2012 NAIAS: What you should see and what you should not see.
I just got back from a long day at Cobo Hall for the NAIAS, and thought I'd give a heads up for anyone checking out their local shows, be it NAIAS the remainder of this weekend, Toronto, Montreal, NewYork, Los Angeles, or elsewhere. I have tried my very hardest here to put away ALL of my biases towards any specific Make/Model/Country of origin *couchGermanycough*. Enjoy.
First off, notable absentees in Detroit:
Lamborghini (strange as they are launching a new model this year)
Ferrari
Aston Martin
Land Rover
Jaguar
Mitsubishi
I will break the rest down by manufacturer so you can know what to look for and what to skip. I will go in the order I saw them all.
Audi: Awesome R8 spyder! Look for new fron end styling on the entire model line. Not really a fan of the German cars, but it was refreshing to see Audi get a facelift. Build quality remains strong and fit and finish of ALL were quite possibly better than current models. No concepts or race cars to mention
Mercedes Benz/Maybach: One Maybach, cool if you're into it, which no one was since it was roped off 5 feet. I can't say I blame them thou. The mercedes lineup remains generally unchanged. Seems mostly that the options lists have grown this year if nothing else.
Honda: A couple very cool concepts. My fav was the new Accord Concept. A Way sportier body, very nice interior that looked like it wassomething that was taken straight out of one of it's Acura brothers. CB-R was there, an Indy car, was cool to look at I guess. New Civics were there thou I prefer previous gen Civs.
Ford/Lincoln:THE best display in the entire building. hands down. At least 5 dozen vehicles there. LOTS of interactive stoughs, almost EVERY car you could sit in, or at least touch. Demonatrations, swag galore. Had a Raptor demo. It was on a 2-post and the body lifted right off the powertrain/frame. New Lincoln MK-Z concept blew me away and is a VERY sleek looking ride.Lincoln decided to go ahead with production earlier in the week. Mustang Boss 302 dyno demo, Taurus SHO, new Fusion is boss! Lincoln Lounge was cool,tho not for me. Various Focus and Fiesta models (Ken Block's car was not there sadly). The coolest part was a Race Spec, full rollcaged, stripped interior Focus, which you are able to buy from factory in full race spec. Although I have never been fond of Ford, I give Ford much love for really stepping up their game of late and offering the most customer friendly display. It's really no wonder, after seeing their display, why they did not need a loan to get out of debt. Fresh Thinking has been steering their ship in the right direction of late. Only negative here: I am still leary of the SYNC system. Give it another year or two to get to where it needs to be.
Shelby/Mazda: About 7 Shelby Mustang models including one which supposedly puts down 800rwhp! Very nice to look at, but mostly all looked the same. Attracted a large bunch of oldtrolls including my father in law! lulz. Mazda's new MX-5, which I have always liked was very nice, RX-8 and Mazda2 prepped race cars were there as well.
Nissan/Infinity: First thing that you see is a royal blue GT-R front and center. Very nice center piece. New 370Z was very nice, including optional 20" Rays Engineering rims. Interior fit and finish were tops too! Murano Crosscabriolet was pretty cool. Interesting Infinity concept sports car was nice to look at, and the two G37s were in top form in IPl coupe and convertible trims in a candy dark cherry red.
Subaru: BRZ was front and center in all of its glory! They are supposed to start at 25K which seems like a total steal if all you want is an engine and a steering wheel. A WRX stock, and Isle of Man rally car were there as well to round out the small, but bright display.
GM: Nothing new from GMC. At. All. Chevrolet had 3 Sparks, which were okay, 2 Sonics, Sonic Boom concept in flat red with body kit and speakers was neat, Sonic Z-spec concept was looking proper in all gloss black. Chev Volt was as was expected. Nice fit and finish interior. If you've never been in one and simply seen pics, it's exactly what you would expect and not really worth waiting in line for. ZL1, ZR1, Hot Wheels edition Camaro in a lime green chrome finish was nice. Buick had all of it's lineup present with a new Verano, which was only ok, and an Encore, which looks like it's based off of the Korean built, Canadian only Chevy Orlando 7 seater. Think smaller than an Enclave and slightly boxier. Cadillac had a CTS-V in all 3 body styles, been there, done that. XTS was reminiscent of the land-yacht Caddies of the mid 90's in terms of body size. It seemed like a sore thumb amongst it Luxury/sport bretheren. ATS was less than I was expecting. I think I was let down the MOST by the GM display as it lacked visuals, auditory aids, and a general bland aura gave their display a lacklustre finish.
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Originally Posted by deftonesfan867
