Here are some rattled-off responses to the auto-show bit. I'll reply to the rest after I get some sleep. Or maybe I'll read it now and sleep later.
--Nothing from Bentley excites me in the least. Post VW Bently is round, boring, and extremely un-British. I'd much rather have a Phaeton than a Continental. Fortunately BMW has done far better with Rolls Royce.
--I actually like the Ferrari FF quite a lot. I love the 456 and found the 612 to be a very poor, odd-looking followup. I have a soft-spot for sporty hatchbacks and the format also solves the rear headroom problem that the 456 and 612 faced. I'm still not a fan of AWD, but Ferrari's system is very unusual, lightweight, and supposedly acts very much like RWD. I wonder if Ferrari will end up offering a 2WD version of it down the road. I'd still rather have a 599, but I'm very fond of the FF.
--The new Civic is a MESS. I loved the rear end of the '06-'11 sedan. The perfectly-flush tail light housings and extremely narrow panel gaps made the cheap little car look so much nicer than even many more expensive cars. I did not like the Coupe of that generation, however. The new model replaces the sharp, clean rear end of the sedan with a sort of aimless Toyota-esque blob more like the outgoing coupe's. The styling exaggerates the car's tall, narrowness and it's all very soft and lacking definition. The interior is a complete effing mess that defies all forms of reasonable thought. The tach is hidden behind the steering wheel and Honda's dedication to the spaceship dual-tier setup and digital everything is unfathomable. And as with the Accord, I can't understand what the Hell is going on with the lower front bumper. Cheap versions have some sort of dimple thing at the outer edges, while others have fog light housings that appear to have been ripped off a completely different car and glued in place.
Honda is really leaving me behind completely these days. The only Honda product I still like is the Pilot and that's with the qualification "If I ever needed a crossover" which I won't.
--I don't like anything about Hyundai's current styling theme. The grille is bad, the headlights are bad, and the shapes are bad. Amorphous blobs that melted in the sun, all of them. The Veloster is certainly more exciting than a Civic, Corolla, Sentra, Yaris, or Versa though. I'd buy one of the four Mazda/Ford compacts and forget the others exist. Chassis tuning is even more important when you're in the land of <150hp.
--I Despise the new Navigator inside and out. The front end is 100% terrible, with too much chrome and none of it used well. The interior reminds me of the worst of the 1980s. The original Navigator was my favorite big luxo-ute ever, because it was subtle and classy. The new one is neither. Ironically, the early Escalade got its fame by being obnoxious and daring, while the new one is...subtle and classy. And Infiniti played the same game Lincoln did...QX went from clean and distinctive to DEAR GOD WHAT IS THAT?! Can't anyone just leave well enough alone?
I also notice that Lincoln redesigned the MKS's tail lights. That was the only part of the car I liked. Well done, Lincoln. If you're going to fail, you might as well fail all the way.
I liked
the earlier, smaller-tail-light version of the MKZ rear end a lot more than the facelifted one. Especially the slight depression in the sheetmetal around and leading forward from the crosshair emblem.
Lincoln's square-hub steering wheels are horrid. At least they don't smile at me, though, and don't have a spoke in the bottom center where my hand goes.
--The CLS certainly looks better without the quad-rounds on front. But I still have no love for sedans that are embarassed to be sedans, and the CLS is the ugliest in my book.
--I love the new front and rear on the Charger, but miss the shoulders of the first-gen sedan. And I cannot tolerate the factory body damage on the doors. It's WAY overdone, pointless, and doesn't really work with the rest of the styling at all. Apparently hotter versions this year get
plastic at the leading edge that looks like an air passage outlet, and that helps by at least giving the whole mess the appearance of a purpose. But it would still look better with smooth metal over the doors.
--The 200 might be an improvement over the Sebring, but I still can't fathom driving one without being paid for it--much less BUYING one. There are 2383474734 midsize cars out there and NOT ONE SINGLE ONE OF THEM is worse than the 200. You can't NOT make a better choice. Hell, a 1995 Accent is a better choice, and it will probably spontaneously combust and catch your house on fire while you sleep. But at least you'll die not owning a Chrysler 200.
--I love Ford's stealth keyless entry keypad. Mine's a big glob of black plastic in the middle of a pearl white door, and it looks goofy. It's useful, though. Ford's setup won't let you drop the windows like my Maxima's would, but it'll open the trunk and one or all four doors.
For auto-show fun, press 7/8 and 9/0 together. Locks all the doors. WHO HAS THE KEYS?! Walk away and whistle nonchalantly.
--I don't understand the new Explorer. We already have the Flex filling in the midsize crossover segment. They both seat 7, both have the same powertrains, both share a platform. Why do we need the Explorer also? The Flex's looks, polarizing as they may be, at least DO something interesting. The Explorer is just a mess.
--The new Compass front end makes ALL the difference in the world. I dunno WHAT the s*** Jeep was thinking with the original design, but the new mini-me Cherokee face is much, much more likeable. I still have no use for a rebadged Caliber OR a Jeep that can't go further off road than my sedan, though.
--The new Dodge grille (black crosshair bordered by thin chrome) is a GIGANTIC improvement and classes up the face of every single car they make. With that grille, Caravans in black or red look genuinely nice. It's far better than the solid glob of chrome it replaces.
--The A3 has always confused me. It's a Jetta that you pay more for. That sounds terrible, since I never wanted a Jetta in the first place. Maybe if I bleached my hair and wore crooked hats I'd see it differently. I don't intend to find out.
I'm in love with the new A8, though. I liked all 3 generations, but the 2nd gen seemed to be a bit directionless. The new one is a masterpiece.
--The Cruze is, in fact, not the first competitive compact from GM. This was:
You could get engine options varying from a 90hp four cylinder to a 350hp V8. The only thing that came close to being as nice, relaible, fun, or attractive was the Falcon, and they all rusted out.
--I'm really curious to see if the Verano succeeds. I know Canada is a stronger market for compact luxury cars (Acura sold the Civic as the EL there for a while). That may have changed with all the whining about fuel prices lately. And of course the cost will be a big factor. $23k is a pretty steep entry price for a car that size, regardless of how nice the interior is.
--Touareg is another car I don't understand. Everyone else does crossovers better, including Audi and Porsc...including Audi. The Touareg is mindblowingly expensive in every configuration and doesn't do ANYTHING that makes it stand out. The FX and X5 are both ten times the car the Touareg is, and unlike Volkswagen, they both come with luxury brand benefits like 3 series or g37 dealer loaners. You take your Toerag in for inevitable repairs and you get to drive a Golf if you pay for it. VW should be paying ME to drive either car.
--I love the Mini Clubman. Nicer proportions, distinctive looks, and I love wagons.
The Mini Cooper Coupe looks goofy and needs to take its baseball cap off.
--Can you imagine ACTUALLY paying $40k for an Avalon?! You could buy any number of cars that do anything at all for that much money. None of them are as huge or as quiet as the Avalon, though. Or as ugly. Or numb. The Avalon is twice as geezery as every Buick ever made combined. This statement is backed by my 80 year-old grandpa who hates them both and loved his 1990 Bonneville SSE, Mazda Millenia, and my Q45. Oh, and his Pathfinders.
--The new Aston Martin grille on the Focus is a HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE welcome improvement over the Darth Vader mask it replaces. THANK YOU FORD.
--I said from the start that Smart would bomb here. Wrong transmission, wrong size, wrong country. I passed one doing 55 on 65mph I15 last week and it looked like going in just one direction was quite a struggle. Crosswinds must be terrifying.
