(Cj)

Here it is, the Equinox.

http://www.chevrolet.com/equinox/

Fizzboy7

It's decent expect the back end- there isn't one. Using full sheetmetal instead of a third window makes the whole truck look shorter than it is. Not to mention the blind spot it creates. Fail in my book.

joe80

to each their own, but you just compared CRV to this...

again, this is far far far from ugly.

sorry, but i get very defensive because I'm a creative director/graphic designer, and my profession is to make things pretty which is hardest thing in the world. i know how hard it is to make something pretty. but it's very very hard to make something ugly too especially when you put that much time and effort into it.

and trust me this is not 'ugly'. no designers will ever call this ugly. it is wrong to say something like this 'ugly'. that's just me. Ugly is Aztek. Ugly is Ssangyong Rexton. Ugly is 1st gen Tribeca's nostril. Ugly is Acura's grill. i can understand people calling these cars ugly.

people could say this is awkward, weird, boring, and etc.. but ugly is just wrong word.





that is ugly.


there is no ugly element to this car. i can see people find the rear being bit awkward, but there is nothing remotely close to being ugly. as a student of design and current design profession, calling something 'ugly' needs to be stopped unless it's really ugly. Camry maybe boring, but it's not ugly. last gen sonata maybe most forgettable car on the road, but it's not ugly. and for the last time, this is not ugly.

LexFather

Why does the chrome window trim not connect?

I think it looks fine and better than the Santa Fe. I think ANYTHING looks better than the CR-V, that is truly an insult to people with taste. It is ugly in only a way Hammerhead shark can relate too. Its amazing people buy it so much and look past the ugly.

I would get the Kia over the CR-V without thinking twice.

TRDFantasy

I will refrain from making personal comments, but anyone can look at my posts and see I praise a variety of cars.

Design is subjective. Not everybody will like Toyota or Lexus designs, and not everybody will like Hyundai designs. It is pointless to argue about it, but as should be common knowledge, this is a Lexus forum, so don't expect everyone to agree with you when you or others praise Hyundai design.

I've mentioned this before in another thread, but I'm not a big fan of any of the small CUVs in the segment. The Tiguan looks ugly to me, the CR-V looks ugly, Ford Escape looks very dated, Rav4 doesn't look that great, and I also think the Rogue is ugly.

If I was forced to choose a vehicle in this segment, I honestly don't know what I would choose. I might possibly choose the Escape, because as dated as that looks, it is also the least offensive to me exterior-wise.

(Cj)

Ok this is going to be long but here goes...

I'd like preface what I'm going to say by informing you that I took design courses in college before I switched majors so I know a thing or two about basic design. Any TRUE artist would know that curves plus lines and sharp edges don't result in a cohesive flowing design. The Sportage stole it's rear window design from the Buick Enclave and the Enclave is MUCH better executed. The Enclave has a rounded side window, with rounded taillights. The more angular rear window rounds out around the Buick emblem creating a unique but aesthetically pleasing design.



Aside from the mismash of shapes in the rear of the Sportage, the ugliest most ungainly portion of the design is the extrememely high belt line. The beltline makes the CUV appear taller than it is, and makes it look like it's always going to tip over. I can tell you that looking at the rear while driving behind one of these is not going to look appealing. With the high rear window and the low license plate the back will look like one tall mass of sheet metal.



CUVs are supposed to look low and sleek and the Sportage fails at this greatly.The high beltline and chunky blocky C pillar would also hurt visibility.

Now concerning the CR-V, after I posted my comment I went out to Honda's website to find that they recently "refreshed" the CR-V and now the front end is butt ugly. I take back my statements about it, but I will say someone in my neighborhood has a white CR-V and that thing has very cohesive lines and curves and is a sleek sharp looking CUV. Yes the front end is odd, but the stance and proportions are perfect. The stance and proportions of the Sportage are way off.

Now as I also said in an above posts my favorite of the current CUVs on the market is the Equinox. That has a cohesive design (although Mercedes-ish) and every part is just right.



The rear end isn't tall or ungainly. You can see that it has nice big windows and a slightly aggressive stance. This is a safe design that just works. Very few awkward details going on.

Now there is someone else in my neighborhood with a Tiguan with 22 inch wheels. That CUV doesn't appeal to me at all. Like the Sportage it appears tall. Another thing I don't like about the Tiguan is when viewed in profile the shape of the rear seems very boxy even though it has a lot of curved details. It's just a very odd design in my eyes. It's like a Touareg with 12 inches chopped off the back. In some ways that's what the Sportage looks like also. It doesn't look like it was designed from the ground up to be a compact CUV. It looks like a larger CUV with the back butchered off.



Anyway I hope I explained a little more of what I'm talking about. As far as using the word "ugly" I still think it's fitting for the Sportage. The Aztec is not ugly. It's downright offensive. Offensive the Sportage is not, it's like most Hondas. A design people can get used to and live with, but not a design you fall in love with. But what can I say ugly sells, as proved by Honda all these years.

ecr527

The talilgate looks like it's lacking something. Maybe the rear glass needs to come down a little bit more?? or maybe the license plate be on the tailgate?? Overall I like the design. It's not as conservative as the CRV or Rav, but that's okay with me. I also like the simplicity of the interior. It's seems like it would be very easy to use. I would be afraid that the next redesign of the next CRV would follow suit with the rest of the Hondas and have too many buttons on it's center stack.

joe80

again, ugly is not an appropriate word for something like Sportage IMO. and i do not see any Enclave in Sportage.

joe80

and i have not seen an ugly car from Peter Schreyer yet. i respect the guy alot.

call it weird, awkward, or even plain vanilla, but calling this ugly is borderline blasphemy in the design world.

LexFather

Let's not go that far lol

(Cj)

I know seriously lol. Everybody has an off day or a miss design. Auto design is a hit or miss art anyway

I8ABMR

Can you believe some people think Auto design is not art? Still baffles me.
I do agree that every designer will have some off days and that design appreciation is subjective. Look at Chris Bangle as an example

IS-SV

lol, Chris Bangle had more than one off day. This thread is getting uglier fast (at least the pics).

joe80

i actually liked some of Chris Bangle's design. it was ahead of the time IMO. but yes, i can understand people calling bangle's design ugly.

and i agree with 1sick. i'm sure many people got used to looking at CRV's every 5 seconds, but when it came out many people thought it was ugly including myself. well, i didn't think it was total disaster, but it did give me a very weird vibe. there was something about the face. kinda creepy? whatever it was, i had that weird vibe when i first saw it. but sadily i think i got used to it. maybe honda designers stare at their creations too long and get used to their monstrosity most notably TL.

and seriously, i don't think peter schreyer made ugly looking cars yet.. i followed him after TT, so i wouldn't know what he has done before though.. but his work on Kia has been very safe & fresh. my favorite is definitely Kia Soul. rest of his work has been very clean IMO. don't like sorento's rear though. but i don't think it's ugly. forte too. it's not bad. cadenza? not bad. any audis made in 1999-2008? not bad, not bad.

I8ABMR

Chris Bangle has done some amazing things in his career. I dont think his designs were ugly. There was just the controversial 7 series trunk lid design. Well that and the strange line going down the side of the Z4