pman6

bmw's kidney grille has long been its trademark, evolving from long and tall, to short and wide. It will keep evolving, but you will never mistake a bmw for any other brand.


I'm just saying that there was a bigger black hole in the pre-facelift. The facelift bumper rides higher if you look at the corners.
Sure it would be nice to see a thicker divider, but it's still way better looking than before...

Stroock639

i think it's pretty stupid, i think cars in general are all far too aggressive looking with wheels that are too big, windows that are too small, and sides that come up too high. i know a lot of it is down to aerodynamics and crash regulations but something needs to change. eventually cars wont even have windows and there's just gonna be tv screens on the inside with cameras that put an image of the outside on them lol...

Toys4RJill

I do agree that RX looks bad. However, the whole point of these new front ends is to cause some sort of reaction positive or negative from the person who is looking at it. There will be some who like it and some who don't, but the whole goal was to get the reaction. Toyota and Lexus for a long time were perceived as boring in style and bland. That is obviously not the case anymore.

Sulu

Toyota and Lexus are darned if they do and darned if they don't with you people. There is no satisfying you, is there?

Before the Lexus spindle grille and Toyota's large grilles, the complaint was that Toyota and Lexus vehicles were too boring. So they added some different styling, and now, they look ugly.

mmarshall

I don't quite agree with the "Damned if they do, and damned if they don't" part. Given the huge sales figures of those so-called "boring" Toyota and Lexus products (and, in the auto business, sales is what matters), I'd say there was no need to re-style them just because a few complainers, here and there, didn't think they looked enough like sports cars, or weren't bold enough.

UDel

I generally hate it, hope it disappears soon. The updated Lexus GS grille looks bad, previous one, even F sport looked pretty good, new grille on the RX is hideous, same with the current LS. Ruins designs. The high blocky front ends look terrible too, was walking up on a new 7 series and thought it was a CUV/5 GT at first because of the high front end and wheel gap, not a good look. If someone were to show me in the 90's that new cars would look like what they are looking like now I would not believe it and would be disappointed. I envisioned sleek, lower sedans and coupes with small headlights and beautiful flowing designs that improved on designs from the 90's and early 2000's, not clunky, chunky, front ends with big ugly grills and odd proportions.

MattyG

Gaping grills are a styling trend and they won't stay around for too long (fingers crossed that they go away). It's an attempt to appeal to a younger buyer group that wants edgy, new and different styling. But that's not necessarily the same group that has a long term view of what's tasteful and what's not.

To me, this is a sort of mid-life crisis. You know when that old guy goes and buys the most ridiculous car he can afford and starts dating a lady half his age. Yeah, it gets looks and it turns heads. But it's not all positive is it? This is what's happened with Toyota/Lexus and the infamous oversized spindles.

When Acura introduced the "beak" it got a lot of attention and it wasn't all positive. Now years later, Acuras sport a very muted version of that failed attempt to get attention. And they actually look good. Lincoln went with the "wing" grills and on the MKZ, and it looked good. But on other models it was absurd. The minute they put that nonsense on the Navigator, you knew it was doomed. Now the wings have gone and it's a step down to Ford's impersonation of the Jag/Aston grills.

So it's the same with Toyota/Lexus. Midlife crisis. Akio Toyoda said he wanted edgy and he got it. But it's not well received in some quarters. Looks good on the RC, LC and IS models. Looks horrible on anything else. What was wrong with the previous grills on Camrys and Corollas? The buyers never complained. The RX's spindle looks absurd. The previous Highlander had a great grill. This new one looks okay, but it didn't need to be tampered with IMO.

I see a walk-back coming at some point in Toyota/Lexus vehicles with gape-grills. The spindle will possibly stay on halo vehicles and that's where it belongs.

mmarshall

What if that lady doesn't like spindle-grilles...or doesn't care for expensive cars? Then, he will have spent a whole lot of money for nothing LOL.

The trouble with Acura, though, is that they took too long to get rid of the larger beaks....and, except for the MDX, lost too much market share in the process.

You think the new Jag-style grilles are a step-down? I think they are a huge improvement...they (and the new dash) transformed the MKZ from a borderline-eyesore, with awkward controls inside, to a handsome mid-sized luxury car with much better controls to boot.

dicer

I'm ready to see all the cars go though a huge styling change. Gosh in the 70's and 80's it was a box, now its a blob. They need to look at styles like the GT40, Mercedes SLS gullwing etc.

dseag2

If there is anything positive to be said about the "gaping grille" trend, it is that you get fewer rock chips on the front bumper because so much of the front end is taken up by the grille.

mmarshall

Yes, but, at the same time, you don't want rocks or other road debris going through the grille (or holes in the grille) and possibly damaging the small radiator fins behind it. Those fins can be easily deformed or damaged because they are so small and thin.

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

Or AC condenser

i heard a crazy story that a rock slipped through the grille, caused 2k+ for the repair on that. But more than half of the grille area is fake mesh anyway on those huge gaps.

flashvdub

i don't mind the look that's one of the reasons i bought the is250 its aggressive but yet sexy

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

and also how much paint the manufacturer saves, if they only have to paint 50% of the bumper.

MattyG

Well then that's not his sympatico type of dating companion. I was just making an obtuse broader reference to doing things outside of your comfort zone and expecting some sort of attention. Just a broader metaphor, not necessarily about the big spindle. My thinking is the guy who buys the Corvette convertible or the Porsche whatever and wants the attention (not about their styling, because I like their styling).

Yep. I think they are a big improvement but why not come up with something original instead of now copying your former division. It just says, "we have no original ideas".

This is the car I really like the spindle on, it looks edgy and different and that's the car it looks good on vs some corporate dictat about sticking it on every car in the model line.