Complaint: Unattractive cuts in sheet metal
The Chevy Sonic gets a lot of praise for being a decent looking car, at least in the Yaris/Aveo/Versa class of vehicles. Why? Because it looks like a Volvo S60 (that’s been squished into the wheelbase of a bicycle). I do, however, have one major gripe.
The arrows are pointed at three visually annoying cut lines where the door, hood, a-pillar, and front fender attempt to meet. The designer’s original intent was for your eyes to start at the grille above the headlight and flow upward along the bulge on the hood, then up the a-pillar and over the door where it finishes in the rear.
Its impossible to look at the Sonic without noticing these awkward and misplaced gaps. Perhaps its a necessity of cost-efficient manufacturing. A Sonic in white or any color brighter than black will make this brutally apparent on the road. Manufacturing tolerances are likely to worsen the problem.
The E93 BMW 3-series convertible, like most cars with folding metal tops, has the same problem.
The appeal of German car design is the purposeful initiation and completion of every line, making the car look clean, purposeful, and strong.
The E93 is an unfortunate exception to German cleanliness, with a Sebring-like trunk lid that awkwardly eats into the rear quarter. The trunk lid line (bottom arrow) ends awkwardly in the middle of the C-pillar, visually disconnecting it from the rest of the car. Additional creases and lines on the roof facilitate the folding mechanism but meet imperfectly with the B-pillar and rear glass.
For reference, here’s the 2007 Sebring convertible. The similarities are unfortunate.
Infiniti did a much better job of integrating the roof. The trunk lid draws a line that directly connects with the rear quarter glass. The folding crease on the roof of above the B-pillar matches the line where the door glass meets the rear quarter. The C-pillar is perfectly matched to the height of the rear glass. Because the convertible’s rear quarter glass is larger, it looks lighter and airier than the coupe.
Just be happy Chris Bangle doesn’t seem to be around anymore…