Minneapolis Auto show

[regfootball]

starts...TODAY!

[Charger]

It was bad this year. Not very many concept cars.

[REDO1GPGT]

It was bad this year. Not very many concept cars.

Hmmm...that kind of sucks, I am still looking forward to going thursday though.

[Charger]

Hmmm...that kind of sucks, I am still looking forward to going thursday though.

The only concepts were the Ford Fairlane, Chrysler Imperial, Jeep Trail Hawk and Pontiac G8. I was very disappointed that their were no Dodge concepts. Dont get me wrong, it was still fun to go to.

[regfootball]

it sucked large. it was great to have the G8, however.

i'll write up some impressions later.

Edited March 12, 2007 by regfootball

[regfootball]

not really enough time right now to write much, but at least wanted to say the G8 is sexy and the Tundra really sucks. The Acadia and Outlook were big time hits as was the Enclave. And yes, MANY folks thought the 'Taurus' was all new.

[CSpec]

Did they have any near-production cars on the floor? The Rochester auto show had an Enclave on the floor for people to sit in, which was the only brightspot.

[regfootball]

yup. i still can't get over how many morons saw the 'all new taurus' and were all excited. I'm like, this f'ing car has been here for 3 years already but you change the name and now everyone loves it?

What's in a name? The ford chick said there were still people going into ford dealers looking to buy new Taurus and nor did not even know what a 500 was. hence, the name change. The common name holds much more equity than any amount of $$$ spent on advertising could ever get close to.

did anyone see the petite blonde working the kia stand? OMG. about 5'2, medium length absolutely straight hair. Probably 100 pounds and most of it on her (probably fake) chest. I think she had about 40% exposure on that gun rack. DEAR GOD!!!!!!

Edited March 12, 2007 by regfootball

[cmattson]

Ok,

Sorry I'm late to the party on this one, but I just got to the auto-show yesterday. Here's my observations:

1) The Tundra isn't that nice looking -- inside or out. Toyota was working it -- they must've had 50% of their floorspace devoted to the Tundra. Their advertising was waaaay over the top "fully-boxed and C-Channel frame for strength". That's an actual quote. Compare to Ford's FULLY-BOXED frame -- and now take into account that GM, Ford, and Dodge's vehicles all have a 5-star front crash rating and while the Tundra garned only 4 and you can easily see this is nothing more than marketing b.s.

2) Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep was a mess. I sat in every vehicle at the show. DCJ's lineup was incredibly weak. The interior's of the Jeep's looked 15 years old. Very dated. The Chrysler/Dodge products were filled with cheap, hard surfaces. The new Sebring's styling is a complete 'miss'. Dark days ahead for D/C/J.

3) The Solstice/Sky roadsters are impracticle in every way (and I'd still buy one in a heartbeat). They take your breath away with just a glance. There's hardly another car at the show that can achieve this via exterior styling alone.

4) I was disappointed by the new pickup truck interiors. They were ok, but nothing where I went 'Whoa!'. Matter of fact, Ford's "King Ranch" edition interior was lights-out fantastic. Easily the nicest interior for a pickup truck.

5) The nicest vehicle at the show? The one where you had to stand in a line to sit in it? GM's new crossovers. I was particularly impressed by the Saturn. It's interior was rich & nicely styled. The exterior was jewel-like. It appears to be a vehicle without weakness & without compromise. I can see it being a runaway success, stealing both minivan and SUV sales. Kudo's to GM -- I wish all of their vehicles were this nice.

6) VW's newer interiors are getting cheapened. Still very nice, but it's not hard to find hard, unattractive plastics

7) Honda's new Civic is *very* nice -- inside and out. But for $20,xxx? That's a little pricey for a compact. I can get into a very nice midsize for that price. I could fill out a G6/Fusion/Milan for that price.

Lastly, the Saturn Astra. Two were on display -- wish I could've sat in one. From what I could see, I was very impressed. I'm not much of a hatch-person, but I'd buy an Astra without much second-thought -- it's very attractively styled.

[turbo200]

4) I was disappointed by the new pickup truck interiors. They were ok, but nothing where I went 'Whoa!'. Matter of fact, Ford's "King Ranch" edition interior was lights-out fantastic. Easily the nicest interior for a pickup truck.

i think i know which interior that is, and I would say that description is very apt.

7) Honda's new Civic is *very* nice -- inside and out. But for $20,xxx? That's a little pricey for a compact. I can get into a very nice midsize for that price. I could fill out a G6/Fusion/Milan for that price.

but you'd be sacrificing gas efficiency, resale, and many would say durability and reliability, along with performance. That Honda powertrain is impressive;Also the roominess of it is fantastic. my point is, like you were saying, it's a compelling purchase, to say the least.

Edited March 18, 2007 by turbo200

[regfootball]

I went again today.

you are right about the toyota trucks. they were so obivous with them, its not even funny. talk about trying too hard. anyways, the tundra is crap. piano black on the interior of a pickup? CMON! the interior is simply terrible. cheap hard plastic and crappy swtichgear. terrible design. the seats aren't too bad though. i was sitting in a new chevy and the guy sitting next to me said to his friend, "i like this much better than the toyota" and his friend was like 'you like this better than, a toyota?' and he looks at his friend and says....."c'mon this truck has a much nicer interior! I just like it more"

Chrysler's new products are terrible as far as interiors. their best interiors are still the old vans, the pacifica, the pt cruiser.

the new GM truck interiors are nice. Very nice.

Yes, the VW interiors are getting cheapened too. The new rabbit interior in black was YUCK.

I don't think the Civic interior is very nice. And why spend 20g on that when an Aura XE can be had for that?

Ok,

Sorry I'm late to the party on this one, but I just got to the auto-show yesterday. Here's my observations:

1) The Tundra isn't that nice looking -- inside or out. Toyota was working it -- they must've had 50% of their floorspace devoted to the Tundra. Their advertising was waaaay over the top "fully-boxed and C-Channel frame for strength". That's an actual quote. Compare to Ford's FULLY-BOXED frame -- and now take into account that GM, Ford, and Dodge's vehicles all have a 5-star front crash rating and while the Tundra garned only 4 and you can easily see this is nothing more than marketing b.s.

2) Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep was a mess. I sat in every vehicle at the show. DCJ's lineup was incredibly weak. The interior's of the Jeep's looked 15 years old. Very dated. The Chrysler/Dodge products were filled with cheap, hard surfaces. The new Sebring's styling is a complete 'miss'. Dark days ahead for D/C/J.

3) The Solstice/Sky roadsters are impracticle in every way (and I'd still buy one in a heartbeat). They take your breath away with just a glance. There's hardly another car at the show that can achieve this via exterior styling alone.

4) I was disappointed by the new pickup truck interiors. They were ok, but nothing where I went 'Whoa!'. Matter of fact, Ford's "King Ranch" edition interior was lights-out fantastic. Easily the nicest interior for a pickup truck.

5) The nicest vehicle at the show? The one where you had to stand in a line to sit in it? GM's new crossovers. I was particularly impressed by the Saturn. It's interior was rich & nicely styled. The exterior was jewel-like. It appears to be a vehicle without weakness & without compromise. I can see it being a runaway success, stealing both minivan and SUV sales. Kudo's to GM -- I wish all of their vehicles were this nice.

6) VW's newer interiors are getting cheapened. Still very nice, but it's not hard to find hard, unattractive plastics

7) Honda's new Civic is *very* nice -- inside and out. But for $20,xxx? That's a little pricey for a compact. I can get into a very nice midsize for that price. I could fill out a G6/Fusion/Milan for that price.

Lastly, the Saturn Astra. Two were on display -- wish I could've sat in one. From what I could see, I was very impressed. I'm not much of a hatch-person, but I'd buy an Astra without much second-thought -- it's very attractively styled.

[regfootball]

the Kia girl was working (it) again today. NICE.

rack.

Edited March 18, 2007 by regfootball