Cars are not the same anymore. Before we even knew, electric propulsion has darted into the picture and is slowly overthrowing conventional IC engines. Although flying cars are still a long way away, we might be looking at autonomous cars in the near future. But before we get into that, there are some current automotive trends that definitely need to be put to rest.
Gaping Grilles
We still can't wrap our heads around the fact that BMW is going overboard with its kidney grille, which is alarmingly growing in size every day. The German carmaker is not the only one to blame here. A huge majority of carmakers are plastering in huge cheese graters that make up for 80 per cent of the front end. As hideous as it is, the huge grilles are also making otherwise good-looking cars ugly when viewed from the front, a prime example being the new BMW Concept 4. This is one trend which needs to go up in flames as soon as possible.
Fake Engine Noise
Downsizing is the new norm in the automotive industry. The best sounding lot, the V10s, are almost on the verge of extinction. V12s are becoming V8s and V8s are becoming V6s. Downsizing and forced induction have their own fair share of pros, which mainly comes in the form of emission and efficiency. But the main trade off is the aural output of a big capacity naturally aspirated engine. To compensate, carmakers have now resorted to pumping in fake noises inside the cabin through speakers. And there's nothing as fake as fake engine noises. This is another trend that needs to be put to rest.
Fake Exhaust Tips
An increasing number of carmakers are fixing fake exhaust tips to the cars while the real exhaust is hidden somewhere else. Brings us to the question of why? We believe the fake exhaust vents are now a design feature to add some character to the rear end. Providing fake exhaust tips for this purpose in some cars where you can also see the actual exhaust tip is just ridiculous.
Making everything touch controlled
Using a mobile phone inside a car is unsafe and a punishable offense. But almost all cars come today with touchscreen infotainment systems as big as your smartphone. Some food for thought right there. But it all gets worse when carmakers integrate crucial controls such as aircon controls into a touchscreen. Imagine you have to increase the fan speed. You have to take your eyes off the road, navigate to the screen, find the controls and then turn down the fan speed. The same can effectively be done using an old school rotary knob. But not every carmaker can be blamed here as some have intuitive touchscreen units and voice commands to help. But still, this is one trend which can definitely go.
Fake Vents
This is the third fake trend and a design trend that needs to stop. Vents in a car serve a purpose. They can be anything from intakes to aerodynamic vents and even vents for cooling powertrain and braking components. In an attempt to make cars more stylish, car makers have started adding unnecessary vents which will actually be closed off, serving no purpose than some aesthetic value. In some cases they may just be increasing aerodynamic drag and actually hurting the efficiency of the car. Some fake vents in modern cars are also increasing in size, which is also not something we are fans of.
These are the top automotive trends that we think should be put to rest. If you have any suggestions, do sound off in the comments section.
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