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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Dave - Monday, April 19, 2004 - link
Anand,What car are you driving now? Do you still have the M roadster?
Ashby - Monday, March 8, 2004 - link
Anand,Don't make any judgments about a 'vette's stick until you've driven one that's been broken in properly. About six months ago I got a very low mileage lease return '01. The stick was extremely stiff, enough so that my mechanic (who drives a vette) commented on it. After 10,000 miles of mountain driving up & down the Angeles Crest Highway, it's a whole different beastie. :D
The only thing that sucks is the 2nd gear lockout. Grrr.
It's still a big car, but I do love it. (Look at me, gushing like a schoolgirl.) Also, the mileage isn't bad. I just made a 3000 mile round trip to OKC and averaged 30 MPG going 80-100! OK, so it's not a Prius (strangely, the other car I was contemplating), but then I only live a mile from work.
Admittedly it's not as free revving at the top as some other cars (and I do miss that), but the torque is a blast.
mAdD INDIAN - Saturday, February 28, 2004 - link
Ferrari's are overpriced for what you get. Now I've never had the pleasure of driving one (or even sitting inside one..heh) but I have read journals of Ferrari owners. Their cars are probably the most horribly built and unreliable car that I've ever read about. Things fails continuously and often has to be trailered to the dealership.You'd think for a $120k+ car, they would have managed to get the reliability straight.
That said, I'd love to drive a Ferrari, but I don't know about owning one..
SeraphsSati - Friday, February 27, 2004 - link
Ya, Macs have a way of making you lose everything you've done.Anand Lal Shimpi - Thursday, February 26, 2004 - link
PatrickExactly :) Toys have never been about practicality.
HammerFan
I'm not saying that all MR cars are perfect, I'm saying that MR is the ideal starting point (IMHO) for a sportscar. It also depends on your definition of a sportscar, if you're talking about getting down a dragstrip real quickly then you'll lose a lot of the benefits of a mid-engine setup. But if you're talking about squealing down the corkscrew at Laguna Seca then mid-engine starts to make more sense.
The Enzo is an incredible piece of engineering, I am in love with that car (the next 360 is supposedly referred to internally at Ferrari as the Baby Enzo).
Adam K
Never had the pleasure of driving the 2002, it does sound fun though by your description.
Arshad
Honda desperately needs to do something with the NSX. It's still a very impressive car (and I still think a Ferrari is behind me when I see one fly up on me from a distance) but it's just overpriced right now for what it delivers. The benefit is that you can pick up a used one for a pretty good price. I'm curious to see what the HSC will end up being; I'd like to see a new NSX, especially since the Gallardo has been relatively disappointing. Competition is always good :)
Take care,
Anand
Arshad - Thursday, February 26, 2004 - link
CaptainSpectacular: I don't want to hijack this thread, but just wanted to give a quote from the the Detroit Auto Show keynote by Takeo Fukui (Honda president and CEO):"And that is the thinking behind the HSC concept car that you can see at the Acura stand. This model will serve as the basis for the next generation NSX you will see within a few years."
Although I can't find it right now, there's another quote which is even more explicit in stating that the HSC *WILL* be the new NSX, with few changes going into production.
If you're interested, there's a dedicated forum to HSC discussion on nsxprime.com:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=...
Gotta start saving my pennies :D
Adam K - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
My favorite car is the BMW 1974 2002tii. Have you ever driven one of these before? Turbo clutch? The handling of the thing is immense and the acceleration is unbelieveable. I used to own one. The engine and suspension was rebuilt from top to bottom. It was one monster of a car.HammerFan - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
Anand, I've found that not all MR cars are that great, and some FR cars (the Vette is prob the best example) can put many other cars that are MR and more expensive to shame IMHO. The expensive MRs (+200,000) are almost [i]always[/i] nice (the Saleen S7, Enzo, many others). I'd take any one of those in a heartbeat....Patrick - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
So very true about practicality vs. driving experience! When I was first looking at my Audi TT Quatro, it was a hard sell for my fiancé. She kept saying how completely impractical it was. My defense was rather weak... all wheel drive will be great in the winter, 2+2 seating kinda allows 4 people to be in it, OK, as I'm 6'2", never 4, but at least 3 ;-), and the rear storage is decent.I went ahead and got it last year and have never looked back. Everyday I drive it, it brings a smile to my face... :-) That cannot me measured in terms of practicality.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
NeutronMonkYou are right, it's not the best way to gauge a gearbox but I made the same comparison with cars I'd already driven and found that I could still get a pretty decent feel for the tranny with the car off.
GTaudiophile
Have you ever read about what Ferrari owners put themselves through just because of the cars' road-feel and overall driving experience? :) I know, BMW is no Ferrari and they are much more of a mass market manufacturer - but I just wanted to point out that people are willing to live with a lot for driving experience.
That being said, it's not acceptible on a mass market car. I had heard that the iDrive issues were fixed in the later versions of the 7 series and I haven't kept up with reading about them so I'm not up to date on what owners are running into. Granted ever since the M3 rod-throwing engines I've seen more and more major-issues crop up with BMWs.
I think we want the same things in a car, except that you're missing mid engine as a requirement :) I like balance in a car but I definitely want the engine to be in the right location if I'm talking about a sportscar.
The NC Auto Show was basically put on by dealers with their cars on the floor; surprisingly enough you could sit in the Boxster, Cayenne and 911 Cab they had on the floor. The only two cars you couldn't sit in at the show were the new Mustang and the S2000.
The Elise is just amazing, I've got a couple friends taking delivery of theirs this year so I'm hoping to get some driving experience in one soon. The Elise is horribly impractical but if you always follow practicality when it comes to cars you'll never enjoy the best things out there :)
Take care,
Anand