QOTD: Refresh, or Revolt?

by Steph Willems

Published: November 1st, 2018

A change is gonna come, the song goes, and it may as well be playing for all cars popular enough to avoid an abrupt discontinuation two or three years after their launch. Those sorry rides never got a chance to spawn a second generation or undergo a styling change. For the vast majority of car models, however, a design refresh halfway through a development cycle is the norm.

Be it a barely noticeable tweak or a full-on face transplant, rare is the OEM that doesn’t toss out a few bucks to make an older car look newer (or at least different). Different, it should be noted, does not always mean better. Sometimes the operation fails. Unlike a face transplant, in this scenario it’s other people who reject the new tissue.

It might not shock you to learn the inspiration for this QOTD: the 2019 Hyundai Elantra — the worked-over, triangle-obsessed successor to what was, in my jaundiced view, a very handsome model. You might have seen it in our Ace of Base post yesterday.

When the sixth-generation Elantra appeared for the 2016 model year, applause greeted Hyundai’s decision to ditch the soft-serve styling of the fifth-gen for a wider, meaner look. Suddenly, the Elantra was a serious car. The broad grille, thin vertical vents, and narrow headlights gave the model an aura of menace that its low-torque 2.0-liter couldn’t hope to back up. Hell, I stopped on the street the other night to admire a black model with fresh snows and steelies.

A carriage for economy-minded mobsters, bless its little heart.

Then came the 2019 model, which looks like it accidentally ran through a series of mirrors and plate glass windows. Someone put pressure on those wounds! It’s quite the opposite of the 2018 Sonata, which vastly improved upon the deadly dull countenance of the new-for-2016 seventh-gen sedan.

Yes, eye of the beholder, and all that. I’m the guy who thinks the bland-as-boiled-potatoes 2016-2018 Lexus ES wears its massive spindle grille well, so there’s no telling where personal opinion might fall on a particular model. Take a shot, B&B.

Which mid-cycle refresh turned a looker into a homely dog?

[Images: Hyundai]

#QOTD #QuestionOfTheDay

Steph Willems

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3 of 82 comments

Inside Looking Out on Nov 01, 2018

Did anyone noticed that Fusion was also updated for 2017 and a bit more in 2019?

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Dan on Nov 01, 2018

A couple of standout uglies in my book: 2004-ish GMT800 Silverado, wherein GM took their excellent evolution of the GMT400 and went for angry instead (why?) but actually hit squinty. 2013-ish Grand Cherokee, wherein Chrysler finally addressed the godawful gearing, and also addressed that their bold American truck (SUV, whatever) looked like a bold American truck instead of an Audi. 2015-ish Chrysler 300, wherein Chrysler looked at what BHPH owners were doing to make their cars worse and made most of them factory standard. The 2011 was a classy car. This wasn't.

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- MLS on Nov 06, 2018
  
  I typically hate mid-cycle facelifts, but found the Grand Cherokee and 300 updates to be big improvements.
  
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