Went opening day for the public on Saturday morning. Got there around 10:45 and Javits was packed. This was my second year going to the auto show. Ferrari/Maserati/and Lambo was absent. Went back in '06. Included some crappy iPhone pictures. I've realized I need to invest in a good dSLR...

Ended up trying to go to every possible stand I could. Skipped Mitsubishi and skimmed through Toyota mostly. Saw Blake Griffin at the Kia stand.

Scion, Lexus, Audi, VW, BMW, and MB were completely packed...

Cars to note IMO:

VW



Passat: VW's 2nd/3rd most important car (behind Beetle/Jetta?) and I think that they did a great job on the car. It looks pretty sharp in person and has a pretty good presence. They had a loaded TDI on the stand. I was most impressed with the back seats. So much leg room! Very spacious car. Kind of disappointing that there is no hood struts, etc. Trunk was large also. Interior was strokeable. Bottom half of the dash was hard plastic, but that's about it. Top half was squishy. There definitely are places were costs were cut, such as cup holder linings, glove box linings, etc. it's all straight up plastic now.





Golf R: saw this before at VW HQ last summer. Loved the car. Seats were great. Interior was typical Golf goodness. It's still sad that a Golf has a better interior than the Passat



GLI: Love this car. Looked super sharp. Great interior. Yes, I stroked the dash. And I can confirm the IRS also.



Beetle: Less girly, more manly IMO. Super spacious. Great interior. Complete opposite from the recent VW interiors



Fender Audio System: On par with Dynaudio in the Golf IMO. Very good bass, good range overall. Looking forward to see VW putting Fender throughout the lineup.

New Impreza: Looks much much better in person. Locked on a stand, so couldn't look in the interior.



Regal GS: Amazing presence


Chevy Sonic: amazing departure from the ****ty Aveo. Loved the motorcycle gauges.





New Malibu: Looked great in person. Much better than the old crappy Malibu next to it



Bumblebee: thought this was cool



New SLK: back looks awkward, but the front looked good IMO. Locked, so couldn't go inside.



BMW:

1M: thought I wouldn't like it in person, but it looks amazing compared to a regular 1er. Sat it in. Loved the tight fit. Weird that the 1M doesn't have Xenons...



Audi: as usual, it was the most packed stand. Audi had the best presentation out of everyone. All the cars looked great. Everything stood out



A8 W12: I still feel like this car is missing something in its appearence. Just a little weird



A7: looks great in person. Couldn't sit in it.

TT-RS: spent a solid 30 minutes going over this car. Interior is typical RS goodness. The seats were great and the leather stitched interior was just...





R8s: what's there to say... It was next to impossible to get a picture of them. The R8 GT was amazing. Matte White with CF bits everywhere.





new A6: homerun for Audi hopefully. Got no pictures, but I waited about 10 minutes to sit in it. The interior was top notch and it was a very spacious car. This is confirmed with a TDI and Quattro in the US market. It will be a great daily driver. No one on the stand could confirm a A6 Avant TDI...

Evoque: One of my favorite little SUVs from the show. Looked great. They were all locked though



Toyota/Scion: packed completely. I could barely get a good view of the FR-S. Loved the iQ also. Looking forward to drive one this summer...







Hyundai Veloster: homerun for Hyundai hopefully... Great looking in real life and the interior was well done. Very quirky car. Much much better than the POS CR-Z

Favorite car of the show: Ford Focus Titanium. I have nothing but praise for this car. The hatch looked great, was comfortable, and spacious. Interior was a little too futuristic for my taste, but I could live with it. Really looking forward to driving one soon.

 

more pics here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...-notes-(w-pics)

 

1st ever LF-A. horrible color though

 

what's up with the digital/analog clock fad ?

Just gimme a computerized digital clock display.

my old 1984 car had an analog clock. then they went away in the 90's. and now they're making a comeback.

 

i totally love the analogue clocks. i remember as a small child looking at the analogue clocks on mid-nineties infiniti dashes and being jealous!