And now, the award for the most overused styling detail of 2008 goes to -- the chrome quarter panel vent. Yes, from the $80,000 Jaguar XJ all the way down to our $18,000 Ford Focus, no new car is complete without a glimmering chunk of chrome pop riveted to its flanks. Our Focus cheapens the idea even further by not even bothering to have an actual vent. Instead, there’s merely a piece of not-very-convincing black plastic...
C’mon people, punch a hole already, we don’t care if it actually goes anywhere.
Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 3,910 miles
Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 3,910 miles
m_thrizzle says:
04:01 PM, 03/14/08
This trend was quick to emerge this year, along with massive grills and front ends with recessed bumpers (i don't really know what it is called, but look at the Nissan GT-R and Mitsu Evo X and you'll know what I'm talking about). The side vents look tacky on most cars, especially if they are not sports cars. The Escalade and newest Mazda RX-8 even have them and they don't look good. At least the vents on my 2001 M3 are functional!
But I digress, the Focus' styling is so terrible, the designers decided to go all the way and add the cheesy vents to the sides. They are way oversized. I see the European Focus and drool over it; I look at the US version and throw up a little in my mouth!
SubyTrojan says:
04:21 PM, 03/14/08
Amen! Preach it, Pastor Ed! j/k :o)
Greatest current offenders (in my opinion):
Cadillac CTS
Buick Lacrosse
Buick Lucerne
billt9 says:
04:53 PM, 03/14/08
Magically, Ford is moving 16,302 pairs of these vent decorations a month.
These pretty chromed salad dishes are on the entire Ford group's 2nd best selling vehicle, behind only the F-150.
ahightower says:
05:25 PM, 03/14/08
Amen to that.
I cut Buick some slack since they actually had some history to draw on. But what's worse than new cars with fake vents is all the hoopties I see with aftermarket fake portholes. They're awful.
billt9 says:
05:34 PM, 03/14/08
I saw aftermarket port holes on a Lexus GS.
... speechless, but lots of laughter.
prndlol says:
06:00 PM, 03/14/08
I'm quite curious to see what the fender looks like without it.
SubyTrojan says:
06:38 PM, 03/14/08
Photochop! I'm sure estreka could do it while he's watching over his nukes.
jordanw says:
06:43 PM, 03/14/08
Please tell me that the door is cracked in this picture? If not those panel gaps are worse than an 85 Hyundai Excel!
estreka says:
06:49 PM, 03/14/08
Suby - lol, I'm actually doing that right now. Alas, the government has not seen fit to equip its computers with Photoshop.
Man that is ugly! That's the worst imitation retro-looking fender vent on a non-retro vehicle I have ever seen. Why didn't they go ahead and give it '50s fins and a gigantic chrome bumper?
louiswei says:
07:02 PM, 03/14/08
I got bored so here ya go...
zach101 says:
07:18 PM, 03/14/08
Oh.. but it says "Focus" on it...
I agree, very tacky. The money spent on this could have gone to other things on this car, like de-uglifying the exterior, upgrading the interior materials, etc.
mercedesman1 says:
07:26 PM, 03/14/08
Congrats Louis, you made a hideous car, a little better.
They defenitly should have left the Q-panel vents out. This new fad cant die soon enough.
drinkduff77 says:
09:01 PM, 03/14/08
"I agree, very tacky. The money spent on this could have gone to other things on this car, like de-uglifying the exterior, upgrading the interior materials, etc."
You mean like rear head rests? LOL
redliner says:
10:02 PM, 03/14/08
Ford should realy try to get the design of the front grill right befor they start adding extra non-functional grills on the sides.
johnmarco says:
11:43 PM, 03/14/08
Ya I hate those things, real or not. I'll nominate the Jag XJ (I think the blown version) as well as the Range Rover as two major offenders. Both are so long and skinny that they look like fish gills.
Another abomination are the port-holes mentioned above. A major offender? The Maserati 4-door. Perfect way to clutter up a sleek exterior.
benson2175 says:
12:52 AM, 03/15/08
It's just pasted on. I bet you could remove it. Man that looks awful. What an awful looking little car. It looks like they took an old Focus, crashed it into a wall, beat it with baseball bats and then designed a car based on the result.
autoboy16 says:
04:28 AM, 03/15/08
Many people in my area have the fake ones on the 07+ camrys. Its so chessey looking!! I wish we could get the euro Focus!!! and mondeo!!
-Cj
alegro says:
09:10 AM, 03/15/08
Those are FENDER vents. Front = fender, rear = quarter panel.
/pet peeve
/auto body guy
alegro says:
09:10 AM, 03/15/08
AUTHOR: alegro
DATE: 03/15/2008 09:10:28 AM
EMAIL: schneider.alex@gmail.com
bimmerjay says:
10:56 AM, 03/15/08
Does the Focus also come with speed holes?
neatnick79 says:
01:47 PM, 03/15/08
This is why I always thought the base (S) model looked better, since Ford doesn't put the fake vents on it (in sedan OR coupe form). I dunno... if I'm going to get an ecomomy car, I've always felt I should go with the cheapo model!
mercedesman1 says:
02:13 PM, 03/15/08
Alegro, quarter panel works for both front and rear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_panel
greenpony says:
07:20 AM, 03/16/08
Fake vents were on the two previous Mustang styles. I get crap for it all the time. The only problem I have with fake vents (wherever they might be placed) is that people seem to put them on vehicles that didn't have them from the factory. I saw three Buick-style portholes on a V8 Explorer yesterday, and I wanted to slap them. Repeatedly.
As for the Focus, specifically in the nice pix made by louiswei, I think it looks smaller without the vents. I think it needs something to break up the side a little. If not vents, them some other styling cue.
altimadude00 says:
12:00 PM, 03/16/08
Yes, stick-on side vents are laughable. I've seen them on everything from S-10s to Corollas. In a way, it takes away the distinctiveness of the venti-ports that's a true Buick trademark. In a way that's sad, because Buicks need some sort of distinctiveness.
Sticking on some plastic cladding is a cheap way of giving a car character. We remember the Grand Am because of it's ribbed tuppaware sides. We remember the Focus because it has the most fake looking chromed trinkets. We remember the G6 for its complete lack of cladding.
I guess the designers just ran out of new ideas...either that or they want to give people a real excuse to have Ford replace the Focus with a new car.
alegro says:
06:25 AM, 03/17/08
mercedesman1, as per your Wikipedia, once the front fender is taken OFF, you're left with the quarter panel. Read it.
It's a fender 'vent'.
teekay13 says:
11:25 AM, 03/17/08
When it came out on the last generation M3 in 2001, the side vent looked good. It added a bit of "dont mess with me I got something wicked underneath" look to the coupe.
Then, everyone and their uncle decided to add side vents to their cars, with ones that came directly from the factory to added-on stickers. When trucks, SUVs, focuses, luxury sedans, etc. start have side vents, the whole thing lost its coolness. The same goes with paddle shifters (first appearing on Ferraries and M3s.)
altimadude00 says:
12:24 PM, 03/17/08
Paddle shifters are what you call trickle-down technology...like ABS brakes, navigation systems and voice activated doodads. Paddle shifters are still found only among premium brands, however, there are steering wheel mounted buttons, such as those on the Aura that have started to sprout up.
Fender vents no longer distinguish performance cars anymore. They separate the tasteful from the tasteless motorist.
mirth says:
08:33 AM, 03/18/08
Why Focus sales are up despite the fact that most enthusiasts are not so enthusiatic about it:
http://blogs.motortrend.com/6234371/editorial/generational-car-shopping-101/index.html
heydave says:
09:21 AM, 05/ 3/08
Has anyone noticed that the Focus' fender vents resemble a stylized F (from the driver's side)?