Seattle 2012 Auto Show

[G. David Felt]

Hello All,

So since there is no generic section in the 2012 autoshow section, I am posting my pictures here allong with my take of the autoshow.

First off let me start by saying the Seattle Autoshow is about 1/3 smaller than it has been in the past. It was really a shock to see almost no 3rd party auto vendors or alternative nicnack vendors. I arrived excited to check out 2 auto's I was told by local dealers would be there. Honda CNG Civic GX and a GM Bi-Fuel CNG truck. Sadly both were a no show. Course I was hoping to stand around and do free selling of the auto's while handing out business cards for CNG appliances for home fueling. None of it happened.

New to the Seattle Autoshow, they had a test drive area. All vendors were required to have auto's on hand for test driving. I have never seen so many california, Michigan, Texas and Canada plates on the auto's along with the funky looking Mexican plate. Clearly telling you where all these test auto's came from.

So to start off with, they had a beautiful white with silver strip Corvett ZR1. I got an over head shot, but then the crowds moved in and it was no go to get any better images.

I moved onto the 2013 ATS which was beautiful. Amazing fit and finish and I have to say. BMW will be in for a rude awakening. The line to test drive the ATS was crazy long and everyone coming back was very positive on the car.

After this, I spend considerable time on the Buick Encore. Fit and Finish is extremely tight. Over all layout is clean and for many people I heard nothing but positive comments and better yet, many asian and Indian people were looking at it and loved what they found. In regards to me at 6'6". No one can sit behind me. I cannot sit up straight as I like due to no headroom and the back seat has me slumped over as I cannot sit in it. The car while very nice is clearly for the average 5'8" tall crowd. A few other 6' tall people could not get comfy either but we all liked the package and feel it will be a hit with smaller people and with woman.

BLOWN AWAY - I spent so much time going over the new 2013 Acadia. In fact, I wish I had gotten picture of the new Buick Enclave as the fit and finish of the Buick was sad compared to the GMC. My dad and others that were around me were just shocked at how nice it was compared to the Buick. No seams around the doors, the finish works on the body was freakin amazing and the fit and finish inside made this one of the BEST GMC auto's I have ever seen.

The updated GMC Terrain are also just as amazing. My dad fell in love with the Iridium Metallic color and the Black Diamond. He likes it so much that after I droppeed him off, he left with my mom to go test drive on with here as a replacement for his Colorado. All of them had the new 3.6 VVT engine. I talked with a few around me that were looking at it and one couple had a 2 year old terrain with the v6 and they loved the new one so much that they were seriously considering trading it in as the wife loved the size but loved the new interior and color. The guy was excited about the new V6. Over all, I was suprised at how many people were all over GM products. Allot of buzz this year.

Walked through the Lincoln area as my dad has always been a towncar lover and he did not see anything he liked. I was actually surprised at how dated the cars all looked. The only thing getting any interest from younger people was the Navigator and people my age in their 40's who were looking kept making comments about how dated it looked. The rest of their line up was mostly being looked at by Baby Boomers with Oxygen tanks and walkers. I took pictures of the MKz Concept they had and to me it was nothing special. Most baby boomers did not like it and everyone else was pretty much ignoring it. I saw nothing positive in the Lincoln camp.

Due to my 72yr old father pooping out, we headed to the exit through the Chevy entry level cars and I snapped some pics of the new Spark while my dad took a rest. Have to say for a $16K dollar car, I see people looking at it for a commuter car and not much else. I could not get comfy inside, way to small for me, but too be expected. I will say that this car in comparison to the Honda Fit is very nice and way better fit and finish than the Honda fit. GM should have a hit on their hands with this car.

[G. David Felt]

Corvette ZR1

2013 ATS

[ocnblu]

Nice photos, Mr. dfelt! Bummer about the CNG powered vehicles, though. Good to hear good reactions to GM stuff.

[G. David Felt]

2013 Buick Encore

[Robert Hall]

Nice pics..the Phoenix show is next weekend, probably a similar selection of cars..

[G. David Felt]

2013 GMC Acadia

[G. David Felt]

2013 GMC Terrain

[ocnblu]

Finely textured grillework on the Encore, and a nice interior. It's a spiffy little runabout with elevated seating, a favorite aspect of SUVs, but with maneuverability and fuel economy. The Acadia is just WOW, in and out, very professional grade, imo. And the Terrain still catches my eye whenever I see it.

Edited November 18, 2012 by ocnblu

[G. David Felt]

MKz Concept

2013 Chevy Spark

[ocnblu]

I really think that's the production version of the MKz. The color combo doesn't *pop* for the show stand, though.

And there's a Salsa Spark. Cheeky! I am going to run out and look at a Black Granite 2LT manual tomorrow at a local dealer.

[G. David Felt]

I really think that's the production version of the MKz. The color combo doesn't *pop* for the show stand, though.

And there's a Salsa Spark. Cheeky! I am going to run out and look at a Black Granite 2LT manual tomorrow at a local dealer.

The Old Baby Boomer Sales guy who had the mic kept calling it the MKz Concept. He was not grabbinb peoples attention. Maybe their sexy model had not shown up yet to talk about the car. I will have to say I now wish I had snapped some photo's of the booth babes as GM has some knock out woman.

There was a 6 foot tall Asian lady that had long hair past her butt and curves to put most Bunnies to shame. She for sure had been drinking her milk!

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Charlotte Auto Show this weekend as well...

The MKZ we had was absolutely stunning! Definitely the surprise of the show, for me.

[Drew Dowdell]

Yeah, that's the actual MKZ, not the concept.

[G. David Felt]

Did anyone notice how clean and smooth the door openings of the Acadia are? The Buick Enclave were not as nice. GMC really has a smooth clean body and you find few weld seams. I was so taken by the attention to clean smooth details and outstanding paint job. What was really cool is that just above the rubber seal on the rear doors, GMC has applied the 3M clear plastic cover like you would do to the nose of your auto to keep it from getting chips. They have covered the paint here so that it will not get messed up by people I guess putting a hand there to get in. Not really sure why, but there are multiple places on the GMC acadia that after the paint job. They applied the 3M clear protection to keep the paint clean I guess.

I have to say that I am really impressed with this auto. Rock on GMC and Acadia!

[Lamar]

Nice shots, dfelt.

Were my eyes deceiving me, or was that a 2-2-3 seating layout in the Acadia?

[Robert Hall]

Not sure if I like the blunt new front of the Acacia..that grille looks massive and the recessed area of the hood looks odd. I like the lights and smaller grille of the current model.

Nice shots, dfelt.

Were my eyes deceiving me, or was that a 2-2-3 seating layout in the Acadia?

Looks like that, it says 7-passenger seating on the window sticker.

[Lamar]

Cool.

That was one of my gripes about the Lambdas: third-row access. Should be easier with this setup.

[caddycruiser]

Great looking shots, and nice to see real world up close images of the Encore, which should be around soon.

[balthazar]

MKZ sure has some spacey console in there. Is there any intended function to the lower area or no?

I dunno, from the pics there are some interesting details there (needs some color contrast tho)... would have to see it in person.

[GMTruckGuy74]

The salesman I talk to and bought muy step-son's '98 Regal from was kind enough to mail me the 2013 GMC Acadia and Sierra brochures. At one point earlier this year, I was really interested in replacing the '06 Envoy with a new '13 Acadia, likely a well-equipped SLE model. According to the brochure, the SL model has been dropped for '13, there are two SLE packages (SLE-1 and SLE2), and the equipment I want is limited to SLT-2 and Denali models, maybe some of it being an option on the SLT-1. I know there's non-foglight fans here, but I'm one of the fans of such item and am disappointed to see that any SLE model does not get them now (SLT & Denali only). It's as if GMC wants to turn SLE model buyers over to the Chevy Traverse, which typically is better able to be optioned on the lower trim models.

dfelt, that picture has me scrathcing my head. Is that something GMC was handing out? The crossouts are items identified in the brochure as not available on the SLE models, and the items in red seem to be newly available options.

[G. David Felt]

Nice shots, dfelt.

Were my eyes deceiving me, or was that a 2-2-3 seating layout in the Acadia?

No they were not deceiving you it was a 2-2-3 layout. The Acadia was the biggest surprise for me, so much nicer than any other product in it's class. Even nicer than the Buick version they had there.

[G. David Felt]

The salesman I talk to and bought muy step-son's '98 Regal from was kind enough to mail me the 2013 GMC Acadia and Sierra brochures. At one point earlier this year, I was really interested in replacing the '06 Envoy with a new '13 Acadia, likely a well-equipped SLE model. According to the brochure, the SL model has been dropped for '13, there are two SLE packages (SLE-1 and SLE2), and the equipment I want is limited to SLT-2 and Denali models, maybe some of it being an option on the SLT-1. I know there's non-foglight fans here, but I'm one of the fans of such item and am disappointed to see that any SLE model does not get them now (SLT & Denali only). It's as if GMC wants to turn SLE model buyers over to the Chevy Traverse, which typically is better able to be optioned on the lower trim models.

dfelt, that picture has me scrathcing my head. Is that something GMC was handing out? The crossouts are items identified in the brochure as not available on the SLE models, and the items in red seem to be newly available options.

This is the New Cheat Sheet for the Booth Babes who were talking about it. She let me see it and snap a picture. She was a hot looking Brunett, taller than most almost 6' tall and we hit it off and she invited me to step over the little glass wall and snap all the pictures I wanted.

[ocnblu]

Stud!

Interesting "cheat sheet". I wonder if the cross-outs were last-minute changes to the 2013, or if they were just 2012-2013 changes. And the red entries must be new additions. I guess. I'm confused, I guess I'm not "smarter than a supermodel".

[GMTruckGuy74]

If I am not mistaken, the cross-outs were originally items that were going to be included on all models or package/trim specific models. Apparently along the way, those changes were made. Same with the red items, they are now being included whereas before they were either not or were free-flow/packaged items. The brochure I received in the mail last week confirms those additions/deletions.

Curious as to why fog lights and the universal home remote are not even optional on the SLE-2 model but a rearview camera, 7-passenger seating, and rear parking sensors are standard? Who selects these things?

[A Horse With No Name]

Nicve pics...couple of notes...

Buick looks fantastic, as does the GMC!

Sonic is a much better car than the spark, and I am seeing a bunch on the road around here...and thanks for the ZR-1 pics!