June 26: Exhausting topic

Take a good look at this recent Acura. What is wrong with this picture? Smooth, if uninteresting lines, ending in a clean rear end. Any guesses? Give up? Ok, I understand that not everyone follows auto-minutiae, but what we have here, folks is a car lacking an important fashion statement. Now take a look at the rear of the latest TLX after a slight mid-cycle redo........ 

Spot those dual exhausts? Maybe you don't notice the rear end of cars, suvs or whatever these days, but those pipes are an important part of a vehicle's design in 2019. And they sure add to that plain Jane rear end.

Take my new Maxima as a case in point........

Nothing much changed with the 2019 mid-cycle refresh. They say the front was modified, but I still can't see it. The butt? Well, that's a different story. Those wild and crazy Nissan designers changed the exhaust tips. Used to be a single round tip on each side, but now there are oval shaped dual splitters. A new fashion statement, even if they are lying, since there is only one single pipe hidden behind each new rectangular twin. But that "look" is important even if it is "fake news".

How important, you ask? Check out the latest Camry.......

A vanilla Toyota with four exhaust tips? Sure, they are also fake, but a great look regardless. And on a Camry! 

Those pipes send a message to those of us who find this feature interesting and of value (get a life, Barry)

A few other examples.......

A Corvette's "must have" multi-tip exhaust screams power

Veloster N's centre mount duals

Civic R Type with three on a four cylinder?

No matter whether the rear exhausts make sense or not, they are something that adds to the sex appeal of the car. And yes, once again, even on that Camry, which used to have the sex appeal of a fully clothed Mennonite lass at the beach.

This bit of frivolity is being added to everything, not just those poor selling sedans or hot sports cars. Want a potent looking Honda CR-V.......

.......or a really potent Ram pick-up? Both sport those big round pipes, for which we can thank those dedicated followers of fashion designers.

No longer just a must have on a hot muscle car or muscular suv or really muscular pick-up. No sir, these days any fashionista worth the name is going to check out the butt of their prospective purchase, before laying out that hard earned coin. And the with-it buyer is going to make sure the new ride has this look........

Remember, these days Adele is not the only one that needs a great set of pipes.

Until next time........