Went Friday night, not as crowded as I thought it would be... so I was actually able to get near the cars.

The Audi exhibit was kinda "eh" as usual. They had a really nice Blue B6 A4 avant with a body kit on it. Looked reeeeeal nice. I'm leaning heavily towards this car for my next purchase. When I was sitting in the car checking it out, these two guys were standing there checking out the car. As I got out I overheard one say to the other "Damn, that's a nice Audi".... and the other one says (with that know-it-all sort of attitude), "Dude, I know Audi's and I can tell you that's no ordinary Audi... that's a 450 horse RS-6....."

So as I got out of the car, I casually said to both of them... "Uh, actually, it's a B6 A4 with a body kit on it".... and kept on walking. I could tell the one guy was looking at the other one thinking "dude, you just got oWn3d"

Ha ha... and then my girlfriend says to me... "So now I finally understand what "owned" means"

Anyway, some of the other cars I looked at with possible interest for future purchase...

Volvo S40. I REALLY like this car. Offers AWD too. The lines are very aggressive. From the front, it looks mean as hell. I could totally see this one in black with a blacked out grill and anthracite 18's on it. However, the center of the interior dash is a little too space-shippy for me. And the design of it might make it very difficult to integrate an aftermarket audio system without major reconstructive surgery.

Saab 9/3 Aero. Nice all around, but, again, the center of the dash has waaaay too many buttons. Kinda cluster-f*ck. Could get used to it though. And I don't think this one comes in AWD.

Infinity G35 sedan. Don't like the layout of the interior controls.

As if you probably couldn't tell by now... I'm very picky about interior ergonomics, and the look, feel, and placement of the controls and buttons... and a major criteria for me is to be able to integrate a real audio system, as all stock car audio systems suck MAJOR A$$.

Subaru STI. I know it's a great car under the hood, but the look and refinement is too juvenile for me. If I was 20 years old... sure. But at this stage in my life... eh... no.

Lancer Evo. (see STI)

Mazda 6 At first I liked it, but now after looking closer, it just isn't doing anything for me.

Acura TL. Now THIS is a WINNAR! This is probably the closest thing to a genuine contender to the A4 as far as I am concerned. I'm not sure if it offers AWD, but that's really not a priority for me. I'd LIKE to have it, but I won't rule out a car just because it doesn't have it. I like the lines, the interior, and it has some decent hp in stock form. The only drawback is price. It's up there in the mid $30's... which is way more than I need to spend on a car. However in about a year, (when I'd realistically be ready to buy), I'd probably look for something slightly used and pre-certified through a dealer with an extended warranty.

So it looks as if my short list is...
Audi A4 (B6) avant or sedan (undecided) I like the avant for the extra space, but from an audio upgrade standpoint, avant's and subwoofers a good combination do not make.

Acura TL possibly if I can find a deal on a slightly used one a year from now

Volvo S40. Need to see if I can upgrade audio system.

Audi A6 2.7 or 4.2. (used low mileage/Audi Assured.)



Other cool stuff I noticed...

Lexus has a new flagship performance sedan. I forgot the name of it, but it's f*cking nice.

New Ford Mustang. They finally got it right. Looks very cool. And they didn't do too much of a bait-and-switch. From last year's concept to this year's production model, it retained most of the nice lines it had. I like it a lot.

Ford Cobra concept. One word.. Badass. I want one.

Dodge Magnum. Very cool. Doesn't look quite as aggressive as the original concept, but I still like this car.

GT0. Kinda boring looking. However, from what I hear, it's all business under the hood. Sleeper car?

New Vette. Looks much better than previous model. I like the integrated headlights. They claim the production version can reach about 180mph in stock form.

Mercedes (as usual, the bling bling booth) had an SL-55 on display with the doors open for people to sit in. I was kinda surprised about that. You don't usually see car companies letting the general public climb all over inside of $120k cars. Usually they lock them up. I needed a f*cking shoe horn to fit my fat *** into that thing. It's a cool car to look at, but probably not very comfortable to drive long term.

VW Toureg. They had a decked out model on display that was more expensive than a f*cking Cayenne. It was close to $60k. Porsche had a Cayenne under $50 on display. Now someone explain THAT one to me.

VW Phaeton... Just think of all the executive ball-busting that will take place in a country club near you when someone pulls up in one of those. It looks like a nice car, but I wonder how well it will sell at that price.

VW R32 GTI. Nice... very nice.

Overall, I noticed a lot of car companies are starting to embrace the tuner crowd more and more. And why not? There's much money to be made.

That's about it. There was some other cool stuff there that I can't recall at the moment. But overall, I really liked what I saw.

 

Nice write-up. Thanks. Mebbe goin' Friday.

 

I'll post up some pics tomorrow.

 

Though I personally swore off the Auto show about 5 years ago when I realized that it was WAY more hassle than it was fun, at least for me.

A couple of buds of mine went there Saturday, and asked me to join them, but I couldn't/declined. They got there at 10 am, planning to leave @ about 2:30, but ended up leaving before 1 due to the crowds.

As for the TL - It just needs AWD and a folding rear seat. The lack of AWD is particuarly galling given the new G35x. Since we don't own a minivan or sport-ute, the folding rear seat is also big for me - I couldn't have taken my kids sledding Saturday without the split-folding seat in my A6.

Nice write up - thanks for braving the crowds.

 

... only cuz my girlfriend (future fiancee) has an SUV and plans to get another one eventually. So we are pretty much covered in that department. For a car, I just need 4-doors and decent performance/looks. Even on my A4, I have folding rear seats but never use them cuz I have a subwoofer semi-permanently mounted right behind the seats.

She's eyeing the GMC with the retracting roof. Pretty nice truck. But at $41k....

 

I liked the Eclipse prototype

 

Dodge Magnum = copy of Audi Avantissimo concept without the interesting parts

 

... put together by the dealer apparatus.

Meanwhile, NAIAS and other major shows are participated in by the factories / corporate entities... so at the Chicago Auto Show, you're just seeing inventory, whatever show cars dealers could get lent to them by corporate, and so on.

Hence... it's lamer than Detroit, LA, Geneva, etc.

 

yea, maybe, but still a cool car... and MUCH more affordable.

 

Since I have full access to the Normal, IL production plant where it will be built.

The first test cars off the new production line will be built sometime in May/June. Most of the production tooling is almost done.