Seeing that James, an Automotive Editor, can’t tell the difference… Think you can?
“Hey James, what car is that?”
I’ve been able to successfully answer that question since I was 3 years old. But sadly, I can no longer tell Audis apart. Give me enough time, a big enough photo, a magnifying glass and man named Helmut and I’ll be able to figure it out. OK, so that’s an exaggeration, but when I see a newish Audi coming toward me on the road, I can’t tell if its an old A4 or a new A4 or an A3 or an A5 or an A6. Go ahead, take your best guess with the four cars above. The SUVs are no better. Just the other day I thought I saw my first civilian Q5 on the road — nope, just a Q7.
I was always able to tell BMWs apart back in the day before the company differentiated them with flame surfacing and weirdo headlights. I have no problem telling a C-Class or E-Class apart, nor the cookie-cutter Volvos. But there’s something about Audi.
It didn’t used to be that way. Back in the late 90s, telling an A4, A6 and A8 from each other was easy. Each maintained family ties, but had different enough shapes to create individual model identity. Then Audi made the A4 look like the A6, and then the A6 looked like the A4 and then the A4 looked like the A5 and the A3 was the given the big corporate shnoz. Then they all got the R8′s LED running lights making the R8 just a little less special. It’s like Audi develops one interesting styling idea per new car, then immediately has to make sure none of the other children feel left out. “But mein Vater, I vant a lateral trunk crease too!” The interior isn’t much better.
I like common design cues and distinct corporate design character. The opposite is Hyundai, which doesn’t know what the hell it’s doing from one year to the next. Have you seen the Genesis grille or the redesigned Accent? I just want to be able to tell you what car that is and Audi is making my job difficult.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor
“Thoughts from the Curb” is my weekly editorial column that appears every Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. Eastern. It delves deeper into whatever automotive topic pops into my bizarre mind. Next week, he’ll discuss how he can tell Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen apart.
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