Why is Nissan so dedicated to making hideous cars?

We just cross shopped a lot of cars and ended with the 2017 Mazda CX-5. I think Mazda has the best looking, best driving cars on the market right now. Though the new Civic is really sharp looking too

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZKbFnlIOYG0SuzGl1

CyberEric said: *snip*

Nissan is still the worst. I think they are headed the way of Mitsubishi if they aren't careful. 

 

 

Nissan/Renault has bought an stake in Mitsubishi.  Coincidence?  I think not.

noddaz

Ya Nissan used to be my favorite car company, their cars fromt he 90s and early are nice and there are a lot of desirable models. What do they make now aside appliances that people want? Decrepit 370Z and the $100k+ GTR? 

It's nice to see that Toyota, Mazda, Honda and Subaru are still putting in an effort, there was a while there where they were all making absolute garbage as well. Toyota still churns out some hideous cars though. 

Renault really has ruined the company. There needs to be a separation and it needs to be under Japanese control again. 

IDK why people E36 M3 talk the Civic Type-R. Honda is trying, Nissan is not. The car was going for a STI type look and all the big supercar companies now have crazy angles on their cars and all that but they produced an actual good vehicle. You can say that for many companies. 

In reply to accordionfolder :

Yeah, that's one nice looking car. Mazda is the only one that gets it. 

Oh the Nissan hate.  Hey if it obviates the Honda/Toyota tax I'm good and loyal.  Consider yourselves lucky Renault didn't rebadge this thing.

I generally can't get excited about anything that conforms to the post-2000 regulations. To me design died in '99. 

The notable exceptions, the companies whose design language has been very complementary to the new regulations, have IMO been Cadillac and Mercedes. The "art and science" design of the CTS, especially the newest model, looks very well proportioned and tastefully restrained. Mercedes also killing it with their C class. 

I think we will look back on 2000-2010 as a malaise-era for design. There always seems to be a time lag between when new safety/crash regulations are introduced and the manufacturers develop their designs enough to be cohesive and good. Post 2012 designs are noticeably better than ones from the previous decade, including interiors and powertrain refinement. 

nutherjrfan said:

Oh the Nissan hate.  Hey if it obviates the Honda/Toyota tax I'm good and loyal.  Consider yourselves lucky Renault didn't rebadge this thing.

they couldn't.. it's a fiat

93gsxturbo said:

Schwing!

 

Puke!

that's nothing some paint on the front grill can't fix.

In reply to c0rbin9 :

dammit.  hasty google search.  off i go. 

mad_machine said:

nutherjrfan said:

Oh the Nissan hate.  Hey if it obviates the Honda/Toyota tax I'm good and loyal.  Consider yourselves lucky Renault didn't rebadge this thing.

they couldn't.. it's a fiat

This is the huckleberry I was looking for. 

Below.  Obviously not a beautiful car but can be had for well under $10k and whilst not a panty dropper it would certainly keep any young man looking respectable on any given day.  Now I like the looks because I'm a Nissan homeboy but it sure ain't ugly either.  And if I haven't stated it before any styling critiques that bring up grocery getters and minivans don't count.  Why?  My world that's why. 

nutherjrfan said: This is the huckleberry I was looking for. 

I like the 02-09 Megane hatch, especially in RS trim. The rest of the line up got hit with the ugly stick though.

93EXCivic said:

tomtomgt356 said:

They are trying to beat Lexus and Toyota for the "Ugliest Car of the Year" award...

Yeah Toyota did release that horrible C-HR.

 

Wow. It's like someone at Toyota saw a Juke and said, "Hmm... I think we can do worse..."

I like my cars extremely extreme

To me, Nissan styling lost its way a long time ago.  The first-gen SE-R was probably the last decent looking car they’ve made. The sedans are a weird combination of bland shapes and weird details, the SUVs are simply hideous, they ruined the Z a long time ago and have managed to compound the damage further, and their trucks are completely generic. Add mediocre performance (with the possible exception of Godzilla - its now being eclipsed by cars in its price range) and less than stellar reliability and I can find no reason to even consider them an option for any purchase. 

Which makes me a bit said because I loved my ‘70 510...

I like how they can't even get a basic box right.  The NV van is unrelentingly ugly from every angle.  The pic doesn't accurately convey the true depth of its ugliness.  It's a hideous affront to the senses.

In reply to nutherjrfan :

Slam it and stick some wheels on it, and id go for it. I like weird cars. 

As far as weird Nissan goes- just remember - they made the stanza tallwagon. That was well before the French took ovee. 

In reply to Mndsm :

They also made a Sentra diesel that I'm strangely drawn to for under $800.

mad_machine said:

93gsxturbo said:

Schwing!

 

Puke!

that's nothing some paint on the front grill can't fix.

Unfortunately, that's untrue.  Despite sharing an almost identical design language, the newer car cannot be saved, because the underlying proportions have all been berked up in the redesign:

• Proportion of greenhouse to shoulder line: the newer car is more slab-sided, and always will be.  The pinhead / bunker look is here to stay for a while.
   
• The grille, following a decade's trend, is overscaled and crowds the headlights now, dominating the front facade.  The lower openings are not terrible, but they are kind of arbitrarily shaped, undeveloped, and pasted on.  They don't hurt, but they don't really help, either.
   
• The headlights have been moved up, and made smaller / more squinty.  Now, instead of forming a cooperative relationship with the centerpiece and lower openings, they are upstaged and forced to compete.  In addition, the smaller size just overhemphasizes the high shoulder line and slab sides, highlighting a weak point in the design instead of mitigating it.
   
• The accent line through the door handles has been eliminated, further accentuating the ridiculously high shoulder line and acres of blank door panel below it.  This move also strands the headlights way out there above the car's chubby cheeks, by failing to pick up the implied line of the corner markers and run with it down the side of the car.

DrBoost wrote:

The Japanese are making some ugly cars right now. That's very unfortunate 

But when wasn't that the case?  You'd have to fo back to the Toyota 2000GT and the Datsun 240Z to get really good looking cars.  Nothing since has reached that level, IMHO.

In reply to wspohn :

The Miata RF and FD RX-7 refute your claim.

wspohn said:

DrBoost wrote:

The Japanese are making some ugly cars right now. That's very unfortunate 

But when wasn't that the case?  You'd have to fo back to the Toyota 2000GT and the Datsun 240Z to get really good looking cars.  Nothing since has reached that level, IMHO.

I thought the FD RX7 was a great looking car also, maybe not to the point of those two, but still nice.  I also like the 370 obviously, and the original G35 was decent looking too.  

At least the FD RX-7--- that was truly a pretty car.

The RF doesn't do it for me though.  I find it very odd looking from some angles, and it looks like it's on stilts from the factory.   

Agree - the FD is one of the prettiest cars ever made by any manufacturer. A future classic.  I also really like the NB Miata, which shares a few FD styling cues.

Ditto on the ND-RF.  I can still feel my heart sinking from the first time I saw it, hoping for a ND version of the NC PRHT.

The0retical said:

In reply to wspohn :

The Miata RF and FD RX-7 refute your claim.

I would go back to the original Miata and RX7 to refute that claim. And I thought the Honda S2000 was prettier than the RF