Dallas Auto Show

[Redwood]

Dallas Auto Show

Okay, when? where? What time? I have a happy hour briefly after work tomorrow for a coworker in from out of town (don't ask), so I'll probably just meet you all somewhere.

[Fair!]

Dallas Auto Show

Oh crap, DrunkT will be skidding into a parked car at the Dallas Convention Center before traipsing into the hall...

Hankimchee can't afford enough time to do the show + dinner, so the show comes first. I am down to a 2-seater, but will drive if needed. I'm up for heading down there at 5:30-6 pm? Who's goin? Who's driving? What time should we meet there. Duck and SeanT have $1 off coupons.

List who's going.... roll call:

Fair!

[hancheyb]

Dallas Auto Show

Earlier the better for me. I'll ask Emily, we may be able to take the minivan and 4-5 people other than us.

[hancheyb]

Dallas Auto Show

We can leave our house around 5:30. If you want we can drive the miniV. It seats up to 7 total, but we're heading right back to the Plano area after we're done. If we met somewhere, we could just drop people off and you guys could go eat or something. You know parking will be 10-14 bucks down there. Meet at SeanTs? Meet at Bone Daddy's parking lot? Meet at Fair's? Somewhere on Central would be fastest.

[Fair!]

Dallas Auto Show

OFFICIAL DALLAS AUTO SHOW OUTING
Thursday April 14, 2005
TAMSCC Dallas

The Plan: Meet at SeanT's house at 6 pm. Hankimchee will be sportin the new MEGAMINIVAN with 7 seats of comfort. We all go together and save $14 on parking each car. So far here's what's booked in the seats:

Hanchey and Emily
Fair
SeanT

3 seats left!

Remember: this is our annual trek to mecca, people. ONCE A YEAR. Lots of cool new cars you can see in person. C6 Z06, Mustang Cobra maybe? New BMW 3 series (E90) Lots of stuff. And car show hostess BOOTY!

Bring your CAMERA. We will meet back at Seans afterwards and regroup for food.

[Redwood]

Dallas Auto Show

I did a part 2 visit to the Dallas autoshow and took more pics. Unfortunately I wasn't kind enough to just add them to the end. I tried to group most of them together. I also added captions to all the pictures, mostly model names.


http://redwood.smugmug.com/gallery/483771

[Fair!]

Dallas Auto Show

Fair's 2005 Dallas Auto Show Pics

http://punky.smugmug.com/gallery/484218

[Redwood]

Dallas Auto Show

OK, I finally finished my Dallas auto show impressions....

Acura
They have some of the coolest dash clusters around. Very pimpy. They do a fairly decent job of fitting SeanT-sized peoplle in their cars.

RSX - too small. Keepin the non-asian down!
TSX - damn near perfect driving position/comfort!
RL and TL - pretty decent fit as well

Audi
A3 wagon - It will be interesting to see how this sells.
A4 - After sitting in the A4 again, I was able to adjust it reasonably well and could call it a fit. The center console is still a bit out and my leg would likely end up resting on it though.
A6 - I fit. The rear passenger vents up in the B pillar is a good idea. That would work better on hot days than the typical center console near the floor.
A8L - BIG LIKE A PICKLE. This should be the car of NBA stars. It has massive room. I couldn't even drive with the seat all the way back and you could have a party in the back seat.
TT - Been there, done that. I know I don't even remotely fit. It'll give a person claustrophobia. At least they have a 3.2 V6 now.

Aston Martin
V8 Vantage: the new Porsche fighter was sadly missing. The rest we've seen for years.

Bentley
The Continental GT coupe would even get Duck laid. he 4 door with the same lines is nice too.

BMW
330Ci Performance Package - I still really really want one! Surprisingly the interior isn't that much changed from my 1999 model, which is good. The shifter has about the same throw distance as my B&M street, but the B&M is a bit tighter. Did I mention I love my short shifter?
M3 Competition Package - I would love this car, regardless of how well it autocrosses in its class. That's just a pipe dream though, unless I get a 50% raise. LOVE those wheels. Did I mention the Alcantara material in this and the Performance Package 330 are sweet?
'06 330i - comfy, but the interior is a bit colder feeling. It does look more modern overall. From certain angles outside the car looks good, others it's butt ugly. I wish they'd put the cool tech stuff in an updated E46 design and not radically changed it.
645Ci Convertible - It's a faux 4 seater with literally no space between the front and back seat when I'm sitting in there (worse than my old M3). Comfortable for big pimping though.
745i - bleh. Not as room as I'd expected. Not cramped, just not what you'd expect from such a big car.
530xi wagon - at least they started with the 255hp engine. Now the rest of the lineup needs it.

Buick - ZzZz. Sorry, I fell asleep like a gray hair driving up to a street market.

Cadillac - V models galore. Not my kind of styling, but I applaud Cadillac for all the performance models.

Chevrolet
Corvette Z06 - Yes, please. Silver too, mmmm
Impala - The new Impala gets rid of the sauce plate tail lights, but adds in more blandness.
Cobalt SS - The interior is worlds better than the Neon SRT-4's. The shifter barely better than my '93 Escort GT's. Still, go Chevy.
HHR - welcome to the party, which started in the 90s. My turtle moves faster than GM sometimes.
Colorado - Did they REALLY have an eXtreme model? I think I just timewarped back to 1997.

Chrysler/Dodge
300C SRT-8: sweet
Charger - They had it in silver and I admit to liking it more than I originally did. I think it will sell like hotcakes.
Viper SRT-10: I don't fit. Worst shifter I tried at the show.
Daytona versions of the Ram & Charger: Yeeeehaaawww! No really, April 1st was weeks before. Joke's over guys.
ME-Four Twelve: hot looking car, but I'm glad they didn't push it into production. No need for something this high-end from Chryslser and no need to distract them from other priorities. It was cool that they made it though.

Ferrari
F430 coupe - yes, please
Ferrari 612 - yes, please

Ford
GT - yes, please
Five Hundred - nice, if not terribly roomy (for me) interior. Needs a decent engine and all would be good enough.
F150 Lightning - why show a canceled vehicle?
Fusion - conservative, but not bad styling. Couldn't get in it, so no interior opinions.

Honda
Could they get ANY more boring? That's all a lot of people need, though.
Accord - Gunmetal gray wheels is the new black.
S2000 - this car was made unexciting by all the cars surrounding it
Civic - this car is very dated looking. Just in time for a new model out next year.

Hummer
H1 Alpha - about time they got a GOOD diesel in there.
H2 - seems tame now. Too bad they didn't think about making room for the Diesel...
H3 - mini-me H2. Interior looked plush, no idea on size. 5 cylinder...really? At least slab a blower on that puppy.

Hyundai - zoomed on by. Already know I don't fit in the Tiburon...not even close.

Infiniti
One of the few Japanese mfgrs that can provide American-sized room in most of their interiors.

Q45 - apparently this $55K car can do okay at an autocross. :o
G35 Sedan/coupe - nothing really new here, though I like the '05 wheels
M35/M45 - WOW! I like the exterior styling and the interior is one of the roomiest/nicest/most comfortable I've ever sat in. This will be a winner for Infiniti

Jaguar
I don't fit and they don't let you adjust the seats. Dumb move unhooking the battery.

Jeep
new Grand Cherokee - The interior materials didn't seem as nice as I would expect for a new model. Plus, not very roomy (less than the old one?). Thumbs sideways.

Kia- nothing to see here, move along you lookie loos

Lamborghini
Gallard - yes, please
Murcielago - yes, please. Even if I probably won't fit, I want one.
Murcielago Roadster - maybe I can fit in this one

Land RoverLR3 - they're trying too hard with the design. Didn't care for the interior
Range Rover - this looks traditional and updated at the same time. I like it

Lexus
IS350 - I LOVE the design. It has a few themes from the new BMWs, but it is excuted in a cleaner way that BMw desperately needs. This car is clearly smaller than the new 3-series even without the cars near each other for comparison. It is probably a bit bigger than the old IS300. They got rid of the 1980s interior wanna-be-cool interior design, thankfully. Hopefully they managed to make it roomier in the process.
GS330 - it's the midsize, yet Toyota can't make me fit. Toyota engineers need a lesson on interior room, since this was a common theme. It's not a difficult concept people. I dig the wheels, but the back end looks like they didn't really finish it.

Lincoln
Zephyr - see Ford Fusion comments

Maserati
I'm glad they let us sit in the cars. *golf clap*
Quattroporte - don't fit, had to cancel my order. Nice interior
Spyder - don't fit, had to cancel my order. Also a nice interior

Maybach
57 - even this car looks MASSIVE in length. Do they make garages that long?

Mazda
3 - I fit! Way to go Mazda. Nice for a small car.
6 - I fit okayish
RX-8 - didn't try it since I already drove one and didn't come close to fitting. Awesome handling and snickey snick short shifter though.

Mercedes-Benz
AMG SLK55 roadster - I fi, with the hardtop up no less! The Germans rules at fitting people in cars.
SLR McLaren - nice looking, though with a REALLY long hood. This is a grand tourer, not a tossable little sports car
CLS55 and CLS500 - one of the best looking 4 doors on the planet...and I fit! I'll take the AMG please. Do they give 30 year loans on cars? Who needs a house?
'06 M-Class - ho hum, but better looking than the old one

Mercury - zzzzz

Mini
John Cooper Works Cooper S - 207hp = not too shabby in this little car. Limited slip in '05 should help things a bit.
Cooper Convertible - "cute" aka chick car

Mitsubishi
Evo MR - I couldn't quite make myself comfortable in there. I'm not sure why that was the case. One of the best shifter feels at the show.
'06 Eclipse - Nice try, but a little bland. If they didn't have the Evo to attract youth enthusiasts, they'd be screwed. There are a few lines that are really nice on the thing though.

Nissan
Azeal - I really like the styling of this little sport compact! Nissan needs to build this badly to gain some youth buyers. Points for using the same tires I have on my car.
Sentra - die, die, die
350Z Conertible - don't quite fit, but close. "Burnt Orange" leather option means no Aggie buyers.
350Z 35th Anniversary - nice looking car, in black.

Pontiac
G6 sedan - not as nice of an interior as I thought it had before, but not bad.
G6 coupe - kinda eh back end, reminiscent of the eh Honda Accord coupe
GTO - I like the dead pedal in the '05. Now if they give it a trunk capable of carrying more than a CD case and 2 extra doors, I'm in. I don't care if they name it something else. Needed: 18s 18s 18s and summer tires...not months into production. Automatic climate control would be another need in that price range.
Grand Prix - I liked the previous gen styling better
Solstice - not bad looking, though the rear end is a little jelly bean for my tastes
Torrent - I like it
Vibe - I like it

Porsche
Boxster - I come REALLY close to fitting. I imagine a 6'3" or under person would be extremely comfortable. Positioning seemed very nice. Shifter was pretty decent.
911 - ....and I'm spent. Not only do I fit really well, but that is the best feeling shifter I've EVER tried. EVAR. Put this on the list of gifts to get me for Christmas.
Carrera GT - yes, please

Saab
9-7X - not bad looking for an SUV
9-3 - nice looks, but 4 cylinder and fwd are blah

Saleen
S7 - yes, please. I'll take it in blue like the show car

Saturn
Ion - die, die die
Sky - YES! I hope Saturn builds this puppy and eventually makes a Redline model with a supercharger. If I were ever goign to be into a tiny roadster (which will never happen), I would seriously consider this car. It looks awesome. GM, feel free to steal more Euro styling.

Scion
tC - apparently the new tuner car of choice. If I were in my teens again, I would like something like this car.
xA - I'm glad this one isn't selling well
xB - Not my thing, but I guess some people like it.

Subaru
Legacy - Again, Japan doesn't know how to fit tall people in cars. They could pay me to come test for them if they'd like. I could be a consultant to all the Asian car companies. Yeah, that's the ticket. The Legacy also had a cheap feeling interior. I thought this was supposed to be nicer than the Impreza.
WRX STi - a little cramped for legroom, but comfortable. More comfy than the Evo, plus better looking.
B9 Tribeca - the new face of Subaru. Think dorky Japanese styling.

Suzuki
Only there long enough to take a pic of their SUV concept and nobody can blame me for not staying longer.

Toyota
'06 Avalon - they have this GIANT Caprice-long car and much like the Caprice, they can't make the freakin' seat go back very far at all. If I want to cut off circulation of my rear seat passengers, I should be able to do so. They don't need a foot of guaranteed space. Idiots.
Camry SE - again, gunmetal wheels are the new black
FTX Concept Truck - that thing is friggin' MASSIVE. Manliest Toyota EVER.

Volkswagen
'05 Jetta - holy crap, the front seat has a LOT of room. Go VW, go Germans.
'06 Passat - MIA

Volvo
XC90 V8 - V8 was a good idea
Lego Volvo - that was cool!