I have a 2011 Fit. Why is the cupholder under the front dash shaped such a strange way? Instead of just 2 circles, they look like a "p" and "q". What's the purpose of that shape?

http://file.kelleybluebookimages.com...t:429,r:2,s:29

 

mug handles?

 

concur......

 

Honda thought of everything

 

hmm, interesting. I guess that never occurred to me because travel mugs are designed to fit into standard cupholders (skinny base, handle higher up).

 

I wonder about the shape of the ones in the dash - I like the convenience of being able to put my drink in the car without leaning in and spilling it all over, but I can only put a narrow cup in there - don't know why they made squarish cupholders when most cups are round.

 

Exactly my question. That's what I thought this thread was going to be about! Any ideas?

 

Juice boxes?
Possibly for structural strength- square leaves more plastic around it- as long as four sides hold a cup or can in place making it round doesn't offer any greater size advantage.

 

Round is stronger than rectangle or square.In this case it appears to be because the part is easier and lrss costly to mold. Round takes considerably less thickness though if the thickness is thicker enough that will matter. Just looked at mine they are pretty round and that will allow some cups to deform sothey'll fit. But the major reason I still say is due the mold forming process.

 

Strength? Who the heck cares about strength? It's not like you're gonna jam it with anything that could come close damaging it in either case.... are you?

All you need to hold ANYTHING is THREE points. But a triangle would be absolutely bizarre as a cup holder shape.

Neither the square not the circle is easier than the other... it's molded plastic. Liquefied plastic is injected/sucked into a mold and allowed a moment to cool, then popped out into a bin. And a circle would be less costly (in terms of materials), because the circumference of a circle at a given diameter is less than the perimeter of a square with the same length per side. In this case, it's the same with a cylinder vs a box.

Maybe they can't put a circular cup holder with a larger diameter because there isn't enough room.

A slight advantage of a square is... you can snugly hold a phone or other object that has the width of the square... or even slightly larger objects (put em in diagonally).

Ultimately... it's just a design choice. Someone's decision.

 

My brain is square today when it should be round. Round would leave more plastic (filling in the corners). But I think that square looks better and holds more non-round things (like, as previously mentioned, cellphones).

 

I take it back, a triangle wouldn't be bizarre. Any of the three corners would allow the cup handle to fit in!

But, depending on the design, it can leave wasted space and would generally VIEWED as bizarre by most drivers.

 

OK!!! this thread is driving me nuts!!!! in JAPAN most plastic bottles are SQUARE! coffee, water, juice, tea...etc..square bottles make more sense for packing purposes, less wasted space, more space for product.

honda fit cup holders are designed to hold both square and round containers.

I used to live in japan...duh

 

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http://kimonobox.com/post/en/3755/calpis-water/

 

haha nice!

 

I put my phone into it. Its a nice place to put it when I have my GPS going.

 

I use it for my insulated coffee cup which is round without a handle and in the handle area have the mp3 player. It sits in there real nice and is easy to pop out and turn on / off. The cord is short about 4 or 5 inches. I use the passenger cup holder for my sunglasses

 

i actually have a bunch of quarters and my garage door opener... except I never park in the garage. *shrugs*

 

Use it for my phone too, assumed that is why its square.

 

I use the cup holder space for my sun glasses, mini thermos flask