While still brand new, Audi's current grill design was widely criticized; "It's not facial enough." "It's gaudy." "It's not shaped right for American plates." And so on. Anything, in my opinion, was better than the poorly-vieled, bulbous VWness of the previous incarnation. And yet, fans and haters alike complained.

Now, taking a second glance at some of the most buzzworthy new cars at this year's Detroit show, I can't help but notice several prominent new grills with shapes similar to Audi's. It could be my eyes. But if the Camry can sport a Bangled butt, the CTS can most definitely don an Audi maw.

 

I like the Audi grille. That Caddy looks like it can pull it off well.
The Mitsu X concept doesn't do it. Way too busy. Why don't they just chop off the grille section and leave it open if they need more cool air. There's so much grille, scoops and vents. I can't bear to really look at it.
The last one, I think that's the Malibu. Doesn't do it for me. Too many split sections, makes it look unfinished.

 

Audi does well with the big grill because there is a nice symmetry of the lower and upper grill.

Cadillac is overdone. I've always thought they looked like cheese graters.

The Mitsubishi just looks rice. Although it has power, the grill amplifies the idea of rice.

Now, Chevy is really trying to highlight their history in muscle cars. The Malibu however is NOT a muscle car!


Thank God Lexus is not overdoing the grill, although their latest fetish has been towards odd looking exhaust systems...

 

Those grills don't bother me as much as the ugly catfish grills on the jag, maser...

Sorry that these pictures are huge-these will help amplify the ugliness-imo !!!





from sicklex last thread on the maser

 

Great thread.
Big grills are weak attempts by designers to give a car its identity. Who CAN'T slap a HUGE GRILL on a car with a HUGE BADGE and say "that is our car".

Its pathetic. It also shows the TREMENDOUS influence SUV design has on cars, which is making cars pretty damn ugly.

I said this 5 years ago. I noticed that luxury cars were losing the grill being intergrated into the hood. I started a thread on it. Luxury car makers went this cheap route, with the grill part of the lower plastic bumper. Even Lexus does it. Its cheap.

These huge grills are ridiculous. No different then these guys with gold or diamond or platinum teeth or people with huge chains. Its gawdy and will get OLD QUICK.

It even looks more ridiculous on small cars and cars with no performance. Big grills do provide more air to an engine. But if you got 150hp, what the hell is the point?

 

I guess they are going back to the old days where the grills are as big as the radiators.

 

I think (correct me if I'm wrong), that the first car make to do this is Audi back in 04 with the 05 models.

Now, EVERYONE is doing it. Not just luxury makes, but Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, etc.

How much longer do you think this style will last until it becomes dated?

 

Huge grills have been on cars since the beginning. Here is an old 1960 Chrysler for example and this was decades after large grills.



As car companies try to each have a corporate face to make it easy for the public to identify themselves and since all these designers go to the same schools, I don't expect it to change anytime.

 

Ok, if they had the giant grill in the 60s, there was a point in time where that look just stopped and something else took it's place.

I get that you're saying that they all probably went to the same school, but there has to be some designers out there who want to break the mold and try something different.

 

Small grill
Large grill
No grill

Take your pick. All have been done, nothing is different.

 

2001 Toyota Yaris T-Sport is the first "modern" example that comes to mind:

 

heh, it is not noticable with that huge divider... i guess same idea but divider ended up deleted in IS F-Sport

i just saw one the other day, it was black though

 

very big grill from 1930.



over time designers went for 'thinner' designs.
but since europe implemented their insane 'pedestrian' bumper height rules, the fronts of cars had to get higher, which basically requires tall grills or other funky designs.
another thing that has changed is a move to larger rims for all vehicles.

 

Frankly, I never was a fan of the current-generation Audi grilles. I thought the old ones, which were about half the size of the newer ones, looked MUCH better.




Fortunately, though, the current A5/S5, IMO, is such a beautiful coupe that even the big grille doesn't hurt it much.