Here’s The Story Of Armrest Engineering For GM’s 2013 Lambda Crossovers
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Designing, engineering, implementing, and testing mid-cycle upgrades to a an existing vehicle may seem like a simple and rudimentary task to those who don’t do it professionally. In face, the unofficial term “facelift” often comes to mind, implying that the changes are minor and insignificant. But that doesn’t mean that it’s an easy task for the men and women who are responsible for making an already great vehicle — such as the 2013 Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave — even better.
GM’s three Lambda-based full-size crossovers have received many an updates for respective their midcycle updates — but one of the minor improvements includes the vehicles’ armrests, which can accommodate as many as 16 elbow bones (when the vehicles are fully loaded with eight passengers). To ensure that the elbow rests are comfortable for the vehicles’ occupants, GM global human factors engineer Joan Hertely and her team spent numerous hours examining as well as testing vehicle dimensions and materials to achieve the highest level of comfort.
“The process begins with benchmarking,” said Hertely, who has 12 years of armrest engineering experience. “We look at what works, what doesn’t, and start compiling criteria for width, length, angle, height, adjustment options, comfort, reach and overall design. And those factors consider door handles, cupholders and switch locations.”
Lest you think all armrests are the same — they’re not. The driver’s armrest has more controls while the front center armrest — which needs to both slide and open to provide access to storage — must be level with the armrests on the two front doors. In addition, the four rear outboard armrests now feature cupholders that are situated in a way so as to avoid spills, while the armrests found on the optional captain’s chairs found in the second row move with the seatbacks. It’s these little things that drivers or owners may not always consider… but for Hertely and her team, it’s priority number one.
Following hundreds of hours of testing and analysis in a stationary prototype, the initial layout is decided upon, and road testing begins. Hertley and her team take countless drives in the Lambda crossovers, during which they pay particular attention to the way in which each armrest feels on the elbows and forearms. What’s more, the addition of the rear cupholders calls for testing comfort levels with the holders in use.
Couple the attention to ergonomic detail by GM’s human factors engineering team with the dedication to preventing and/or eliminating squeaks and rattles by GM’s Squeak and Rattle lab, and this is yet another reason that we love GM products. Perhaps GM isn’t unique in engineering vehicles this way, but The General sure as heck does it right.
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OK then, if there is all this emphasis on human factors, how could they bungle the Gamma II platform so badly? I am 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. Not exactly outside the realm of “normal” for an American male. I have sat in several Sonics, and I don’t find the fold down armrest even remotely comfortable. Men have broad shoulders. (Actually, mine are average.) The elbows want to extend outward a bit. When the armrest is attached on the seat, is narrow, and then becomes even more narrow as it extends out, well that is just awful. I have a friend who says the same thing.
There is no excuse for this. The car I drive right now is more narrow and has about the same space between the two front seats, yet it has a comfortable center armrest, and one that can be folded up and out of the way.
For years people who wanted a compact car had to put up with front seats that did not slide back far enough, and steering wheels that did not adjust. We finally have cars that can adjust for the 6-footer, so what does GM do? They take away the center armrest. Infuriating.
No doubt GM’s small cars lead the pack in terms of build quality. That is not in dispute. Well done in that regard.
Veranohatch: You can do all thehuman factors you want on cars with higher price points… for the budget cars the $$$ matter… I agree the sonic seats need some TLC…
Yaba. Agree. That is why I have no problem with going a la carte. I paid extra to have an armrest in my current car — a lot extra — a ridiculous amount extra given the amount of material involved. GM could make a huge profit on people like me. What has me a bit pissed off is that GM made it difficult to make this simple aftermarket upgrade on the only GM small cars that are not sedans. Nobody else did this within the segment.
VeranoHatch is GM really the only ones in the segment to avoid a “real” armrest in favor of a flimsy seat-attached one?
As far as I know, in the B and C class, yes. If someone knows of another in a current line up, please chime in.
This side-mounted approach has been common in mini-vans, and I even rode in an older Lexus CUV that had them (which was a lot like a minivan internally. We see it here for rear passengers. My Buick dealer hates them because in his experience, they break. They are probably not designed to support someone’s weight.
In my company ergonomics has received much more attention in recent years. This design (in cars that are not like vans) leaves me baffled. Has anyone seen one of these side-mounted armrests that is adjustable, like an office chair? I haven’t. And people are obviously not the same size. Taller people with longer arms need to be able to rest their elbow further from the body when the armrest is fixed at a distance for the “average” person. If the armrest isn’t wide and is too close, it’s not going to be comfortable. So in the case of GM’s Gamma II cars, I have to believe that there was a failure during the design review process. I’m interested in seeing how long it takes to fix this. That will be more telling than the initial misstep.