Let's get that out of the way first. I forgot my digital camera. But here's my review anyway.

Next, so the mods don't feel the urge to move this thread to some forum in the basement, I sat in an EVO IX MR at the Mitsu exhibit, and found myself wanting to trade my S4 for the MR, which I would keep as a bone stock daily driver. There were several modified Eclipses, including the Muellerized Raillart car that has been on another thread here.

Now for the review: A mediocre show. Other years have been better. Best in show awards:

1. Corvette Z06 -- this is the car that gets me going -- it was even the right color - Yellow. 505 hp, 0 - 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and 1/4 mile in 11.7 secs. at about 125 mph. Right out of the box for about $70,000 or a little less. The greatest car in the world. Porsche wants $440,000 for a Carrera GT that takes 2/10s longer to get to 60.

2. Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe -- great looking, brute force, wonderful execution of the second generation coupe design, looks great in blue with white stripes. Unfortunately, it costs $20,000 more than the Z06.

3. Bugatti Veyron 16.4 -- lost a couple of positions for wretched excess and $1.2 million price tag, but still pretty impressive. You have to see it in person. 16 cylinders, 4 turbos, awd and 1000 hp. Plus really nice 2-tone blue/dark grey paint and wonderful interior. How many EVOs can you buy for $1.2 mill???

4. Lotus Exige -- meaner looking than an Elise with another 100 lbs. of downforce. Loses points for not having a supercharged engine like the 240R in Europe, but I'd still love to have one as a track tool. Looks great in orange with black wheels.

5. Mazda MX-5 -- fifth place was a hard choice. I could have gone with Audi RS4, Mercedes CLS55, Maserati Quattroporte Sport, or EVO IX MR. I just think this 3rd gen. Miata is very elemental and will be a great track car with some suspension tuning.

Biggest Disappointment -- Porsche Cayman S. Maybe I had such high hopes for it that it just couldn't live up to the hype. It really looks a lot like a 911 in person, except for the rear haunches and the upside down rear side window. It starts at $58,900, but with Porsche a la carte pricing, both examples at the show were over $70,000. Now remember you can get a 505 hp Z06 for that money, but instead you get a 295 hp bastard from a affair between a Boxster and a Carrera. Porsche needed a car to fill the $70,000 slot now that 911s are $90-100K+.

Worst in Show -- BMW M5. Looks absolutely horrible. It is even uglier than the other 5-series cars due to a little slapped on rear spoiler, gaudy blonde wood bling dash, and the color was a metallic diahrea brown. It weighs too much and has strayed too far from what the first 3 generations of the M5 were all about.

 

Nice review, I wanted to go today but had to work all day. So ill be there tommorow. How does it compare to last year?

 

Man... This reminds me of how CRAPPY the DC Auto show is. I love going, but it's pretty much just a big sales floor where all the local dealers bring whatever crap is on their lots. Maybe a couple of good concepts, but generally no different from going down to the local autopark. Last year Mitsu had like 3 cars just sitting there with virtually no display, no promotional materials, nothing... We're going as the DCEvoClub this year, so it should be fun at least

 

Oh, I almost forgot an Honorable Mention -- the Saleen S7. This car weighs 2800 lbs. and has 750 hp. Figure out the weight/power ratio. It's better than a V8 Radical. I didn't put it in the top 5 because I already had the Bugatti, and I didn't think I should have 2 unattainable ultra-supercars on the top 5 list. The S7 costs about $600,000.

 

New Jaguar XK looks great, but is still a boulevard cruiser and not a sports car. For some reason, Aston Martin was not in the show.

 

Was the new Ford Mustang Cobra GT500 there ? Or what about the new skyline ?

 

to bad about the porsche, but yes, that c6 zo6 is on my wish list. to bad the wife would be seeing red.

 

No Skyline. Didn't see the Cobra and don't think it was there.

 

I just came back from the Autoshow and I have to tell you that it was disapointing, they had no new cars except for the Bugadi, I was expecting to see The Evo 10, and the new skyline but they were no where to be found. But I was able to compare the Evo 9 and the new STI because they were parked about 2 cars apart from each other, and I have to say that the new Sti does not look like crap I liked the Second wing near the back of the roof, and overall I will give the Car 4/5, but it did not come close to how good the EVO looked after I sat in both cars I just loved how the Evo seats just took you in, so that pretty much sold me right there.

I have not gotten a chance to test drive the EVO or the STI yet, but Im 80% sure Im getting the EVO.

 

Until the L.A. show gets moved to it's new date in November, you're not likely to see stuff like the Evo X and Skyline. It's too close to the Detroit show (the major North American show for the big time stuff). Evo X probably won't be in Detroit, but maybe the Skyline will show. The last Skyline concept they did was at Detroit back in 2002.