The immediate reaction to the ZDX is that this is Honda's take on the BMW X6. The design shares the same fastback four-door SUV/crossover profile and is to the Acura MDX what the BMW X6 is to the X5; it shares the same platform and some of its interior with its more conventional sibling. But unlike the BMW, the Acura is a class size smaller – more BMW X3 than X5 – and is less off-road and aggressive in terms of design identity.
Beyond its coupe-like crossover design, the most striking aspect of the ZDX is the way its crisp, diving side crease lifts up over the rear wheel. This feature line then runs, slightly lazily, up around the trailing edge of the C-pillar and forwards along the cant rail. Another side feature line picks up just below the base of the A-pillar to wrap forwards under a near-horizontal upper surface, the headlamps and the grille. The combination of these two striking feature lines is very distinctive and was much liked by the designers we spoke to at the show. But just above the rocker is another crease, which oddly does not key with the crease behind the rear wheel.
The DLO is also quite striking and incorporates the rear door handle to accentuate the coupe-esque aesthetic of the ZDX while avoiding the potential conflict between that distinctive side feature line and a conventionally placed door handle.
The rear aspect is dominated by the dark tinted glazing that runs from the windshield through the roof to the tailgate. As pioneered on the 2000 Honda Insight – and now present on the new Insight and European Civic – there is a separate, near-vertical glazing element. This is graphically connected to the rear lights, although the material match in the show car was poor and the light illumination graphic doesn't gel well with the rest of the design.
Billed as a 'prototype', the ZDX is clearly production-ready bar the front lights, paint and interior trim details. And judging by the positive reception it recieved in New York, this new type of Acura strikes a better balance of coupe, SUV and crossover than its closest rival, the BMW X6.
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The current Grand Cherokee is based on the original 1993 design, but the new design debuting in New York is based on the monocoque structure of the Mercedes-Benz ML, and as such is a far more sophisticated vehicle. This is also reflected in the refined and controlled surfaces of the new car; witness the way the more softly blown volumes wrap around from the side to the front, with the upper side crease gently fading at the front to be picked up again by the creases running from the A-pillar and around the front of the hood. Only a slight fussiness at the base of the rear lights disturbs this high-quality impression.
The new-found quality feel of the design is equally evident in the interior, with upscale features such as a leather-covered instrument panel and the ‘Selec-Terrain' control dial which adjusts different traction control and air suspension settings. Soft-touch plastics, high-quality tan leather seats in the car presented in New York, air-conditioned front seats and optional wood appliqué on the sporty three-spoke steering wheel ensure that Grande Cherokee is truly a premium SUV – although the metallic plastic appliqué around the center stack, air vents and door handles fall short of European standards.
One aspect of the new Grand Cherokee that most of the designers in New York we spoke to were critical of is its inherent conservatism. Given the number of premium SUVs now in the market and the way they are becoming more distinctive, it seems a missed opportunity not to have used more distinctive Jeep and Cherokee design cues, or to have forged new design elements in this important new car. Similarly, it is disappointing to see several details so similar to those found on the previous-generation BMW X5: namely the gentle bodyside recess and the use of dark gray plastic wheelarch, rocker and valance extensions.
Unquestionably, the new Grand Cherokee is a big step forwards for Jeep, but it seems overly conservative for a car billed as a 2011 model. But perhaps this will affect its critical acclaim more than its sales performance in this inherently conservative sector of the market. And in these times, commercial success is more than ever the ultimate judge of good design.
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The Terrain was one of the more significant debuts at New York: a compact SUV-crossover sitting below the Arcadia in the GMC model line-up. What was most striking about the design in the flesh is its confident and very well resolved exterior design.
Although essentially an orthodox type of car, every element of the exterior has clearly been carefully considered and well integrated into the whole. The fender treatment is perhaps the best example of this: around a squared-off wheelarch aperture is a surface that flares outwards to give the requisite muscular look fitting for this typology. It pushes out from the flanks conventionally at the front and rear, but at its top it pushes out from a recess to give visual bulk without extending the car's overall width. A faint bone line runs across the upper part of this fender flare and keys into the start point of the recess above. We expect to see this subtle innovation on more cars in the future.
The fender flares are also interesting for the way they run into the deep rocker and under the front of the Terrain. This treatment is then echoed in the hood surface, which rolls around and under the grille. Relating to this also is the way the slim shoulder surface wraps up into the C-pillar and around the DLO.
Inside, the Terrain is more car-like in its aesthetic with a sweeping instrument panel ‘wing' in soft-touch dark charcoal surrounded by a recess on a lighter gray base. This theme is well executed if slightly generic, and focuses attention on the center stack, below which is a center console area featuring several large storage volumes. Interestingly, the hooded instrument binnacle has a chrome surround instead of individual chrome-ringed dials, as is the current convention. The other notable aspect to the interior is a sliding rear seat that in its rearmost position affords ‘full-size SUV' legroom.
The Terrain does not re-write the crossover rulebook, and perhaps its vertically oriented DRG makes it appear a little narrow. But it does moves the GMC brand forwards through an impressively well executed design.
