Hey Guys,
I'm currently in a mechanical engineering design class at my university and needed to come up with a product that solves a problem, and since our cars have such "great" cup holders, my group came up with the idea to create a new cup holder.

The G35 cup holders are poorly designed because
1. They are square (WHAT KIND OF DRINKS HAVE A SQUARE BASE?)
2. Get in the way of shifting.

Our product solves these problems by having a shorter base that connects to the cup holder then extends out to anywhere within 8 inches of the original cup holder. It solves the problem above by:

1. Having an adjustable swivel cup holder so it can hold anything from a Redbull to a Big Gulp securely.
2. Relocates the cup holder away from the forearm so it's not in the way of shifting.

We made this in a few weeks so KEEP THAT IN MIND with your constructive/negative criticism. Also, the product would obviously not be in clear acrylic and would look more aesthetic with our cars. You're welcome to ask any sort of questions as well and for once I actually enjoyed doing work for one of my classes HAH!

 

interesting, but it seems like that would still get in the way of shifting. But honestly as long as you put the can in the holder towards the rear its really not a problem.

 

Yeah. That looks like it would get in the way and now it's in your passenger's lap. I personally never have (or not enough to care anyway) passengers so I'd be okay with it but others who actually use their car may not like it.

To improve, I would either move the base of the unit to the rear postion cup holder OR lower the swivel base such that it doesn't stick up as high. At it's current height, it doesn't solve the problem. It just makes it not as bad.

 

Thanks for the quick input guys!

One problem with putting a can in the rear cup holder is that it still doesn't hold it as well. But I do agree that it gets in the way so we're fixing that problem to try and make it a lot shorter.

You can place the arm any sort of direction so it can be in between the drivers knees and the center console too in the case that you have a passenger. Yeah we are definitely lowering the swivel base, this is just our first prototype so we have something to show our prof that we are doing work

 

that doesnt seem very , uhmmm stable, and i wouldnt want any kind of drink over my leather seats.

 

That's pretty cool then. I thought this was like a finished product. I still dig it.