When the Cupra EV debuted, it hit me: a lot of cars have some kind of slot above the main grille. In the case of Cupra, Kia and Toyota, they make a small fake grille that merges with the headlights. In the case of the Kona and Civic, it’s just a weird gap. Anyone know where this is coming from?
Interesting spot. I noticed both volvo XC40 (EV mod with grille cover) and the newly revealed C40 have these slots too:
Hadn’t seen those Volvos. Looks nice with the grille blanked off, but the logo still there.
I think the LFA from 2012 was one of the earlier examples of this- unless you want to count the Prius in 2004…
I like it sometimes–
And the newer Charger and R8 have extra slots too.
In some instances it might be a way to break up where air is being pulled in or diverted, but in most cases I suspect they’re just using more visual breakups to hide the fact that the front end of cars was steadily rising due to pedestrian safety standards.
The charger for example looks a bit chunkier and less aggressive without that pinched grille/squinty eye graphic.
The LFA example is really spot on laser disc slot. It helps make the car look wider and just break up what would otherwise be a very large surface. Interesting that it’s from Toyota and the Corolla was one of the first places that I noticed the trend.
Years and years we moaned that front grilles had gone out of control. Now the trend is full on rerverting to the late 70ies early 80ies “aero look”, which defined the latter decade in europe. But as it gets transposed to SUVs we see some more breakups of surface and mass below the beltline.
New addition: Audi A3. Very nice little DVD slot.
In the vintage category, the BMW x5. They had there’s under the grille though. Think different!
That’s true! Maybe it’s a LR slot?
