a vehicle’s design, behavior and driving characteristics such as handling.
As such, platform sharing, in and of itself, does not necessarily imply parts sharing, as vehicles utilizing the same platform can use completely different parts. However, in most cases, sharing a platform is performed in hopes of cutting costs in engineering another platform or developing and procuring another set of parts, so part sharing is often part-and-parcel of platform sharing.
That said, new parts can be engineered to match the hard points of an existing platform. In such a scenario, the only thing being “handed down” is the set of dimensions where the new parts will be attached.
Some platforms are engineered to be modular — meaning their dimensions, and thus the points in space, can be easily changed. This is the case with GM’s global Epsilon II platform, for instance, which supports short-, medium, and extra-long-wheelbase setups in the Regal/Insignia, LaCrosse, and XTS, respectively.
Feel free to share whatever knowledge of automotive architectures you may have in the comments below.
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Platform can share chasis with wide varieties of Body style.
I’d put that another way: a platform can support a variety of body styles and accommodate a variety of chassis configurations.
Alex,
I know you’ve tried to explain it to me before but for some frustrating reason, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this.
Does a platform resemble a chassis? Another words, the structural framework to the vehicle to where the body is attached?
Or is it what we use to call “J” cars (letter designators), for the type of cars that were being build?
If these aren’t right… maybe you could show a picture of what a platform is so I can visually see what you’re talking about.
Thanks!
-Tom
Tom — a platform isn’t necessarily a physical “thing” — so it doesn’t have to be a framework. Like I wrote, it’s a series of dimensions and “points” in space that all serve a particular purpose.
Here’s a photo of a unibody platform in a more completed (closer to built) form, so it’s not exactly a platform in the purest sense:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Unibody-Platform.jpg
The chassis will then be bolted on to that.
Basically, today’s new word for what we once called a “chassis”; a ladder-frame like structure with no structural load bearing bodies bolted to it. Today, a platform is analogous to today’s unibody cell of which everything hangs or bolts onto; from body panels, to carpeting, to subframes.
Platforms can have varriants of which support a wide range of different body styles, ride heights, widths, and wheelbases.
well said!
Perfect! 😀
Sorry, guess I’m ‘old school’
-Tom
Because platforms no longer indicate a fixed set of hard points, we in the industry prefer to refer to them as “architectures”, as opposed to chassis or platforms.
The Epsilon II Architecture supports all those configurations – makes more sense in the context of what they do.
Your message to a novice (like me) is still not understandable. I still don’t know the actual difference between say a “beta” platform and a “delta” platform (or all the other ones). Isn’t there a simple way to explain this?
Right here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GM_platforms
Look at the current platform list. Delta, Gamma, Zeta etc; They’re just platform names to tell them apart. Those platforms themselves were engineered for specific segments in the auto industry, so when we say the Epsilon platform, we’re refering to GM’s mid-size car platform and ALL the cars it underpins.
Back when the Saturn Vue first came out, GM decided to name all their future platform after Greek letter. This contrasts to the older “letter platforms” that gm had since ancient times; the Y-body and W-body remain today amidst all the newer Greek platforms.
I’ll try to explain it for you. I’ll be using GM as a primary example, because I have the most expertise with them.
In the old days, a platform was analogous to a skeleton – in the sense of a singular skeleton. If you were to strip down a “J” body car (Sunfire, Cavalier, Ion) for example, you would find the exact same mechanicals beneath every one of those cars. Without the different body work, every car was revealed for what it was – a “J” body car – sharing the same frame, engine, supports, suspension, etc. They were a different face on the same car.
This gave rise to the criticism of GM that they engaged in “rebadging” – because these different cars didn’t share any different engineering – they simply had differing body work, though GM was far from the only company to engage in this process.
These days, however, architectures are more analogous to the /human/ skeleton.
Imagine a vehicle skeleton that wasn’t simply a chassis with different body panels on it, but one that performed more like the human equivalent. It would be designed with different “bones” that could stretch and bend to accommodate a wide range of different forms. This is more like the architectures in use today.
Today’s architectures, like the “Delta II” for example, are designed to have the ability to stretch and bend to accommodate a wide range of types of vehicles. May people are surprised to discover that the LaCrosse, Regal, XTS, and 2013 Malibu all share the same architecture, despite being visually completely different – not to mention differently sized!
Also called Flex Platforms, these foundations can be changed to support a WIDE variety of different engines, transmissions, suspensions, interiors and exteriors – to the extent that the same architecture can be used for both the Insignia OPC (which handles like a BMW), and the LaCrosse eAssist, which handles like an old man’s car (no offense).
Modern car companies, like GM, Toyota and Ford, are able to create a vast array of differing vehicles for differing segments, while pulling on a relatively small (only 6 for Toyota!) number of these advanced architectures.
So the next time someone tells you that the XTS is a rebadged LaCrosse, or the Venza is just a tall Camry, you can simply think to yourself, “this guy has no idea what he’s talking about”.
I keep trying to compare this to what I learned back in the late 1970’s to 1980’s with the “K” cars (Chrysler), or the “J” cars (GM), as an example.
Now “they” are using the Greek Alphabet with “Alpha” “Beta” “Gamma”, etc.
Is this different from the “K” and “J” car letters?
Guess I need an analogy when you try to explain what a Platform is compared to how the car companies used letter designators back in the ’70’s and ’80’s.
Maybe if you could give me a timeline on what changed between now and then (??), it might help me wrap my head on what changed.
Really, apart from the new stuctures, they are just names for platforms.
I mean GM could come out with a brand new platform tommorow and call it the 123best-car-ever platform….but it wouldn’t fit with their existing nomeculture.
It’s just a way of organizing and catergorizing platforms.
Ok, I saw the link and that makes sense. It IS just a different name of the old “alpha” designators of the ’70’s and 80’s.
However, I’m puzzled about the Gamma II platform. Wikipedia says Gamma II is used in both the Spark and in the Sonic, yet those are two different size cars, right?
How could the same platform that fits a Spark, fit a Sonic?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Gamma_platform#Gamma_II
Easy. One is a short wheel base varration of the platfrom (the Spark), and the other is the long wheel base varration (the Sonic).
2 birds with one stone; and billions of R&D dollars saved by using one platform at different lenghts to meet the needs of 2 different segments.
See my post above 🙂