SLR was OK but not in the goose pimple range at all... a bit of a pointless car IMHO that will look (from the front at least) exactly like the new SLK... It is impressive to a car nut... but to the man in the street? I think he or she'd notice a Gellardo far sooner than this Merc...
BUT the carbonfibre bodyshell was amazing! Here are some of the pics I took:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1662s.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1663s.jpg
The bit furthest left is the Merc roundel on front of car! Look how far back the engine sits! The stacked silver box closest is one of the 2 exhausts!
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1664s.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1665s.jpg
There is no carbonfibre here, just these bits of steel from the front to the main body...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1667s.jpg
Only part of smart four4 that is good looking outside is the rear. the low glass means basically all luggage is on display though! Interior great, VERY good quality, nice materials and textures, but boot way way too small for class. Rear space also not nearly as big as Golf 5 or Astra (both extremely comfortable in back far FAR better than A4 or BMW3...
All of a sudden the MASSIVE black lower bumper of the Golf makes sense... it desperately needs this black side skirt to get the lines to work. This new GTi is great apart from the masses of honeycomb on the front. The wheels, different front bumper, spoiler at back etc all look very good... rest of the range? Looks very nice. Very VERY upmarket grown-up look, extremely well detailed, rear lights a bit big and may look better with bodycolour background to the round lights? Or balck even but please not Lexus/Mazda 6 silver!!
Golf interior could only fall. The Golf 4 has such a stunning interior quality wise that the new version had to be in the Maybach league to be perceived as better than before... so it fails as it is in effect I guess cheaper to produce than the current one. it shows as well. The steering boss is nasty and especially the steering wheel buttons for radio etc! Urgh... like a ZX Spectrum keyboard, little toggles covered in a sort of see through condom effect one piece plastic sheath! horrid. Dials good, centre console fine, driving position fine, no more proper spring out cupholders (lost of companies now only supply handbrake mounted recesses instead of proper nice pop out ones!)
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1720s.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1738s.jpg
The new S40 is very nice. VERY nice interior... I love that floating bit of silver. On the base model it is not silver but clear see through plastic!!! So you see where it has been studded to the backing frame! hmmm... not sure of that though... Outside far nicer than the pics and the first BMW 1-series contender... I like it. Would love an XC50 estate 4x4 version though!
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1747s.jpg
Hideous new Astra's milky rear lights! It looks soooooo cheap... horrible details all over this messy design. Literally hundreds of creases and shapes and god knows what... horrid and even worse than the pictures. Interior high quality for an Opel has to say, plain simple but nice.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1763s.jpg
The inaccessible Porsche stand.
Citroen C2: nice little thing! Interior dash quality far better now than original C3. Absolutely hideous speedo and rev counter, but it is straight from the C3 and Pluriel. Lets hope Citroen facelifts this SOON. Split tailgate pointless, but car as whole great.
Panda: honest, honest car. No pretension, quirky but not Multipla off putting, good quality, all the kit you could want, nice size, good details... like it. This is what Fiat needed a long time ago! The Idea is OK, but offers little more on all levels than the Panda is more mundane to be honest... Panda best.
Mazda 3. OK. Not as big inside as the Astra/Golf. Interior OK looking and quality, pity it only has the stupid Mazda6 Alfaesque round vents on the sides and normal rectangular ones in the centre. Hatch OK, but strangely the 4 door looks by far the best! Has slightly more sporty front and shares no body panels with hatch. Very nice.
Scenic: OK looking outside, headlamps too big IMHO. Interior very nice. Just feels different, high seating position, good view out, steering wheel very low and dash in centre and visible ABOVE the steering wheel... good quality clever, very nice. Grand Scenic not possible to get into... Strangely the car still says Megane on the rear door trim!!! Even though none of the car's literature ever calls it a Megane anymore... hmmm BUT the new Scenic's doors don't thunk! They close with a very tiny sound... urghhh...
Megane Estate: Gorgeous! Love it. Very nice... this is what I'd drive in SA to be different. In Europe to many other nice different things like the A2... Sedan looks OK, but not as good as the Mazda 3 Vs hatch brother...
C-MAX - hmmm... not as good as Scenic inside, more normal driving position and does not feel as special. Low level versions have normal handbrake and the top ones have electronic handbrake and a nice centre console. The rear seats slide effortlessly at 45 degrees to back and centre when the central seatie is folded away - acres of space.
Audi Le Mans: GORGEOUS... smaller than you think... VVVV nice
Seat Altea: very nice... spiritual successor to A2... neat and wipers park vertically on A-pillars!!! Weird and pointless... strange rear, a bit dumb, but nice sporty MPV alternative to Zafira GSI...
AM DB9... looks better on pictures strangely! It is way too long and thus looks too narrow. New small AMV8 (DB8 obviously) far better as it is shorter. Even Vanquish is shorter and better looking BUT far more expensive...
Maybach. Poor poor Maybach. Hardly anyone looking at its Hyundai cars... go to Rolls and you had to fight to see the car... Same with Phaeton. It may not sell well, but it consistently pulls the crowds at every motorshow I have seen it... weird.
Vectra Estate: MASSIVE... good looking rear and well proportioned, but truly massive. I think next to Ford Falcon Estate this is the only car that will fit a coffin without being lengthened! hehehe
Polo Fun... nice. Like it. Sunroof way too small for a lifestyle car, but otherwise I'd like one but only with the 130bhp diesel engine...
Gellardo: most beautiful car in world to me... not nearly as many people looking at it as at the mad Ferrari stand though... and this time all the Gellardo's had glass engine covers...
New Subaru Legacy: I like the Estate. really neat rear lights... nice dash... cool car and I only wish I could hear the flat 6! Looks horrid in Outback two tone paint though! Though they had an Outback in one colour as well, so two tone is an option I hope... (two tone paint also the worst aspect of the Maybach IMHO...)
Also all in all the show was not as spectacular to me as the first time I went in 2001... it is MILES better than Geneva though. At Geneva they have a height restriction. Thus nothing, not even the back of house office walls can be higher than about 1500mm!!! So no elaborate displays...
And there is Hall 10........ the ENTIRE hall over 3 floors is a dedicated test drive centre! You can't go fast and only around other parked cars and the columns every 12m or so, but most manufacturers have cars to test drive there... you pay a few Euro per drive obviously, but less than 5 Euros a drive! I did not have time to do any unfortunately... thus needing another day next time around... and a few friends to chase around in other cars!!!
____________________________________________________________________________________
[img=left]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/a2andme2.gif[/img=left]
2001 A2 TDI SE Crystal Blue with Open Sky, 6CD Symphony II, BOSE upgrade, DIS and HALF a winterpack!
iPAQ 3970 with Sat-Nav sleeve, rear cupholders, luggage net and floppy wiper!
http://www.audi-a2.co.uk/uk23.htm
BUT the carbonfibre bodyshell was amazing! Here are some of the pics I took:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1662s.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1663s.jpg
The bit furthest left is the Merc roundel on front of car! Look how far back the engine sits! The stacked silver box closest is one of the 2 exhausts!
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1664s.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1665s.jpg
There is no carbonfibre here, just these bits of steel from the front to the main body...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1667s.jpg
Only part of smart four4 that is good looking outside is the rear. the low glass means basically all luggage is on display though! Interior great, VERY good quality, nice materials and textures, but boot way way too small for class. Rear space also not nearly as big as Golf 5 or Astra (both extremely comfortable in back far FAR better than A4 or BMW3...
All of a sudden the MASSIVE black lower bumper of the Golf makes sense... it desperately needs this black side skirt to get the lines to work. This new GTi is great apart from the masses of honeycomb on the front. The wheels, different front bumper, spoiler at back etc all look very good... rest of the range? Looks very nice. Very VERY upmarket grown-up look, extremely well detailed, rear lights a bit big and may look better with bodycolour background to the round lights? Or balck even but please not Lexus/Mazda 6 silver!!
Golf interior could only fall. The Golf 4 has such a stunning interior quality wise that the new version had to be in the Maybach league to be perceived as better than before... so it fails as it is in effect I guess cheaper to produce than the current one. it shows as well. The steering boss is nasty and especially the steering wheel buttons for radio etc! Urgh... like a ZX Spectrum keyboard, little toggles covered in a sort of see through condom effect one piece plastic sheath! horrid. Dials good, centre console fine, driving position fine, no more proper spring out cupholders (lost of companies now only supply handbrake mounted recesses instead of proper nice pop out ones!)
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1720s.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1738s.jpg
The new S40 is very nice. VERY nice interior... I love that floating bit of silver. On the base model it is not silver but clear see through plastic!!! So you see where it has been studded to the backing frame! hmmm... not sure of that though... Outside far nicer than the pics and the first BMW 1-series contender... I like it. Would love an XC50 estate 4x4 version though!
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1747s.jpg
Hideous new Astra's milky rear lights! It looks soooooo cheap... horrible details all over this messy design. Literally hundreds of creases and shapes and god knows what... horrid and even worse than the pictures. Interior high quality for an Opel has to say, plain simple but nice.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/IMGP1763s.jpg
The inaccessible Porsche stand.
Citroen C2: nice little thing! Interior dash quality far better now than original C3. Absolutely hideous speedo and rev counter, but it is straight from the C3 and Pluriel. Lets hope Citroen facelifts this SOON. Split tailgate pointless, but car as whole great.
Panda: honest, honest car. No pretension, quirky but not Multipla off putting, good quality, all the kit you could want, nice size, good details... like it. This is what Fiat needed a long time ago! The Idea is OK, but offers little more on all levels than the Panda is more mundane to be honest... Panda best.
Mazda 3. OK. Not as big inside as the Astra/Golf. Interior OK looking and quality, pity it only has the stupid Mazda6 Alfaesque round vents on the sides and normal rectangular ones in the centre. Hatch OK, but strangely the 4 door looks by far the best! Has slightly more sporty front and shares no body panels with hatch. Very nice.
Scenic: OK looking outside, headlamps too big IMHO. Interior very nice. Just feels different, high seating position, good view out, steering wheel very low and dash in centre and visible ABOVE the steering wheel... good quality clever, very nice. Grand Scenic not possible to get into... Strangely the car still says Megane on the rear door trim!!! Even though none of the car's literature ever calls it a Megane anymore... hmmm BUT the new Scenic's doors don't thunk! They close with a very tiny sound... urghhh...
Megane Estate: Gorgeous! Love it. Very nice... this is what I'd drive in SA to be different. In Europe to many other nice different things like the A2... Sedan looks OK, but not as good as the Mazda 3 Vs hatch brother...
C-MAX - hmmm... not as good as Scenic inside, more normal driving position and does not feel as special. Low level versions have normal handbrake and the top ones have electronic handbrake and a nice centre console. The rear seats slide effortlessly at 45 degrees to back and centre when the central seatie is folded away - acres of space.
Audi Le Mans: GORGEOUS... smaller than you think... VVVV nice
Seat Altea: very nice... spiritual successor to A2... neat and wipers park vertically on A-pillars!!! Weird and pointless... strange rear, a bit dumb, but nice sporty MPV alternative to Zafira GSI...
AM DB9... looks better on pictures strangely! It is way too long and thus looks too narrow. New small AMV8 (DB8 obviously) far better as it is shorter. Even Vanquish is shorter and better looking BUT far more expensive...
Maybach. Poor poor Maybach. Hardly anyone looking at its Hyundai cars... go to Rolls and you had to fight to see the car... Same with Phaeton. It may not sell well, but it consistently pulls the crowds at every motorshow I have seen it... weird.
Vectra Estate: MASSIVE... good looking rear and well proportioned, but truly massive. I think next to Ford Falcon Estate this is the only car that will fit a coffin without being lengthened! hehehe
Polo Fun... nice. Like it. Sunroof way too small for a lifestyle car, but otherwise I'd like one but only with the 130bhp diesel engine...
Gellardo: most beautiful car in world to me... not nearly as many people looking at it as at the mad Ferrari stand though... and this time all the Gellardo's had glass engine covers...
New Subaru Legacy: I like the Estate. really neat rear lights... nice dash... cool car and I only wish I could hear the flat 6! Looks horrid in Outback two tone paint though! Though they had an Outback in one colour as well, so two tone is an option I hope... (two tone paint also the worst aspect of the Maybach IMHO...)
Also all in all the show was not as spectacular to me as the first time I went in 2001... it is MILES better than Geneva though. At Geneva they have a height restriction. Thus nothing, not even the back of house office walls can be higher than about 1500mm!!! So no elaborate displays...
And there is Hall 10........ the ENTIRE hall over 3 floors is a dedicated test drive centre! You can't go fast and only around other parked cars and the columns every 12m or so, but most manufacturers have cars to test drive there... you pay a few Euro per drive obviously, but less than 5 Euros a drive! I did not have time to do any unfortunately... thus needing another day next time around... and a few friends to chase around in other cars!!!
____________________________________________________________________________________
[img=left]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/a2andme2.gif[/img=left]
2001 A2 TDI SE Crystal Blue with Open Sky, 6CD Symphony II, BOSE upgrade, DIS and HALF a winterpack!
iPAQ 3970 with Sat-Nav sleeve, rear cupholders, luggage net and floppy wiper!
http://www.audi-a2.co.uk/uk23.htm