By and large I agree. Some bright spots are the ND but Mike hates convertibles, and the WRX which seems to have grown into more of a Legacy type car but is a nice all arounder. Thankfully the US has taken up some of the slack with Ford finally flexing their small car muscle at home.
I saw that, too. I'm not his biggest fan, but I tend to agree from a styling perspective. Now, sliding seat belts, iffy fuel injection, low power, fragile timing belts, I can live without. The muscle cars look better than ever, why do Japanese cars look so awful?
I gotta disagree with him (which I usually do...) I believe we are on an upswing in the cool car market. The frisbee twins are proof. The problem with the Impreza is it is following the growing trend. Literally. Cars are enormous today.
tuna55 wrote: why do Japanese cars look so awful?
Because they are following instead of leading.
In reply to Trackmouse:
This!!
On a side note has anybody figured out what the designers over a lexus have been smoking? The cars look like the designer was doing the renderings while simultaneously trying out a new taser on himself.
appliance_racer wrote: On a side note has anybody figured out what the designers over a lexus have been smoking? The cars look like the designer was doing the renderings while simultaneously trying out a new taser on himself.
The Predator grille appeals to the Chinese market, where they want a unique looking car, at any cost (in terms of design). Presumably they gain enough sales in China to make up for what they lose in the rest of the world.
If Honda doesn't try to sue MotoIQ over that detailed takedown of the quality of their recent cars, it'll be only because MotoIQ is too small and/or Honda understands the Streisand effect.
I'd agree with Mike about styling, but I think his Japanese fanboi-nature has him exaggerating things a bit. The MK IV Supra was an amazing car--- but it still lost comparison tests to the E36 M3, and Nissan 300zx. (lifeless steering, imprecise handling, wonky looks) Also, the TT Supra's price became incredibly bloated (nearing $60K ), they sold abysmally, and had to take $10K off the price the following year. Think that pissed off those who bought at full price? Yes...yes it did. It's looks were always polarizing too. It's not a car universally thought of as good looking.
Also, the TT 300zx hardly kicked everyones ass. It was however, one of the first Japanese high-performance cars to be taken seriously (along with the TT RX-7, the TT Supra and the TT 3000VR4)--- and to have Corvette levels of performance. (not better, but equal) To be fair--- the 300zx was much better built, and far more refined.....but faster? No.
I'd have to wholeheartedly agree with him on the Sentra SE-R, ITR, and CRX though. Those were great cars that nearly everyone could afford. They were all also clean and good looking.
It's an opinion piece; I doubt Honda would sue.
I 100% agree with the article. I grew up in the '90s and loved the Supra, the RX-7, and the 3000GT. And then when I had the financial ability to buy a toy, all of the once-great Japanese car makers were making boring beigemobiles.
So I bought a Mustang, mainly because I couldn't see spending $30k+ on a 15-year-old Toyota Supra.
His rant about Lexus tacking on bizarre styling features to a Buick like body makes me wonder how much work it would take to make my '98 Regal impersonate a new IS. Might just take new front and rear bumpers to pass it off, at least until someone looked inside and saw a '90s GM interior.
Even if I like the way the current Civic and Maxima look. That may be because of how bland the previous versions were...
OMG...... more Motoiq click bait........... 
You mean this isn't the ultimate expression of automotive art?
jstein77 wrote: You mean this isn't the ultimate expression of automotive art?
I've seen that design before.. somewhere...
Oh! I got it!
That get off my lawn stage of life. Poor Mike. Veilside shade too. 
I'd happily buy a new Sentra and a hundred hours of Kojimas time to see what could be done with the parts bin and bolt on's which was his forte if I remember correctly. 
Then I realize I'm broke.
oldeskewltoy wrote: OMG...... more Motoiq click bait...........
They're better than Autoblog or Jalopnik...
Funny how the import scene likes to forget the Corvette. I guess they didn't notice when a bone stock C5 Z06 wiped the floor with the entire SuperFour field like 15 years ago 
I didn't read the piece but I've always believed the Japanese cars suck. Then I got a Japanese bike and it's awesome sauce. Then I bought a Honda and it sucks. So I'm going back to my original beliefs. Japanese cars suck. European cars are cool. And V8 rwd cars are the only cars with owning to me anymore.
Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: I didn't read the piece but I've always believed the Japanese cars suck. Then I got a Japanese bike and it's awesome sauce. Then I bought a Honda and it sucks. So I'm going back to my original beliefs. Japanese cars suck. European cars are cool. And V8 rwd cars are the only cars with owning to me anymore.
You bought the wrong Honda car, but whatever.
In reply to Nick (Bo) Comstock:
Yamaha is on a freaking roll with bikes - but, the rest of the Japanese mfgs are not filling me with want. Honda and Suzuki seem like they are working very hard to make motorcycles boring.
My Tacoma is pretty sweet in a utilitarian sort of "just works when I need it to" way. But, in general... I really don't love any new cars that aren't $60k+ European play things. Except maybe those that are affordable but impractical for my needs like a Fiazda MX-124 or whatever it's called.
Huckleberry wrote: Fiazda MX-124
Someone needs to make badges for this.
And I agree with pretty much everything that article said. The Japs are circling the drain.
The nostalgia is strong with that one. It's funny, because I so clearly remember everyone talking about how stupid the styling of all those cars were in the 90's. And how slow they were. And how they were FWD. It's funny how 20+ years has changed his memory.
I like a lot of new cars. Especially Hondas, I think they're finally starting to make interesting cars again. I have a brother in his very early 20's: guess which cars he thinks are the bee's knees... that's right! Car's that are about 15 years newer than the ones that I do!
I look forward to reading this article about how cars in the 2010's were flawlessly awesome compared to cars in the 2030's.
If individual cars and trucks could be judged by the number of people who think they suck, it would be safe to assume that all cars and trucks suck.
I lost all hope for them after the Miata transmission Hayabusa incident.
BA5 wrote: The nostalgia is strong with that one. It's funny, because I so clearly remember everyone talking about how stupid the styling of all those cars were in the 90's. And how slow they were. And how they were FWD. It's funny how 20+ years has changed his memory. I like a lot of new cars. Especially Hondas, I think they're finally starting to make interesting cars again. I have a brother in his very early 20's: guess which cars he thinks are the bee's knees... that's right! Car's that are about 15 years newer than the ones that I do! I look forward to reading this article about how cars in the 2010's were flawlessly awesome compared to cars in the 2030's.
Eh these things go in waves. I agree with some of his points but the Japanese have simply reached the same point as the big 3 up until a couple years ago. Eventually the pain will reach 11 and they'll switch gears. It might take 30 years but it'll happen.
All that was said about cheap interiors and horrible this and that... meanwhile, Mazda appears to be positioning itself as a premium brand, Nissan was gobbled up by Renault, and Toyota is actively working with BMW.
Things are so globalized as compared to the 70s that some of these companies may as well be nation states.
Schrödinger's Flight Service wrote: I lost all hope for them after the Miata transmission Hayabusa incident.
How so?
Stefan wrote:Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: I didn't read the piece but I've always believed the Japanese cars suck. Then I got a Japanese bike and it's awesome sauce. Then I bought a Honda and it sucks. So I'm going back to my original beliefs. Japanese cars suck. European cars are cool. And V8 rwd cars are the only cars with owning to me anymore.You bought the wrong Honda car, but whatever.
I did. You are right. However, I had those prejudices for a reason. And it's not just this car, it along with all the other Japanese cars that I have ever driven simply confirms it. They do absolutely nothing for me. Just not my cup of tea.
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