As I mentioned, GM took up a huge chunk of real estate, but with nothing particularly exciting to show for it. And that mirrored the tone for most of the automakers--lots of showroom cars, a concept here and there, but very little that caused me to stop in my tracks and involuntarily gawk.
I did stop and look at a Cadillac CTS for a second, though I don't think it was the much ballyhooed CTS-V--just the bread-and-butter variety. I wanted to see firsthand how it measured up to its accolades.
First, it's come a long way since its debut. I saw quite a few when I worked in the car business, and they were far from impressive: low-rent GM hide covering seats that quickly showed signs of wear, cheap, clunky buttons making their way up a particularly awkward center stack, and a shifter that easily could've been plucked from a Chevy Impala.
But that "come a long way" story rings true for almost every American car over the last five years--save Ford's Ranger, of course. Keeping up does not a leader make. Cadillac's clearly opted for higher-quality grain in their vastly improved seats and some richer plastics, but the console still screams GM. There's just an underlying cheapness to it that I just can't hurdle. For all their efforts to reshape their image as a legit luxury-sport provider, there's simply something insincere--something that tells you you're going to be driving a rattle-trap in about four short years.
Audi: It's Audi
As I mentioned in the previous post, Audi did not bring the new Quattro concept car. See it here. They did bring the new TT, but, at least from the exterior, the TT of today is largely the same TT of 2000. There are a few expected tweaks like cleaner, more aggressive lines, but if you were to pass one on the highway, you probably wouldn't know new from old.
All new Audis continue to sport those weird, largely pointless LEDs running along the bottom if the headlamp assembly.
The new A7 has gorgeously aggressively lines, and a pricetag that's largely beyond the grasp of most people who make their paycheck honestly. I really dig the oversized snout and the scowly-headlamps. They blend beautifully into the car's overall low-slung stance. It's powered by a supercharged 3.0L fast-winding chunk of Kraut aluminum that produces 305hp and an impressive 325lb-ft of torque.
*Sigh*
Lexus: LFA
An old friend of mine once accused Japanese automakers of being very good at perfecting the American car, but utterly incapable of coming up with an original car idea.
And then the LFA was born.
Yes, this car is stupid-expensive, clocking in at $375,000. Yes, it looks like it's waiting to be beamed back to the mothership. And absolutely yes, this car is completely impractical.
But it excites the hell out of me. It's little 4.8L V10 is a real marvel, capable of winding up to its 9,000-rpm redline in under a second. Once in the sweetspot, it cranks out 552hp, but a slightly watery 354lb-ft of torque.
Why on God's green earth they painted it yellow is completely beyond me.
Since we're on the absurd...
Mercedes: The Gullwing Returns
The new little SLK and SL (small and not-as-small) both look fast standing still. They're clearly the next evolution of the little CLKs from about a decade ago. The boxy GLK SUV looks like it would be just as at-home fording jungle streams as it does sitting comfortably outside a Whole Foods--take that for what you will.
While all these cars were nice specimens of German uber-engineering, the show-stopper was the SLS AMG--the long awaited modern interpretation of the 300SL. While it's precursor sported a groundbreaking-for-its-time all-aluminum inline six, the snarly SLS AMG gets its power from a 6.2L 563hp V8.
And it's truly a breathtaking car--hands-down the most inspiring of the show--all for a mere $183,000.
