When it comes to auto design gimmicks, I think tailgate/hatch design gimmicks tend to be some of the best, because they’re often genuinely useful. Like those two-way tailgates used on many American station wagons in the ’60s and ’70s, where they would open sideways like a door or drop down like an actual tailgate. Those had uses! A tailgate is an ideal place to experiment with new ideas, because the problems of getting stuff and people into the backs of cars are perpetual. Honda realized this, and between 2015 and 2022 came up with a really novel and clever solution to the never-ending Tailgate Conundrum. And, even better, they gave it a funny name.
Honda called this the Waku Waku tailgate, available on their Step WGN minivan, and like almost all previous novel tailgate ideas, the key to it was that it incorporated two methods of opening into one tailgate. In general concept, of course, this wasn’t new: as I mentioned in the first paragraph, there have been other multi-opening tailgate ideas, like Ford and GM, who had ones that opened sideways, like a door, and dropped down, like a truck tailgate.
Oh, and “waku waku (わくわく )” means a certain kind of giddy excitement in Japanese; one source suggested it was an onomatopoeia, which, aside from Pac-Man, makes me wonder what that means, exactly. Anyway, here’s the GM and Ford tailgates I was talking about:
There were also designs like Skoda’s clever TwinDoor setup that let a car with a three-box sedan-like silhouette have a conventional trunk opening and a hatch:
Those are all cool, and there are definitely more, but I’m not certain any other carmaker had taken the approach that Honda took with this Step WGN tailgate: it was a large, lift-up style of hatch, but it also had an integrated sideways-opening door. The Step WGN was designed for both people and a bunch of stuff, and as such had a third row of seats. In most minivans, getting to that third row can be pretty cumbersome, but the Step WGN solved it with that inset door, as you can see here:
That’s such a better way to get to that third row! There’s no painful contortions as you try to flip second row seats forward and squeeze through gaps; you can just open a door and step in!
Of course, this really only works if one section of that third row is folded into the floor, but as the guy in that video shows, one person can raise the seat pretty easily. So, if there’s more than one person, one could get in and sit down first, then the other could get in position and raise the seat once they were in the right spot.
It’s just so damn clever I could spit. It’s interesting how Honda just split that door almost down the middle, and just bisected whatever was there, like the chrome license plate light trim. The door is unashamedly asymmetrical, though, which is clever in that it suggests which side can be opened.
I like how the asymmetry wraps around the corner with the lowered black section that blends into the window area, creating an interesting little visual dip around the rear corner of the car.
I just find this such a clever and delightful thing; opening up, it provides a massive orifice for loading things in and out, but, of course, opening such a large tailgate takes space, and is physically more demanding for people who want to get into the car. The inset door solves all of these issues, and gives easier access to the rear for passengers. It’s just smart.
While it seems the take rate on these was quite good, the current generation of Honda Step WGN just has a normal, upward-opening tailgate. Maybe the Waka-Waka gate was just too expensive to produce? Whatever the reason, I think the Step WGN feels like it’s taken a step backwards by abandoning something so useful and novel.
Torch, this thing is awesome. Exactly the kind of article that keeps me coming back.
Also love the Fozzie Bear reference in the top shot. I can almost hear him saying “Waka Waka”.
All large opening hatches should have seperately opening glass. That was the biggest downgrade from my WJ Grand Cherokee to my ’05 MDX. If I’m using the hitch, I likely cannot open the hatch but will be able to open the glass. My current Highlander fixes this. My dad’s early ’80s Fox body wagon had opening glass, as did A-body wagons.
I loved the separately opening glass on our ZJ Gran Cherokee. It was so nice to pop open and stick something long through out the back.
You know when you go to a close friends house and enter through the back door? If i got into a car through the back i would feel pretty waku waku
Pretty much entering anything through the rear would make one fell pretty waku waku, yes?
Ford called that tailgate/door combo “Magic Doorgate” and patented it. Into the early ’70s everyone else’s wagons came with a tailgate if it was a 2-row (or in the case of the Vista Cruiser and the then almost irrelevant truck based wagons) the third row faced forward, or a swing door if you had the rear facing 3rd row.
I’m not sure exactly when Ford’s patents expired but the ’71 GM disappearing tailgate was an attempt to one-up it, the ’74 generation of C body Mopars had a doorgate and GM finally copied it for ’77 since the disappearing tailgate was massively space inefficient and required a forward facing 3rd row which the downsized B bodies just didn’t have room for within the then expected proportions.
GM caught up a lot sooner than ’77 – they called the tailgate/door combo the “Dual-Action tailgate” and introduced it to their A-body wagons in ’69 as an option on 2-row cars and standard with 3-row cars.
I actually looked at getting a Step WGN for a while last year as a replacement for our SUV when my wife’s family come to live with us. I loved the Waku-Waku tailgate – it was one of the key reasons for considering the car as it could provide easy access to the third row for my wife’s mum and sister whilst leaving the baby seats in place in the second row.
I was cross shopping with the Nissan Serena ePower Autech. Autech is a bit like a luxury version of Nissan’s Nismo tuning arm – so yes this is a minivan with quilted leather seats, a stiffened chassis and tuned suspension to give a “sportier” drive. No waku waku tailgate, but you could open the back window separately to the full tailgate which is a handy feature shared with our SUV.
In the end we ended up deciding to keep the SUV since I figured out a way to use that car’s rather tight third row for one of the kids, so my wife’s mum and sister could sit in the second row. Then the war happened and they haven’t been able to come to be with us at all. So we’ve had the car nearly three years and have never used the third row.
It sucks that I even have to ask, “which war?”
Just stop already. The “schoolgirl crush” attitude of people toward Japan is downright creepy. While this mechanism is outside the really idolized 80s to 90s, it still shows that people have this unsettling fascination with anything that comes out of the country – its turned into a bizarre fetish.
There’s nothing particularly great or useful about this design that warrants its complexity & (probably) cost. If any other country had developed this, I guarantee you that the same “journalists” who are gushing over the design now, would have been complained about it being a complex gimmick.
I mean it’s just a fascination with what’s different to the norm. It’s no different to how there’s a whole bunch of American car enthusiasts who are enamored by diesel passenger cars from Europe.
Its WELL beyond that for some people. There’s a disturbing fetish-ism for all things JDM by (mostly) Millennials.
What’s wrong with having a fetish?
Right? We don’t kink shame around here.
eck
Dude Japan has a fetish for Japan.
That’s because they have not moved on from their 80s/90s hey-day. Like the middle-age used-up salesman who still fantasizes about the 2 field goals he scored against their cross-town rivals in the “big game”.
Brown diesel station wagon
Dude I think you need to chill.
Japan is a fascinating country. They like to do many things differently, and sometimes it results in clever innovation. There’s nothing wrong with showing appreciation for that.
Say what you want, but the mid-gate on the Chevroret Avaranche was pretty cool and useful.
You can still get it on the Silverado and Sierra EVs. I’m not sure how different/close they are to the original Avalanche though.
It’s a door-within-a-hatch that has a funny sounding name! Relax.
I could also judge and make condescending remarks into the ether about interests that don’t align with my own. Instead, I just continue living my life.
If you want to have an honest discussion about the usefulness of this unusual feature, this is the community for you. If you just want to be bitter and rant about people’s opinions and interests, then perhaps a different website is better suited to your tastes.
You mad bro. Clearly I hit a nerve, but its OK. Relax. No one is going to find out about your tentacle pr0n collection.
Friend, we have a great community here with people of all different walks of life. There’s no need for this. Please stop.
We don’t talk to each other like that here. You must be new.
Please quit it, and find your civility.
Man, what a time we lived in with wagons, fold down tailgates, and towing capacity in a car.
But, sure, the Honda hatch is neat. Mostly so you could open it when you have nearly no clearance above or behind.
Fascinating! But yes, the lack of a bumper would present problems in America.
When Japan needs a better idea, Honda puts it on wheels!
Ok, this is cool, but back to that Skoda. What problem is that trying to solve? Are people afraid of being seen with big trunk openings as some sort of self inflicted masochism to show they’re just the common people?
I think one of the common problems with hatchbacks is overhead clearance – I can’t fully open my trunk in the garage, for example (though my doctor says there is a cream for that).
Maybe it’s just a question of reach – the pictures of it with the hatch open make it look like the opened hatch is a very long way off the ground.
Maybe also some small advantage in having a smaller opening during heavy rain.
Clever door.
Too bad there’s absolutely no bumper – so when you accidentally back into the garden wall, you’re replacing not just one but two doors.
waku waku
all I could think of, beat me to it
This is more impressive than the entire production of the Bugatti Veyron.
Ooo, such David-baiting!
i am at a loss for what problem this solves? closing the hatch while inside the car?? now we have electric trunks and the rest is history.
I think it’s pretty clear: accessing the third row with dignity.
I have to do a blocking move to keep my dog from running out when I open the hatch. With this I could crack it open to grab her collar. I’m sure there are other niche uses.
interesting.. you could also load the people in the back .. first. also novel concept would be have the middle row fold down to make getting to the back faster. I’m not trying to be a hater this is genuinely a very weird / niche feature!
In MPVs like these the second row seats tend to be fairly large and bulky items, so it may not always be the easiest or most graceful to fold down for access to the third row.
Another use case is you can still access the cargo area in a tight parking space if you’ve reversed in for whatever reason. This happens to me a lot as I prefer to back in, and then remember I need to get something out of the boot. Today I actually had to move the car forward a bit so I could open the tailgate.