Automotive feng shui: applying the principles of an ancient practice may improve the safety of modern cars and drivers.

When considering ways to reduce risks for drivers, insurance brokers typically don't think of feng shui, but Aon Private Clients thought it could make a difference. So the company researched the ancient Chinese art of placement for an April 2006 market report.

"Assessing and reducing risk for our drivers is of utmost importance," said Alexandra Lewis, a spokeswoman for Aon Private Clients, which provides brokerage and risk-management consulting services for high-net-worth clients, who often own high-value, prestige or classic cars. The company wanted to find ways to make driving a safer and more pleasant experience, and deduced that a reduction in personal stress levels would lower the propensity for road rage, improve driver performance and generally make taking to the road a safer experience. "By considering the car as an environment that can affect mood, we wondered whether the principles of feng shui could be applied to cars," Lewis said. According to Aon's report, feng shui relates to any identifiable space within any environment and particularly to any space that is defined or seen as the proper possession of an individual or group.

Feng shui for cars hasn't hit the mainstream yet, so Aon turned to Raymond Catchpole, chairman of the Feng Shui Society, based in the United Kingdom. Catchpole had never come across the idea of feng shui for cars, but he believed that the environment provided by a car, similar to buildings, can directly affect a driver's inner energies and attitudes, which, in turn, can affect driver safety. He agreed to handle the research for the report, which looks at four vehicles: the Porsche Boxster, Volkswagen Passat, Nissan Micra and Lexus 4x4.Aon wanted to test cars that represented different social groups and lifestyles, from the girl about town in her Nissan Micra to the family with their Passat, Lewis said.

Catchpole examined the feng shui of each car according to some of the basic established principles and guidelines of the practice, including the following:

* Chi energy is essentially the overall "feel" of the car. Catchpole determined that the chi of the car is what drives consumers to choose a particular car in the first place.

* Yin &Yang are methods of describing the male and female characteristics of a car. Bold colors and metallics would be yin, while pastel shades and more subtle lines are likely to be yang.

* The Five Elements of feng shui include water, tree, fire, earth and metal. Water is the best element for driving--clear, thoughtful and far-sighted.

In addition, Catchpole evaluated the cars against the nine traditional cures of feng shui, which are Light, Sound, Life, Movement, Solidity, Electrical, Symbolic, Color and Transcendental.

In the report, Catchpole noted a number of ideas related to feng shui to help improve driving. He suggests clearing up clutter from the inside of the car, allowing chi to flow freely. According to the report, clutter can suck the life force from the driver. Executing proper maintenance, clearing the air of negative space and sprinkling sea salt on the floor to absorb negative energy are suggested methods of improving a car's feng shui. Drivers can incorporate the element of water into a car by tying a blue ribbon around the mirror or leaving a bottle of water inside.

Of the four cars researched, the Lexus 4x4 has the widest possible range of functions and driving accessibility, giving it the most ideal feng shui.