Why do Americans want their cars to look like a whale shark?

Do companies really listen to what Americans want? Or do they just produce something and know people will buy it?

^you confuse what you, person who refuses to buy a new car, with the general public.

It's amazing how many GRM'rs can't grasp that. Yet continue to complain about it.

You also confuse whale shark with angler fish.

Look no further than the Focus.

I recently saw an Audi--white with that all-black grille. To me, it looked like Snoopy. (I'm not saying that's totally bad, either.)

Appleseed wrote: You also confuse whale shark with angler fish. Look no further than the Focus.

needs a hood ornament..

Better?

At least these look better than the Lincoln's current sperm whale look

carguy123 wrote: It's not Americans, it's the pedestrian rules in Europe that caused the bulbous high noses which led to the tall, and very ugly, front grills.

Are those rules to minimize injury to pedestrians from the car or to reduce damage to the car by pedestrians? Cause if its the later, a bull bar would be more effective!

logdog wrote:

carguy123 wrote: It's not Americans, it's the pedestrian rules in Europe that caused the bulbous high noses which led to the tall, and very ugly, front grills.

Are those rules to minimize injury to pedestrians from the car or to reduce damage to the car by pedestrians? Cause if its the later, a bull bar would be more effective!

pedestrian safety, supposedly. I once say Clarkson whining about it on TG, but cannot find the clip. This will have to do

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/09/how-pedestrians-create-boring-cars/ As The Wall Street Journal‘s Dan Neil explains, pedestrians aren’t just annoying, they’re also responsible (in part) for some of the most astonishingly dull designs in all of autodom… like the 2011 VW Jetta. Trends towards rising beltlines, strangely high hoods, reduced visibility, and general carved-from-cheese-ishness in automotive design can all be tied to European pedestrian crash test standards. With a little help from unimaginative designers, global product strategies and consumer apathy, of course.

Controversial front ends, specifically around the grille are nothing new.

JoeyM wrote:

logdog wrote:

carguy123 wrote: It's not Americans, it's the pedestrian rules in Europe that caused the bulbous high noses which led to the tall, and very ugly, front grills.

Are those rules to minimize injury to pedestrians from the car or to reduce damage to the car by pedestrians? Cause if its the later, a bull bar would be more effective!

pedestrian safety, supposedly. I once say Clarkson whining about it on TG, but cannot find the clip. This will have to do

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/09/how-pedestrians-create-boring-cars/ As The Wall Street Journal‘s Dan Neil explains, pedestrians aren’t just annoying, they’re also responsible (in part) for some of the most astonishingly dull designs in all of autodom… like the 2011 VW Jetta. Trends towards rising beltlines, strangely high hoods, reduced visibility, and general carved-from-cheese-ishness in automotive design can all be tied to European pedestrian crash test standards. With a little help from unimaginative designers, global product strategies and consumer apathy, of course.

maybe it's time to tell people that they should stay out of the way of vehicles when they are pedestrians if they don't want to get hurt... but that would be bad, because it's not cool to tell people to take personal responsibility any more.

IIRC there has to be at least 2" of space between the hood and the engine to provide some "give" in case a pedestrian is hit.

The front end also must present more of a flat front to spread the impact a little more evenly and stop those annoying leg breaks from getting hit by a car.

That's probably not exactly right and I'm sure there's more to it than just that.

novaderrik wrote:

JoeyM wrote:

logdog wrote:

carguy123 wrote: It's not Americans, it's the pedestrian rules in Europe that caused the bulbous high noses which led to the tall, and very ugly, front grills.

Are those rules to minimize injury to pedestrians from the car or to reduce damage to the car by pedestrians? Cause if its the later, a bull bar would be more effective!

pedestrian safety, supposedly. I once say Clarkson whining about it on TG, but cannot find the clip. This will have to do

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/09/how-pedestrians-create-boring-cars/ As The Wall Street Journal‘s Dan Neil explains, pedestrians aren’t just annoying, they’re also responsible (in part) for some of the most astonishingly dull designs in all of autodom… like the 2011 VW Jetta. Trends towards rising beltlines, strangely high hoods, reduced visibility, and general carved-from-cheese-ishness in automotive design can all be tied to European pedestrian crash test standards. With a little help from unimaginative designers, global product strategies and consumer apathy, of course.

maybe it's time to tell people that they should stay out of the way of vehicles when they are pedestrians if they don't want to get hurt... but that would be bad, because it's not cool to tell people to take personal responsibility any more.

What's sad is that it used to be europe that had the less restrictive automotive laws and there fore the awesome domestic market cars we didn't get. Now their nannyness is ruining it for us all.

lol

Don't lie at all in 5-10 years you all will be lining up to buy such ugly used cars as the Veloster turbo, Focus ST, Jag XF and other offensive new cars..

nocones wrote: Don't lie at all in 5-10 years you all will be lining up to buy such ugly used cars as the Veloster turbo, Focus ST, Jag XF and other offensive new cars..

The Jag XF is ugly? I berkeleying love that car.

93EXCivic wrote:

nocones wrote: Don't lie at all in 5-10 years you all will be lining up to buy such ugly used cars as the Veloster turbo, Focus ST, Jag XF and other offensive new cars..

The Jag XF is ugly? I berkeleying love that car.

i personally think none of those are ugly, lol.

I don't like it, but like others have said, it's nothing new

They all have the Grill people are bitching about

isn't the high belt line there as much for incorporating all the air bags everyone/gumment/ins co. want as it is for any other reason ?

oldtin wrote: an older german design - slit windows - extra tracks kinda look like a grill

Don't show people that!! It is exactly what the majority of the driving public wants. They wouldn't have to worry about looking to see the other traffic on the road and would feel safe enough to pull any stupid maneuver they wanted.

It's not necessarily that the whole car is ugly, just the nose...Especially on the Veloster! The XF at least has a reasonably proportional grill size, which contributes to it's far superior overall appearance.

These grills will be a very dated styling characteristic. Considering it doesn't look that great on most cars now, I can only imagine how they'll look to us in 15 or 20 years. I don't imagine it will be something that ages gracefully.

nocones wrote: Don't lie at all in 5-10 years you all will be lining up to buy such ugly used cars as the Veloster turbo, Focus ST, Jag XF and other offensive new cars..

Juke. The one thing that SHOULD have been on your list is the juke.

Is it wrong that this is the type of grill that gets me excited? Some day i will be dumb enough to buy one, and will just park it on the lawn to look at

Not wrong at all.