You may have heard about the Golden Ratio before, though probably not in the automotive realm. Honestly, we're less than impressed by this bit of science right now because we’ve already seen the contents of this slideshow, and frankly, we’re flat-out gobsmacked by this experiment. Before we commit further slander against the scientific community – not to mention the good folks at CarWow who presumably spent considerable time on this study – let us explain what’s happening here.
In short, the Golden Ratio is a long-standing equation that basically attempts to quantify beauty. By applying this scientific equation to geometric shapes, the result is allegedly something the human eye finds most pleasing. We say allegedly because, while interesting, beauty is ultimately a subjective exercise. Still, one might use the equation to determine shapes with broad appeal. On that front, the maths checks out.
The CarWow team took the Golden Ratio and applied it to individual shapes on literally hundreds of cars, all to try and determine – from a scientific standpoint – which vehicles are the best and worst looking from the last 10 years. We respect the effort invested into such an endeavour, but we suspect the vast majority of you will agree that, this time around, science is just plain wrong.
The slideshow above features the five ugliest and prettiest cars of recent years as determined by the Golden Ratio, starting with the worst. For the record, you won't find a big-nosed BMW or a suave Ferrari in this collection, which is a bit telling right there. Science can do much better.
An eye for design:
Source: Carwow