I don't get it. I know Honda/Acura designs by committee, but their grille issue is just getting out of control. I thought the TLX's mini-beak was just fine, but now they're putting this stupid grin on everything:



I mean seriously, look at this spy shot of the new TLX:

 

Well these are transitional cars in the matter of design. Consider this like 4GS that brought spindle to the game but it wasn't a spindle really. Same thing here, triangle is here to stay but brand new models will feature more sculpted and extruded beaks together with the triangle grill at the center of the fascia. Kind of hard to explain.

 

Doesn't look that bad to me. Kinda like a Buick which is reserved. I wonder what the RX looks like next to these pics?

 

Different strokes; I think those grills look very sharp. When that MDX commercial came out that prominently showed the grill I was like "WHOA, nice update!"

 

Can't say they didn't try LOL

 

For the record, I created this thread to identify everyone who has poor taste. (joking of course). Styling preference being completely subjective is a given.

This is a good point.

 

IMO its ugly, not as bad as the "beak" when it first came out around 2008/2009 though. Something about the grill size and size of the emblem, it isn't proportional to the rest of the car. Also with that shape, you could take out the Acura emblem and put in the superman S and it would look right at home lol.

Something else I've noticed Honda doing lately that I can't stand is using that cheap black plastic crap all over their cars. Its that sort of weird, non-gloss flat black plastic egg crate that is impossible to keep clean and fades out after a few years. The new Acura grill, the lower portion of the front bumper of that SUV, the new Civic especially, all of them have that cheap black plastic crap sprinkled all over them to add stylistic "flair". It ends up looking cheap, like when GM thought it would be a good idea to put that plastic crap all over the Avalanche and Aztek.

 

The refreshed grille is horrible, it looked better before. Acura should concentrate its efforts more on improving their interiors, which barely look and feel like an upgrade from your run-of-the-mill Honda. The Japanese, as whole, have traditionally been very poor with styling. They rarely ever get a car right. Sure, the recent Lexus' are eye catching and IMO the best looking crop of Lexus' to date, but they are still a bit over-styled and won't age well. Infiniti can't ever get a car right besides their G/Q series.

Why not just keep the beak but black it out?

 

I have had 3 MDXs and swore I would not get a fourth (great vehicles, just wanted something different), but after seeing the 17 MDX I am rethinking. I like the "diamond pentagon grill", among other changes (captains chairs in second row, remote start, upgraded interior (real wood this time), and 20k less than other comparably equipped vehicles I like).

As an aside, I really wanted to like the RX, but after having two RX loaners when I took my wife's ES300h for service, I am not as impressed as I thought I would be. Looked at all the usual suspects, and have narrowed down to the new 2017 Land Rover Discovery out this summer, and the 2017 MDX.

 

I think the MDX front end is a nice update. Can't say the "beak" really bothered me much, though. It's the side profile of the MDX that I don't care for.

As for the spy shot of the new TLX, I don't mind the grill itself, but something about the integration with the headlights seems off. Like they are too high or too small. Something about them just doesn't look good to me.

 

Agreed about their interiors, they feel a class below

 

well everyone whined about the beak so they removed it....!! looks better than the horizontal spindle IMO.

 

agreed. i think the new rendition of the beak looks better than most applications of the lexus spindle.

 

I think BrownPride's pic of the TLX demonstrates a nice compromise. This just has too much visual heft (imo) so this new grille, along with the head lights, makes it the facelifted TLX look like a demented jack-o-lantern:



As with most things, I'm sure I'll get used to it but I know it'll never look pretty. I just feel like Acura could do better but they choose not to.

 

I like it, but it reminds me of home plate, and that brings up mixed feelings. Lousy hitter when I was a kid, but a pretty good fielder.