!!!TED!!!

A few pictures from the Barrie autoshow in Ontario. Taken by polish_kris. The new Acura RDX. Turbo engine, nice interior. Dunno, not much to say. Ill let the pics speak for themselves:

I saved the best for last. In a strange twist to get people to look at the Hyundai tent (I assume), A camoflauged 2008 VeraCruz mule pulled into the Barrie Auto Show. Several of the students (its a student run show), scrambled to find out what was going on. I heard one say "does head office know that thing is here!?" The small SUV prototype was driven by a husband and wife team, with a small child. Kris started snapping pics as soon as we spotted it. As we approached, the lady said that if we wanted to have a look inside, we'd better hurry. The glass was deep tinted. Later in the day, a security guard was posted to the vehicle. Chris Doane, eat your heart out!

VS:

Yes. Very good amount of space.

A few pictures from the Barrie autoshow in Ontario. Taken by polish_kris. The new Sentra reminds me of a sort of Asian Cobalt/ION.

A few pictures from the Barrie autoshow in Ontario. Taken by polish_kris. According to the note on the windshield, this is the only 07 Altima in Canada.

A few pictures from the Barrie autoshow in Ontario. Taken by polish_kris. Here is the all new Elantra. It looks like a mish mash of styling cues from every other new car at the show. Some passers by commented that it looks like a Jetta. I dunno. The taillights kinda do. The inset round bulb part. Interior is solid as a rock and comfortable. I leaned on it, and it didnt tip over.

No, I missed that. Sounds evil.

I did fasten everything back. I love cars too much to walk around destroying them. Thats not the kind of person I am. Im not a journalist by a long shot either. And yes, I know this stuff is designed to clip. Its just so easy for it to be dislodged versus other cars. Thats what I find interesting. Also, it makes for good discussion on a Sunday, when C&G is ussualy dead.

Yes. Nothing to report. Fit and finish was good. That test applies to vehicles where it is blatantly obviouse that there is a wide gap.

Aw come on. I did pull on the steering column surround. It flexed, but did not come apart. There were no discernable gaps in the door seams. Wait till I post my impressions of the Lincoln MKX.

Here are some pictures of the new Toyota Tundra from the Barrie Auto Show in Ontario, taken by Polish_Kris. Big and brutish in person. Ugly grille. Blends in well with other newer Toyotas.

Here are some pictures of the Dodge Nitro from the Barrie Auto Show in Ontario, taken by Polish_Kris. I rather liked it. Great looking color and style. Not bad interior except for the DCX plastics.

Damn that sucks. Does this make your Aurora the most accident prone car on C&G?

A few pictured from the Barrie autoshow in Ontario. Taken by polish_kris. Ok, I know it looked dumpy in the official pictures, but in real life its pretty nice. The parts that look odd are the headlights, the hood, and busy looking trim. If you see it from far away, you might think its a Crossfire. Some of the plastics inside were a little poor, but overall it was really well executed.

A few pictured from the Barrie autoshow in Ontario. Taken by polish_kris. Here is the new Wave sedan, available only in Canada and Mexico (as the G3) for now. It blows the Toyota Yaris out of the water in terms of interior design and refinement. Despite being a Chevy Aveo clone, it has unique guages that glow red, different instrument pod, metal-like trim, different wheels, and all-red tail lights, lending it a sportier look.

A few pictured from the Barrie autoshow in Ontario. Taken by polish_kris. Best in class interior. Period. Fit and finish is outstanding. Attention to detail...amazing. Fully loaded model shown here tops out at around $20,000 Canadian! Check out those color-keyed HVAC knobs!

When it comes to GM, Im their biggest fan. I do like to pull and tug on cars to see how well built they are. In most cases, everything is as it should be, abused autoshow display model, or not. In this case, it was pretty bad. I realise that this car has been crawled on by a bunch of people, but then so were the other models at the show. The new Chevy Aveo sedan, for instance, was rock solid. Nothing so much as squeaked in that interior. I was very impressed. It felt even better put together than the Cobalt. I hate nit picking, and I want to love the Aura, but this just stood out as something not so good. I want this known, because we have people from General Motors who visit C&G. I want this car to be amazing. Most people wont pull and tug, or look closely at the details. However, these are tiny things that will show up with daily use of this car in the hands of a customer eventually. BTW, as a side note, the little center stack pillars in the Camry still come apart in your hands. And you dont have to tug hard. I dunno, maybe I am being too critical. Then again, GM needs to compete with the imports. The imports had little or none of the issues found in this particular Aura.

Here are some revealing pictures of the Saturn Aura XR, taken today at the Barrie Auto Show by Polish_Kris. We were probing the quality, and found some very ugly deficiencies. For starters, here is the outside, which looks pretty damn decent. Then, we got inside. Also looking good. The problems begin when you start looking closely at the details. Pull on the upper and lower steering column surround and...it comes apart: Then, theres that fake stiching: The silver trim that wraps around the mid dash and flows into the door, does not line up, just as in the official pictures: And, you can stick your finger in the seam with the DOOR CLOSED! The glove box door hangs loose, and visibly mall adjusted: Make your way to the back, and your greeted with trim that comes of the seats: And hard plastic inserts, that, while they help with leg room, are not that great for the sides of your knees: All this, at a price of...... While I like this car, all these small things conspire against it. I hope that these are early build issues. On the other hand, this was by far the worst collection of fit and finish issues out of all the early builds we looked at. Something to think about.

Here are some pictures of the GMC Sierra SLE from the Barrie Auto Show in Ontario, taken today by Polish_Kris. Im lurking in the backround of the front end shot. The truck looks good in person, if a bit boring. The work truck dash is very nice from what I could see. It was locked.

Didnt you know the Solstice is both a sports car, a convertible, and an economy car?

Kris is a nice person in real life, but he does tend to make "of the cuff" comments here on C&G. His opinion is his own, as right or wrong as it may be. If its wrong, he will get called on it, as he has been. He is a passionate car enthusiast and crictic. Iv known him for a long time, and we go to autoshows frequently together (this Saturday is the Georgian College outdoor show ) If he is truly out of line, than my friendship outside of the site will not be a cushion for his treatment here. As his friend, Im obliged to be nice to him. I dont think he is knowingly trying to be a troll, although it may seem that way.

And it hit $33.00!

Whats going on with Gm stock lately? Its going up up up! Look at this! http://quote.morningstar.com/Quote/Quote.aspx?ticker=GM Up almost a dollar!?

Its funny. As I saw ads for this flick, I kept thinking that "Gridiron" would be a cool name for a GMC. So, um, good tie in.