Monster

Just came back from the show today. It was a pretty good, and i thought it is worth going because most of the local manufacturers have released new cars and it gave me a good opportunity to see if all the hype was justified, plus i get to see my favouriate concept car, the Saab Aero-x

Here is my impression of the car companies on the show.

The cars:

Mercedes Benz:

They still haven't managed to get an SLR to the show! and no new CL. They had their usual lineup of cars, including the facelift E, the relatively new S, and 4 AMG models, the S65, the CLS 63, CLK 63 and the ML63. The S65 has a subtle aggression with those standard gun metal grey 19 inch alloys which matches the strange shade of light blue and grey of the exterior colour. The car was locked but i got to sit inside a S350. The interior quality of the S is very good, every button feels lovely and solid when you press them, and the COMMAND nob is way better to touch than those on the 7 series. No complains with the fit and finish, everything is tightly fit together, as it should be, however the rather cheap and brittle plastic on the base of the front seats looks completely out of place. It was badly scratched after spending a few days on the display stand.
The GL made its 1st Australian appearence in Australia, and seeing the real thing in metal doesn't change my opinion of the car. It is ugly, espically at the back. They did the sensible thing and tug the R class at some dark corner so small children won't be scared. The interior quality is still not up to the standards of a usual Mer, but it is not as bad as before.

I got a free E63 poster from them, and a brochure on the entire MB range in Australia.

BMW:
All the cars are bloody locked so i didn't get to sit in any of them.

The have the new 3 series coupe and the Z4 coupe, plus the Z4M. The front of the new 3 series coupe looks better in real life, same as the backend, but the entire car looks dull, and not particularly sporty, the Z4 coupe and the Z4M on the other hand looks dam interesting. The flame surfacing finally looks right on these cars.

The people at BMW is a bunch of arrogant tight arses, they are too busy talking with themselves, and they didn't not give out anything, you have to fill in a form so they will mail out the brochures to you after the show, yeah right! They didn't even give out free posters.

Audi:
They had 4 beauties on the show this year. The R8, R10, S8 and the S6.
The R8 was absolutly stunning. it is so low, so wide, and the front is so
aggressive, it looks out of this world, not even the wapon like R10 parked on the next display stand can draw my attention away from it. Check out the front lights, the words R8 is engraved on the lense infront of the front indicator lights.
The Q7 was a disppointment. It looks like an elephant, with the size to match, and the interior quality is a step down from the usual high standards we are used to in other Audi. The top half of the dash is nice and soft to touch, but the rest of the dashboard is made of hard plastic, the 2 giant cupholder/holes on the front armrest are equally nasty.
Oh and i forgot to mention the new TT was there... but it looks boring....

I got a nice A3 sized book thing with pics of varoiuse significant Audis in their history.

Ferrari:
Jaw-dropping-sexy F599. You have to see this car in real life, the pictures does not do this car justice. It might look long in the pictures, but it is much shorter, and lower. The car looks powerful,every curve, every vent is just as attractive as it is functional. The car has the perfect front engine-rear wheel drive supercar proportion. The 3 dimensional nose is elegent and aggressive at the same time, and the twin rear lights really suits the rear design.

Honda:
THe surprise of the show. My expectation wasn't high when i saw the new Legend. It looks like the middle age version of the Honda Accord Euro. It is a bit bigger, a bit fatter, and a bit uglier. Although the interior styling wasn't to my liking, the material quality and the level of fit and finish really impresses me. Every button is solid, precise, and weighty. The dashboard and door trim material is almost as good as the Eclass/A6. It has nice blue ambient lighting above the door handle and below the front seats. There are plenty of space at the front, and the back as well, but it will be a squeeze to fit 3 people in the back. Seats are comfortable.

I got this nicely bounded book+DVD on the Legend. This is a very hgih quality brochure, and well worth getting even if you are not a fan of Honda or the car. I will get another one so i can wack those people at BMW on the head.

Holden:
This year, they have their so called "Billion dollar Baby", the all new VE Commodor on the show. They were saying stuff like "Audi matching quality" so my expection was rather high when i approach the stylish looking Commodor. The door handle feels solid enough, so it was a decent start. Once i slide in, i had a quick look around, and the interior design does look good, but not great. I play around with the Air con, and audio controls, and they do feel better than those on the Merc, but the rest of the interior is just poor, extremely poor. I didn't belive the standards of the fit and finish quality. The entire lower dash can be move around, as in, i can move pieces of the dash up and down! I can almost pull out the entire lower dash assembly. The interior was full of had plastics, and i can see uneven panel gaps. Plastics are over lapping...................I am sure this car will be a good drivers car, but the interior.......o man....

Toyota:
They launched the new Camry and the V6 version of it (known as Aurion, even though it is a Camry with new lights and bumper). The exterior looks much better, it looks like someone has actually bothered do design the car. The fit and finish of the interior is ok........material quality isn't great, lots of hard plastics. The stitching on the leather seats are a mess.

VW:
i have finally managed to check out the new Passat. The car looks impressive and expensive, and the panel gaps are extremely uniform and tight. The spacious interior is nicely designed with interesting details. Both front and rear seats are very comfortable. The only thing that lets the car down was yet the interior again. Yet again, hard plastics are everywhere, and the air condition vents on the sides aren't really fitted as tightly as possible, because i can easily move the entire vent from is mouldings.

Kia/Nissan: Feel sorry for the guys, their stand is completely empty, nobody bothered to check them out.

The Girls:

Mercedes: There were 3 or 4 of them. all blonde. One suffered from excessive makeup syndrome. Thank god they are all below the age of 40.... last year they had this 40 some year old... with heavy chemical on her face..

BMW/Audi: 2 girls, tall, flat, arrogant.

Ferrari: No girls, the cars are enough

Lexus: 1 or 2 girls, but they are not hot, plus only boring middle age men wants a lexus, and as if they will be interested in girls.

Volvo: Nice friendly girls, I was talking to one of the brunette girls while i was sitting inside the C70. Had a nice chat......she is cute...

Alfa: Sexy girls and sexy cars. Dam the girls are hot and friendly...sweetness.

The Australian Motor show is for people who want to check out new cars, and only that. If u want to check out hot chics, hit the beach my friend.

someone teach me how to upload photos on forum please