If It Wasn't For Audi, The New Focus RS Might Look Like This

"Mikeado" (mikeado) 02/03/2015 at 18:49 • Filed to: Ford Focus RS, Car Design, Grilles, Photoshop

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As we all know, big grilles are in. They have been for some time now, and I blame Audi. Ever since they joined the upper and lower grilles with a ring of chrome and black plastic inner bits, which I think happened when they facelifted the A3 in 2004/5, we've seen it in various forms in pretty much every market segment from pretty much every major manufacturer.

As crowded markets try ever harder to stand out, these grilles have grown to such sizes that a good 50% of the total grille are is completely fake and blocked off with filled-in holes, or in the case of the new Ford Focus RS, a hideous grey bar of plastic that looks like a rugby player's mouth guard.

Ford recently globalised their design language, and part of that was taking the European "Kinetic Design" style - very much following Audi with its large grille and black plastic crash bar holding the licence plate inside it - and swapped the upper and lower grilles around (no, they didn't copy Aston Martin, you're not funny).

I like everything about the new Focus RS except for two things: the lack of a 3-door model and that fussy, ugly nose design. It's almost like they gave it two nose designs at once, giving it enough of an opening for the visibly huge intercooler and then putting that big daft trapezoidal lip around it all so that it looks like an angry fish! They completed the now-fashionable look by, of course, making anything inside the fish mouth grey.

So I decided to take the fish mouth off and color the grey back in using Photoshop. I think it looks cleaner, and a bit old-school, which Fast Fords ought to be in my opinion. You don't have to prefer it, but I do. So there.

The top image is literally what I just described, with the fog light housings squared off a little to make them fit in better with the resultant lines. Below is a slightly refined version with a thicker horizontal element.

If you like the cut of my jib, then you shall find much jib cutting at my (other) blog, which is called !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It's an engine pun! This week I have been mostly writing about racecars.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > Mikeado 02/03/2015 at 18:52

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"I'm bucking the trend!"

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Mikeado 02/03/2015 at 18:54

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went from a large mouth bass to this

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Mikeado 02/03/2015 at 18:55

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looks like an Evo X that's just ate a sour lolly

scoob > Mikeado 02/03/2015 at 19:02

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Hyundai started this:

Connect-the-taillights trend, which pretty much everyone else has been following now.

and 100 more > Mikeado 02/03/2015 at 19:03

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Vast improvement, IMO.

Only think I'll point out, nothing to do with your redesign, but how much those headlights make it look like an Evo from the front:

Saracen > Mikeado 02/03/2015 at 19:05

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I really don't think that looks any better.

jkm7680 > Mikeado 02/03/2015 at 19:09

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The catfish just closed it's mouth.

SOCdriver > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 02/03/2015 at 19:30

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The Hellcat can buck anything it wants, that car is a GIANT middle finger to all the high performance models that have super unique designs that separate it from the base model. Most people will not be able to tell this is a Hellcat until it is too late.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Mikeado 02/03/2015 at 19:34

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I Like that one better. The concept looks like it has a retainer in its mouth

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Mikeado 02/04/2015 at 05:35

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The lower one is a big improvement :)

Mikeado > and 100 more 02/04/2015 at 10:31

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Thanks :-)

The upper grille and the way the bumper cuts around the headlights are indeed quite similar.

Mikeado > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 02/04/2015 at 10:36

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Not a fan of the way that car looks, personally, especially the front. Like slightly-melted plastic.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > Mikeado 02/04/2015 at 10:43

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Nothing wrong with not liking it. The regular trimmed 2015 Chargers, I'm still on the fence about, even seeing one in person. I still think I prefer the 2011-2014 models.

CyanogenModFTW > Mikeado 02/05/2015 at 18:09

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i wonder how tough it sounds be to paint the darn thing body color?