This weekend I went to the NC Auto Show with a few friends; it was my first time at the NC Auto Show and I didn't go there with incredibly high expectations (we don't get the same caliber of cars in NC that you'd see at Geneva or NY shows :)...), but it ended up being pretty interesting.
We essentially went around comparing clutches and shifters on just about every car out there. Mike Andrawes came with us and we determined that Mike and I have completely different opinions on what the ideal stick is. Mike is much more of an RX8 shifter guy whereas I prefered the 911 shifter they had on the floor; I do like the short throw of a lot of the Honda/Mazda shifters but they are a bit too notchy for my tastes. It's a shame that there's no good in between, although I will add that I'm sure a lot of them smoothen up once the engine is actually running and they have a handful of miles on them.
The new Mustang looks infinitely better in person than the current gen Mustangs, I definitely think it was a good improvement. It still looks a little bulky but it's a huge improvement; I like it.
I was disappointed that the new C6 Vette wasn't there as it's the first Vette since the Z06 that I've been excited about. I'm still more of a high/free revving engine fanatic, but the lighter, slightly smaller, more powerful C6 does pique my curiousity a bit.
The shifter in the Crossfire was horrible; it was incredibly sloppy, lacked any sort of definition, was springy beyond belief and just felt cheap. The styling of the Crossfire is unique but I honestly don't see it being much of a hit.
I'd seen the new BMW 5 series in person before and I hated it; they had the 5 series at the show and I continued to hate it but I also came to the realization that I don't think the interior is that impressive either. I will admit that I don't usually follow the norm when it comes to thinking an interior is nice (e.g. I think the Audi interiors are nice when it comes to build quality but I'm not particularly impressed by them as far as styling goes). I do like what I've seen from the sketches of the upcoming 3 series, but I think the 5 is all wrong. I hate the 6 series as well. If you really want to see how confusing my perspectives are, get this: I like the Z4's styling (minus the nose). Mike says I have a warped perspective on cars.
The RX8 is nice and I prefer the free-revving setup to the 350Z (I've always been a fan of finesse) but I don't see that car succeeding at all. The styling of the RX8 is simply too weird and the fact of the matter is that most people can feel the 350Z's torque, whereas the vast majority of the car buying market will never rev the RX8 high enough to get an appreciation for the engine (I'm not talking about car people, I'm talking about person x who likes the way the car looks and knows nothing about it otherwise). The 350Z also looks a lot better than the RX8; it's a shame that the arrival of a RX7 successor seems to hinge on RX8 sales.
Hmm let's see what else did I have rambling opinions on...the Evo VIII is interesting, it's a little too boy-racer for me but you can't beat speed; I'd like to drive one. The S2000 still intrigues me as it is a light, free-revving, very trackable convertible (whose top drops in an incredibly few number of seconds). The new TL is a techgeek's dream, although I'm not a FWD guy you can't beat the amount of cool toys Acura threw into that car. The TL is the type of car that you absolutely have to buy a bluetooth phone for.
The car that I'm looking forward to the most this year is the new Elise. The Elise is the epitome of a driver's car and it's finally going to be street legal here in the US without modification this year. Unfortunately it looks like the cars will carry at least some of a markup this year unless demand is significantly lower than what I've been hearing. I'll take weight savings over more power any day.
Ooops, I carblogged :)
We essentially went around comparing clutches and shifters on just about every car out there. Mike Andrawes came with us and we determined that Mike and I have completely different opinions on what the ideal stick is. Mike is much more of an RX8 shifter guy whereas I prefered the 911 shifter they had on the floor; I do like the short throw of a lot of the Honda/Mazda shifters but they are a bit too notchy for my tastes. It's a shame that there's no good in between, although I will add that I'm sure a lot of them smoothen up once the engine is actually running and they have a handful of miles on them.
The new Mustang looks infinitely better in person than the current gen Mustangs, I definitely think it was a good improvement. It still looks a little bulky but it's a huge improvement; I like it.
I was disappointed that the new C6 Vette wasn't there as it's the first Vette since the Z06 that I've been excited about. I'm still more of a high/free revving engine fanatic, but the lighter, slightly smaller, more powerful C6 does pique my curiousity a bit.
The shifter in the Crossfire was horrible; it was incredibly sloppy, lacked any sort of definition, was springy beyond belief and just felt cheap. The styling of the Crossfire is unique but I honestly don't see it being much of a hit.
I'd seen the new BMW 5 series in person before and I hated it; they had the 5 series at the show and I continued to hate it but I also came to the realization that I don't think the interior is that impressive either. I will admit that I don't usually follow the norm when it comes to thinking an interior is nice (e.g. I think the Audi interiors are nice when it comes to build quality but I'm not particularly impressed by them as far as styling goes). I do like what I've seen from the sketches of the upcoming 3 series, but I think the 5 is all wrong. I hate the 6 series as well. If you really want to see how confusing my perspectives are, get this: I like the Z4's styling (minus the nose). Mike says I have a warped perspective on cars.
The RX8 is nice and I prefer the free-revving setup to the 350Z (I've always been a fan of finesse) but I don't see that car succeeding at all. The styling of the RX8 is simply too weird and the fact of the matter is that most people can feel the 350Z's torque, whereas the vast majority of the car buying market will never rev the RX8 high enough to get an appreciation for the engine (I'm not talking about car people, I'm talking about person x who likes the way the car looks and knows nothing about it otherwise). The 350Z also looks a lot better than the RX8; it's a shame that the arrival of a RX7 successor seems to hinge on RX8 sales.
Hmm let's see what else did I have rambling opinions on...the Evo VIII is interesting, it's a little too boy-racer for me but you can't beat speed; I'd like to drive one. The S2000 still intrigues me as it is a light, free-revving, very trackable convertible (whose top drops in an incredibly few number of seconds). The new TL is a techgeek's dream, although I'm not a FWD guy you can't beat the amount of cool toys Acura threw into that car. The TL is the type of car that you absolutely have to buy a bluetooth phone for.
The car that I'm looking forward to the most this year is the new Elise. The Elise is the epitome of a driver's car and it's finally going to be street legal here in the US without modification this year. Unfortunately it looks like the cars will carry at least some of a markup this year unless demand is significantly lower than what I've been hearing. I'll take weight savings over more power any day.
Ooops, I carblogged :)
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GTaudiophile - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
Bah! Yes, BMW has somewhat maintained its "road feel prowess" even with the new 5 and 7, but at what cost? You should check out some of the ownership experiences over at www.roadfly.org. When iDrive fails, often so do things like active steering and everything goes to hell. Then, they have to have their car towed to the nearest dealer to get a freaking software upgrade for iDrive. Rumor has it that maintaining a new 7 is like taking the space shuttle to your local BMW dealer.I'm just a purest: I want 50/50 weight distribution, RWD, a slick shifter, solid clutch, disc brakes all around, and decent torque and horse power...and a sun roof! You can have all the gadgetry...unless it all works right (as it does in the new Acura TL and Toyota Prius).
As for your autoshow experience with Porsche, did you ask to sit in their car? Porsche does not unlock their cars to anyone at the ATL show. At least they haven't in many years.
Lastly, I have to agree with you on the Elise. Talk about purity in a car! I've been drooling over the Elise for quite a few years now. Too bad it offers no utility; I could afford one, but I'd still need a second car...
NeutronMonk - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
SmurfTower, the NY Auto Show is always in April ( 4.10 thru 4.18 this year- http://www.autoshowny.com/ ) so you haven't missed it :) . This looks to be a good year, lots of new stuff! By the way, I would rate the NY show third of the U.S. shows- the L.A. and the Detroit shows tend to be flashier, with more hype and cars...The Geneva show is always in March and affords one the chance to see all the great European cars that will never make it to the States :( ... (and yes, this includes the French! :) )Anand, can you reliably gauge a transmission when nothing's moving?
P.S. I'm getting an Audi S4 Cabriolet when they come out in the fall. :-)
Anand Lal Shimpi - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
GTaudiophileI've never had the luxury of actually playing with iDrive, although I've heard the very same things you have mentioned about it.
I agree that BMW's styling has definitely taken a nosedive, but I will say this - what made BMW the "Ultimate Driving Machine" was not styling or interior luxury, it was road-feel. As far as I know (I haven't driven the new 7 or 5), the one thing of BMW's that has remained intact has been their utterly amazing road-feel. There's something very different about the feedback their cars give vs. other similarly sporty 4 seaters.
I tried to play with the Miata's shifter at the show but they removed the shift knob! Even the 911 still had its shift knob intact, but for whatever reason Mazda, Honda (S2000) and a handful of other companies decided to remove the shift knobs from their cars. I managed to get some of a feel for the Miata's shifter but not as much as I would've liked.
And don't worry, I've never been an "image" sort of guy; it's just not my style :)
Take care,
Anand
GTaudiophile - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
I've driven "sticks" from BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Mazda, and Ford. (I still want to see how Audi's, Subaru's, and Honda's offerings stack up.) Of those I just mentioned, I prefer the linkage on my Miata above all the others. I love how I can feel the cogs through my finger tips, and I love that precise, "notchy" feeling. There's nothing worse than a rubbery-feeling stick. I also love short sticks for really quick throws. BMW offers the second-best setup, IMO. BMW's clutch requires more pedal travel than most, though, and that takes some getting use to. BMW's friction point also seemingly engages pretty late compared to most.You should sit in a Miata next time and throw it around! I promise, it won't tarnish your image during that minute or two ;)
GTaudiophile - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
Anand: I would REALLY REALLY like your comments on BMW's iDrive. I've spent a good bit of time behind the wheel of the E60 7-series, and even though I am very tech/computer savvy, I find iDrive's UI to be complete shite! Some GT computer-science grads and friends of mine agree.I personally use to think that BMW was the best auto manufacturer in the world, but their crazy new designs and iDrive have totally turned me off. Both interior fit and finish and long-term reliability have suffered as well. It's the little things that make the wrong statement that really bother me. For example, BMW no longer tilts the dash towards the driver in their new cars. Is BMW saying they are no longer THE driver's car? What's with putting the gear-shift on the column in the new 7? If I wanted that, I'd buy a Ford or something. BMW now rests its future in the hands of wizardry like Active Steering INSTEAD of pure physics and 50/50 weight distribution.
As someone said, "BMW is like that most admired, 4.0 GPA, 1600 SAT, track star high school kid you use to know who blew it all on drugs."
Damn them!
Mike Andrawes - Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - link
Hey guys, just thought I'd drop in and say hi since Anand mentioned me specifically in his blog. The car show was great fun, mainly to hang out with Anand and friends, which is something I don't get to do often enough these days.Now, to address this issue of stick preference: Anand seems to prefer buttery smooth shifters that require minimal effort. I'd prefer a little more tactile feedback between each gear, which consequently means at least a little bit more effort at some point during a shift. I also am more insistant on having relatively short throws, although not at the expense of excessive effort or notchyness. It's definitely a delicate balance and I wouldn't go out and buy a short shifter kit for every car out there.
The RX-8 is still my favorite transmission, and it's a good thing with that cars 9000rpm redline since you'll need to be shifting a lot more to take full advantage of the beautiful rotary engine. The S2000's transmission has been proclaimed by C&D as the "best production transmission ever built," which has prompted me to want to try one. Maybe I will one of these weekends when I finish my rotations.
The Crossfire definitely has some issues. As someone else noted, it's essentially a MB SLK in disguise. I actually went out and drove one and it's a pretty good cruiser car, but it certainly was not particularly inspiring or fun compared to the likes of something like an RX-8 or 350Z.
If only they'd bring back the RX-7, preferably in full twin turbo guise....
BTW - Anand definitely does have a warped perspective on cars. I won't bore you with my theories on how that happened exactly...
yknott - did they really lower the switch over point for the hot cams in the Elise? I had read that they didn't change the gearing or anything interanlly, which prompted me to believe it'd have the same issues as the Celica GT-S when trying to stay on the hot cam lobe. Granted, that was in C&D or R&T, so I take that with a grain of salt...
hi - Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - link
RS6.yknott - Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - link
The Elise looks to be a great car. The US version will use the Toyota Celica engine. From a review I read, the light weight of the car makes the Celica engine in the Elise NOTHING like the Celica. They modified the VVTI to kick in a bit lower and changed the gearing. If you really enjoy free revving cars Anand, this is the car for you =)Wally Nowakowski - Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - link
I want the awd skylineSmurfTower - Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - link
Re:But like I said, comparatively, the gas mileage is great for this size of car and comparable performance.Cool. I'm torn between the mustang and the prius. Two totally different cars I know but the choice between a sleek powerful machine for only 20grand or environmentally friendly vehicle that's cute as a button for around the same price is tough. Its funny that these two cars would even be in the same league (times are a changing) :).