mmarshall

Today's automakers seem to be jumping on more and more bandwagons, some of them, IMO, bordering on senseless. Not only are there increasing tendencies today with stiff suspensions, low-profile tires, elimination of true spare tires, door-panels that lack protective side-mouldings, manual prop-rods for hoods on even mid-priced vehicles, and low humpback-whale rooflines that eat up rear-seat headroom and make for difficult entry/exit, but the latest fad from the automakers seems to be garish and/or oversized grilles. We've seen them from Audi, Mitsubishi, Lincoln, Acura, Mazda, and others, but now Buick, Lexus, and Ford seem to be joining in this fad as well. Fortunately, the new Ford Fusion grille, though large (and apparantly Aston-derived) isn't quite as large or garish as some of the others.

ISFPOWER

iTrader: (20)

because it looks good. lexus did a good thing with the new grilles, for you doubters, just wait and see. car brands style cars for the future, so it might take the people with boring styled personalities a bit longer to like them.

doublehh03

Audi makes it looks good. The others...

LexFather

Uhhhh... This is simply a reverse trend from the past. These grills are smaller than grills of past cars.

With so many copy cats brands have to distinguish themselves. While I might not completely agree with Lexus direction I am happy people can shut the hell up about Lexus being bland and uninspiring. Now they complain about it being to bold.

Spindle grill I welcome you and let's see them copy that so it will be obvious who is copying who.

I like most brand grills, BMW, audi, Lexus, Benz for example.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Sport:This is mainly influenced by Forums and enthusiasts. Your typical consumer either doesn't care about cars or does not voice their opinion and hence the aforementioned get the last word and automakers listen.

Money Talks:Blame cost cutting and sporty designs for more sleek and "sexy" cars than say your old Outback which utilized what it had well.

The way I see it, all these things aren't going away so better buckle up, option your ride with BSM and a backup camera, put on some Dr. Scholls, and enjoy the ride lol

edgeucated

iTrader: (4)

I have only like the oversize grills on Audi and BMW so far. When mercedes and ford started to increase their grills a few years ago, I never liked it. I still don't today.

I don't like the direction lexus is heading, not because its bold, but rather because I think its ugly. I'm glad lexus is deciding to be more sporty, but its not well implemented. IMO lexus spindle grill is like acura's beak, its bold but in a bad way.

Big Andy

The oversize grilles are to destract you from the design poverty of the rest of the vehicle.

Gojirra99

I love the Spindle grill on most Lexus, not the others, Aston grills are nice, but I do agree they make it slightly too large on the one-77 ......

mmarshall

I agree there's nothing necessarily wrong with the spindle-shape, but why make it so darn big? Like on Audis and Mitsubishis, it seems to dominate the whole front end of the car. ]

mmarshall

I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but, since you mention it, there are some vehicles out there where you just might havea point.

mmarshall

Well, yes, they may be smaller than the grilles from the Great Age of Chrome in the late 50s....that was a unique, head-over-heels time of enormous excess that we will probably never see the likes of again.

But I'm talking about normal periods...........the late 50s were anything but normal if you look at the general history of the automobile itself.



I try to be fair-minded about it, though, If and when I criticise a pattern in the auto industry I don't care for (or don't agree with), I don't just hit up on one automaker.....nor do I try and just serve as a fanboy for one or two makes. I try to be as objective as I can.


Like I told Andrew, I don't see anything wrong with the spindle-shape per-se, but why make them so big? The one on the new LS, especially, just completely dominates the entire front-end.


But no Acura parrot-beaks, right?

(just for the record, I generally don't like the parrot-beaks either)

LexBob2

The styling trend towards big prominent grills is a lot like the trend of big prominent tail fins in the 50's. Looking back some of them were really outrageous and not necessarily in a good way. Same with some of the grills today.

I remember when Audi came out with their new grill it was derided as the "horse collar" grill and now in namy ways it is the standard for stylish prominent grills.

It's looking like prominent LED DRL's are now the new styling statement and everyone is trying to be different than the other guys.

In the auto biz and other consumer products, it never stops.

92 SC400

I wonder if Nelly can take any credit for this phenomenon? Seems like he was a man ahead of his time...! haha

Fizzboy7

Ha! If that's the case, then the latest Lincoln Navigator was on to something...

geko29

I think it's largely due to pedestrian safety requirements. I certainly don't think manufacturers, who have strict fuel economy standards, WANT to increase the front surface area (and therefore air resistance) of their vehicles. But the new requirements mean manufacturers have to design their cars with a high hood that provides cushioning for a body hitting it, as well as a larger front surface less likely to split a human in two.