Auto Channel

1 | 2

Inside iosis X - Optical Impact

Ford's interior design team, led by Nikolaus Vidakovic, have created a dramatic and exciting interior for iosis X.

“We started with all of the positive elements from the original iosis project, and evolved these to deliver even more visual interest and drama that you might not expect from a crossover,” Vidakovic explained.

The interior is dominated by a new 'interlocking bridge' centre console structure inspired by modern helicopter cockpit design. The large console dives down from the instrument panel dividing the front and rear pairs of seats and dominating the interior before dramatically sweeping upwards at the rear and into the roof.

"Think of a Scorpion's tail!" added Vidakovic.

The rear section of this console has a practical side to it as well, as it provides a support and opening mechanism for the one-piece rear hatch in place of traditional hinges. It also provides a secure location for the spare wheel.

A central overhead panel contains personal lighting for the front and rear occupants plus ambient lighting and an entertainment screen for rear passengers. It also houses three passenger grab handles which would traditionally be located on the cant rails above the doors.

Twin glass roof panels flank the central overhead console, and these are complemented by a totally unique new feature – a solid glass floor beneath the drivers and passenger seats which offers a most unusual view of the terrain below.

“Because this is a rugged crossover rather than a four-door coupé, we needed to make different interior design decisions," Vidakovic said. "At the front, you have the usual functional elements you need to control a car, but when you go rearwards we introduce elements more appropriate to this type of vehicle such as lighting and storage features.”

The slim instrument panel is a further development from that in iosisand some elements of this theme will undoubtedly feature in future Ford products.

New technology has allowed the interiors team to locate hardware for the information, entertainment and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems remotely away from their controls. This has dramatically freed up space under the instrument panel, creating a floating centre console and offering a greater feeling of spaciousness. It also allowed the team to develop a range of practical storage facilities that customers could choose from, allowing them to tailor that area for their own needs.

A similar section in the rear console opens up the floor space for the back seat passengers.

The slim instrument panel flows through into the door lines, creating a dramatic cockpit feel for the front seat occupants. Facing the driver is a radical steering wheel developed from that used in the original iosis, featuring orange perspex sections and contrasting white 'piano' inserts.

The controls in iosis X employ soft touch screens and touch sensitive controls in the centre stack.

The main instruments present themselves in the form of a pair of orange illuminated transparent foil dials that create a deep 3-D effect, and are housed in individual goggle-like binnacles. Between them is a Ford HMI screen that allows easy driver control of navigation, advanced cruise control or other vehicle settings.

Although iosis X is not intended to be a mechanical prototype, it is fitted with an electronic sequential gear change control in the centre console. Its innovative design is similar to that found on many computer games consoles, and fits snugly into the palm of the hand. Surrounding the gear shifter is a series of soft touch buttons for dynamic controls, including suspension and traction settings.

Air vents, which are usually a dominating feature of any fascia, have been subtly disguised with fine mesh blending them into their surroundings.

“We’ve spent a lot of time developing this mesh over the years,” revealed Vidakovic. “It took a lot of work to get it right so that the mesh wouldn't vibrate or restrict air flow to the passengers.”

Orange mood lighting, created by light emitting diodes and light pipes, illuminates the interior. However, not much lighting is needed in a car that features not only frosted glass panels in the roof (to continue the twin silver stripes from the bonnet over the roof) but also a glass floor.

“We wanted to create the feeling that driver and passengers are connected to the outside world and can see their surroundings more clearly," Vidakovic said. "The glass floor is absolutely unique in a vehicle, like those that you get in boats which allow their passengers to look into the ocean. In this case, occupants will be able to see the elements beneath them as they travel.”

The glass floor also led the design team to develop a unique mounting system for the front seats with runners either side of the glass panels. The added benefit to this is that it gives the rear seat passengers more foot room beneath the front seats.

The seats themselves are highly complex and have been designed specifically with the rigours of cross country or light off-roading in mind, featuring more supportive padding in the upper back section and integrated seat belts.

“We’ve bought trapezoidal elements and themes into the interior to link with the exterior, whilst the interior sheet metal and piano white surfaces are also links with the bodywork to create a harmonious entity,” concluded Vidakovic.

Colour and Trim - Creating sophistication

“As our intention with iosis X is to stretch Ford's new design language further and introduce the next phase of execution and implementation, we wanted to echo this in the colour and material design strategy," explains Ruth Pauli, Chief Designer for Colour and Trim. "This means a new emphasis on quality and detailing, touch and surface design.”

As with the first iosis, Pauli and her team have taken extreme sports as the inspiration for the materials and effects seen in the iosis X's dramatic four-seater cabin.

“A friend of mine is very keen on extreme winter sports like heliskiing and ice climbing and after visiting a sports equipment fair in Munich we came away with a lot of inspiration as to how we were going to fashion the interior,” said Pauli.

Colours and textures in iosis X are very cool and fresh, contrasting the darker atmosphere of the original iosis. The similarity between the two comes in the athletic and sporty approach, with the emphasis on premium feel in iosis X, and realised in detail elements such as the seams, stitching and combination of materials.

For inspiration, Pauli and her team studied all the best quality ski equipment, including boots, helmets, body protection, goggles, gloves and the latest carbon skis as well as visual clips of personal music systems and fashion accessories. The result is crisp, fresh and young.

Traditional materials have their place too. Considerable use has been made of the finest European Nubuck and aniline leather available in Europe and the keen eyed will notice a subtle shift in tone of the blue used in the cabin.

"What we’ve selected here is a more subdued and sophisticated blue, which we then combine with very strong fluorescent accents, and orange highlights," explained Pauli. “This is a distinct change from Ford’s corporate blue, which is very bold and strong, very classic."

While most of the automotive world is using piano black for its interiors, Pauli's team has gone in the opposite direction using high gloss piano white on the centre console and in the steering wheel.

“We think white is a very strong theme from a product design standpoint and we have applied it to both the exterior and interior. We’ve given the white elements a sophisticated sportiness to show depth and quality of colour," Pauli explained.

"Inside, we have combined the white, high gloss piano finish with metal elements, contrasted with darker, premium leathers that really add a new level of sophistication to the materials story."

The result is a contrast between cold and warm textures that’s also enhanced by metallic elements in the interior to create tension in the material and colour combinations.

"We’re developing different textures and finishes to redefine a modern crossover interior," remarked Martin Smith.

A quartet of high end sports seats with integral seat belts provides the driver and passenger with high levels of comfort and support. All combine four different materials that were inspired by the technicality of skiing gear that Pauli and her team found so interesting.

The unique seats feature an aluminium skeletal structure and look as if they have been modelled from a human torso. They are clad in a combination of leathers and a complementary woven material specially created for this application with contrasting stitching. With its chain-link weave and coarse texture, its richness of detail gives it an almost 3-D appearance, whilst its coarse texture ensures it will provide plenty of grip for the occupants.

This theme is echoed in the inner door panels and across the instrument panel, where new technical materials and neoprenes are used as highlights or details. The major tactile areas of the doors and fascia are covered in leather to achieve a premium ambience to the interior.

The floating centre stack is a combination of piano white, translucent orange perspex to highlight new technology detailing and premium grade soft blue-grey hide.

By using piano white in the interior, there is a direct link to the car’s exterior both visually and emotionally.

As with the interior colours and details, it was snow and ice that inspired the exterior colour developed by Pauli and her team.

“If you look into tunnels of ice you see silvers and powdery whites and that’s reflected in iosis X exterior colours," Pauli notes. "This creates a technical, powder snow look and is enhanced by silver stripes contrasting with the cold blue flip of the paint."

“We believe that, for the first time, we have developed design elements that echo the free spirit of skiing and what’s associated with it," Pauli concludes. "Skiing can be a really emotional experience – the kind of experience we want people to enjoy when they enter the iosis X environment!"

1 | 2

More Articles:

Ford Kuga production start
Ford Kuga UK Pricing Announced
Geneva: 2008 Ford Kuga
2008 Ford Kuga to Show at Geneva
Ford Kuga Concept
Production Ford Kuga Spied
Ford Kuga UK Pricing Announced
Production Ford Kuga Spied
Ford Kuga Concept
Ford Kuga UK Pricing Announced
Geneva: 2008 Ford Kuga
Production Ford Kuga Spied
Ford Kuga Concept