VTEC Racer

In the latest C&D, Toyota/Lexus received last place with a D+ in styling by Phil Patton, a teacher at the School of Visual Arts in NY and automobile-design writer for the NY Times.

Honda/Acura finished second to last with a C- with the only A going to Jaguar/Land Rover.

Jaguar/Landrover A
GM A-
Ferrari A-
Kia A-
Audi/VW B+
BMW B+
Hyundai B+
Saab B+
Chrysler B
Mercedes-Benz B
Nissan/Infiniti B
Porsche B-
Subaru B-
Suzuki B-
Mitsubishi C
Honda/Acura C-
Toyota/Lexus D+

phile

Chrysler, Subaru, Suzuki, Mitsubishi should be re-evaluated. Chrysler only has the Crossfire & 300 - the rest of its lineup is unremarkable.

I can't think of a single Subaru that actually looks hot - they're not even decent, most of them have odd proportions/design cues.

Same for Suzuki - whole line up is ugly, with the Kizashi being a huge disappointment from its prototype.

Mitsubishi - the new corporate look of the Lancer and Outlander is aggressive - but it's almost Audi-like so I wouldn't give it full credit. the rest of the lineup should really bring its total score down.

I think Acura/Honda and Toyota/Lexus deserve to be where they are.

majin ssj eric

I tend to agree with most of these assessments...

SSFTSX

how this car got A-? it is pretty outdated from beginning.

pttl

So it's Jon Ikeda's fault ehhh?



btw... c- is a gift.

Shift_Acura

Suzuki, Mitsubishi and Chrysler should be at the bottom

Saab should not be on the list.

And how is Audi lower than Kia?

biker

Arguring over a subjective issue is pointless.

SSFTSX

Honda/Acura designs are miles ahead of rest of competion. and resale value reflect. It is not just reliability but cars age very well
TSX/MDX/RL/ZDX are A+ in there category. I wouldnot trade Honda Civic Coupe/Accord Coupe/Honda Pilot with any thing designed by Kia.

Just look at this TL. IT will still look modern 20 years into the Future.


http://h73shw.blu.livefilestore.com/...002.JPG?psid=1

dom

Please, for the love of god just ignore him.

pttl

F-C

Nice for a good Monday morning laugh. Jaguar is ranked at the top.

biker

SG81

iTrader: (1)

Toyota's are horrible looking though

silver3.5

Lexus should be 2nd to last while Acura should be last. The only Acura that I think looks decent is the MDX. Everything else is pure ulgy.

JAB00

Intellectual honesty tells me that the Lexus line looks better overall than the Acura. As for Toyota, Civic > Corolla, CRV > Rav4, Odyssey > Sienna, Pilot >Highlander, Prius > Insight, Ridgeline > Tundra, Fit > Yaris.

Overall Honda is better (this includes Acura/Lexus brands).

SG81

iTrader: (1)

^^^ you forgot Accord > Camry

Moog-Type-S

Since Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus in this survey are connected, then it clearly that Honda is the good in the Honda/Acura and Lexus is the good in Toyota/Lexus.

Acura =

Toyota =

Honda....meh...only a few standouts in a pile of bleh.

Lexus....meh...only a few standouts in a sea of vanilla.

dom

Don't at all agree with what I've made bold.

Moog-Type-S

...and I'd add that the Rav > CRV

dom

Yup, missed that one. Although I don't think the CR-V is ugly by any stretch.

Got a call from a friend yesterday who asked me if I had heard of the Honda Crosstour. They had just seen one on the road and loved it. They wanted pricing etc... Styling is absolutely subjective. I have a hard time believing someone can actually think the Crosstour looks good but these strange, almost blind people with horrible automotive taste are in fact out there.

biker

TheMirror

is300eater

what's the grade for this?

mclarenf3387

Did you seriously just rank a car with a pick up bed ahead of a real pickup truck?

Please go back to 3G TL with the rest of the groupies.

ghttf

How can you conduct an design study without including Lamborghini?

honda_nut

I'll be honest and say that the new Hyundais/Kias look absolutely amazing. Seriously though, it baffles me how good they look. I understand that a lot of people won't be able to get over the badge and will automatically say they are ugly. Some people need to put down the Honda kool-aid and look around. If these were rebadged as Hondas or Acuras, would people still think they are ugly? Btw, I used to tell myself that I will never buy a Kia. I most likely still won't but I've thought about it. It's so confusing.

ghttf

only some 4G TL guys have called the Optima ugly...Hyundai is still too overstyled though IMO

SpiderX1016

I think that guy was being generous with Acura.

VQPower37

this is such a subjective topic, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so i dont see how one person can determine the grade for a company's styling, and that hold any value for others.

LuvMyTSX

I would knock pretty much all of them down a few pegs. Honestly, there are not many cars out there that I think actually look good.

An A- for GM is laughable, IMO. The Buicks look better, but the Chevy models are meh or worse for me. Audi is a thumbsup from me, but VW thumbsdown. And where is Ford/Lincoln on this list? That abomination IS300Eater posted is just appalling. I've seen a few on the road and wanted to scratch my eyes out after looking at it.

LuvMyTSX

Agreed. These "grades" don't mean much to me.

neuronbob

A C- for Honda/Acura? Really? Did he even bother to look at the TL?

At the end of the day, though, you really can't argue on such a subjective point.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

and then on most of his viewpoints.

jayhawk815

I really like the new Jaguar designs, much more so than their tired, old ones.

For a large crossover, i don't think the Lincoln MKT looks that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's not my cup of tea, but I think there are far worse designs out there.

Overall, I've been quite impressed with the designs coming from Kia and Hyundai. Along those lines, I also think both Ford and GM have made vast improvements in their designs as well.

IMO, some ugly cars currently on the market include, but are not limited to: Subaru Legacy, Chrysler Sebring, Acura TL(well, most of the current Acura line, but most notably the TL), and the Honda Crosstour. I'm sure I left out some much deserved models, but those are the ones that immediately came to mind.

Moog-Type-S

...because Ferrari makes better looking supercars than Lamborghini.

...but hey, Lambo paints 'em lime green and bright orange....so that's neato!

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

i too, would like to see where ford wouldve been on this list. i think they have some pretty good looking cars out right now

pttl

"Phil Patton, a teacher at the School of Visual Arts in NY and automobile-design..."

One can only assume that the man studied art/archetecture/design, and all that goes with these subjects. Therefore it is not unreasonable to assume that he is a bit more qualified than the 'average joe' when it comes to determining what good design is.

dom

If you polled 10,000 people I'd bet the majority would agree with his findings.

pttl

That is because those 10,000 people see something wrong with bad design. It happens on a psychological level that most people don't, or even want, to understand.
The human brain enjoys symetry/logic/proportion. The Golden Ratio when applied to design and architecture etc. provides the human brain with the needed symetry. I'm thinking Phil Patton probably knows something about all of this.

ghttf

Ford got a B u guyz look at the last picture...


plz stfu