I don't think it's a matter of the specs. On paper, it's a great sounding machine. But to look at it, one might think Honda liked the look of the Focus and wanted to emulate it.
On the other side, however, when the S2000 came out I first thought the pictures of it was horrendous. But when we got one in town and I was able to drive it... my opinion took a HUGE 180!:

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