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[CrazyG]

this question has come up before and it appears there are those 'in favour' and those 'against'
the faux (imitation) bonnet vents on our cars. 
Note:-  Later models did not have them fitted as part of a cost saving excercise by Smart.

So.......make your preference known by voting.
Make your selection by clicking in the 'blob' next to your choice, then click on 'cast your vote'.
 
It in no way means that if the voting is 'in favour' of them that you should immediately go out
and purchase a air and stick them on, or that if the vote is 'against them' that you should go
out and rip yours off either. How you vote will be what you see as right for your car, no one elses.

PICS:

Without...


With...

[funkydoodycool]

They look nice, but that's all.  I'd rather have a pair of REAL vents that could do some good for my engine bay temps, or feed the intake or whatever else a piece of soon-to-turn-grey plastic can't.

I VOTE NO.

[Problemchild]

FOR

...because they look nice!

If a car is design to have something then it should be there.

making a real vent involves modifying inner and outer bonnet skins plus the sound deadening.

JJ

[brulaw]

I'm also  " for "  them ,  if they are not there the bonnet might as well be  flat .

[Leon]

As i had just sticked them on the car, i definitely say "FOR"... I think they look nice and i have the feeling of "missing" something if they aren't there. It's like Brulaw says, the Bonnet might as well be flat then..

[brulaw]

Just to see how the car would look with a flat bonnet  I quickly did this ......



Not nice .

--------------------------------------------------
posted by JJ

vs....



(still not nice)

haha!!

(was gonna post straight after as direct comparison but someone beat me to it)

JJ

[K80POO]

Are they not standard?  Oogley has them and I think that it would look odd without them.  Makes it have a more "sporty" look.

[Fox]

In my view, it changes the way you look at the hood and the car completely. Let your eyes flow over the hood, looking at the raised M that is made. You kinda have to, you're ringed in by the gap and there's only that shape on the bonnet now. Your eyes hit the edge Of the bonnet and are forced back round again, or off the front of the car. you get stuck. There's nothing special there to hold you in place, no styling item to enjoy on your journey over the car, cut up the view of whats there and force you to take it in differenly. It just makes it look like an embossed huge M. Which I question its purpose for the two 'scoop like' impressions in make it seem like it's missing something. Its almost hard to see the scoop like shapes, you just see a letter. Why a letter? sMart? Isn't that where Bruce Campbell buys his sporting goods?

*note - the answer is no. no I have not been taking funny tablets or herbal remedies.

[Carbon Addict]

whether my opinion counts or not as i dont own a forfour, i dont think they work you would laugh at a corsa or saxo with a fake bonnet vent, why should the forfour be different? i agree it LOOKS ok but as soon as you get up close you can see its fake and looks a bit silly.

[Problemchild]

It's all about looks for me!

Like the non fog indicator units....they detract from the good looks of the car.

There are many things on the forfour that when you get up close and investigate are clearly cheap and plasticky because it's not a £60k merc

Loads of cars have plastic styling trim - all for looks

JJ

[nomad8459]

The bonnet looks silly without them tbh.

Looks like something is missing.

The second picture with, definitely looks more appealing which is probably why they went WITH them in the end, even though they are now "fake"

[Unknown]

I think its down to styling, the forfour looks wrong without them - the bonnet is finished to accommodate them. Yes, it would be nice if they did something but they they're a nice bit of decoration like the door sills. If you think the rear doors have blank speaker grills, why? Again a bit of style and cost saving too. lol

As for the indicator/fog units, I think they've done well with two separate units so you're not left with an unsightly blanking plate. Either unit looks fine, I like them low level - brings the height of the car down visually.

[Big Dunc]

People say it looks wrong, because they are used to seeing them.

I dont have the fake vents, just the moulded bonnet.

If I had them, I would want them to be real, as "fake" makes it look like a Halfords boy racer car, covered in "fake" carbon fibre, that actualy does nothing other than adding weight.

However, there is more to a vent than just cutting a hole in the bonnet.  As mentioned above, there could be an insulation issue.  They could let water onto something that does not want it.  They could change the airflow within the engine bay and cause heat build up problems elsewhere.  In an ideal world, they would help with cooling and underbonnet temps, but are they generally a problem with a forfour?

Each to there own.  It would be a boring world if we all had the same, or even all wanted the same.  There is no "right or wrong"