The comments on Dailytech hit on one point, i.e. why they don't like the new design.
That being that the original 4 intake design has four round pods, which are presumed to contain rotating turbines or some such. It is also pointed out that you can hear the turbines whine in the X-wing cockpit.
While I'm no Star Wars tech expert (if there is such a thing), I could think of a couple of reasons for turbine-style intakes. Collecting interstellar gas for fuel. Rotating armatures which generate power for the lasers and shields. I like the idea of a fusion of these two ideas, i.e. collecting and compressing interstellar hydrogen to augment the fuel supply, with the thrusters on the back 'spinning up' the generators and turbine vanes contained in the round 'intake' pods to channel said gas into the thrusters, while also powering up the weapons by rotating the dual purpose generator armatures/compression fans.
Well, in Abrams design, assuming the wings split in some fashion, well you can't really split an axial shaft into two shafts, at least not easily... which is what his intake design would imply.
Myself, if I were looking to design a new X-wing, I'd have angled the intakes, wings and other surfaces to reduce the radar cross section (stealth technology), while retaining the classix 'x' configuration of the design when the wings are swept open. Part of me would also want to stick on some angular tails (think Grumman YF-23) that fold down/stow flat when not needed, but deploy for atmospheric use (when the Wings are not deployed in the 'x' config). I'd also throw in some thrust vectoring nozzles just for fun. I'd also add a bit of a curve to the upper wing, to provide some aerodynamic lift. But that's mainly the fighter jet fanboy in me speaking...
McQuarrie's design looks a little better, as the intakes do not imply rotating turbines...
Looking at Vipre's image post, I could see the wings perhaps deploying using the engine housings as the pivot ponts for the wings, i.e. Wings 'x' out using the axial center of the engine intake pods as their 'pivot point', rather than splitting the engine pods into two half moons/crossing at the centerline of the fuselage. But that doesn't increase the distance between the four engine thrusters vertically. If you note, when a 'classic' X-Wing has its wings fully extended, the four engine exhaust thrusters are deployed in a square configuration, hence allowing you to vary thrust to any one or two engines to jink/yaw in any direction more or less equally. In a rectangular config, well up/down thrust variations aren't as effective in changing pitch as side to side thrust variations are at changing yaw, due to the engines being closer to the horizontal axis.
Whomever designed the original X-Wing put some thought into the design, so color me skeptical, as I don't think that JJ's new version took all of this into account. Until we see it' in operation' on the big or little screen, though, it's all speculation...
Topic: And so it begins... iconic X Wing changed by Abrams (Read 3747 times)