Does anyone know what cars MB is bringing or i guess already brought to the show besides the GST and the e320cdi?

 

Mercedes is showing the Vision CLS this year.

http://www.laautoshow.com/concepts_mercedes.asp

 

CLS info

CLS 2

 

Nothing really new for this year. Decide not to go, unless friends are going.

 

Anyone going, make sure you stop by the MB vip lounge. Its a good way to get away from all the fat people trying to crush you and step on you

 

vip lounge? how does that work? just show them you have the key?

 

yup...not too many people know about it. simply show your key or sometimes you can get an invitation by your dealer but the key works fine. you get some drinks and cookies/cheese its really nice to get away from everyone. last year i got an E class DVD.

edit: forgot to mention that BMW copied mercedes VIP lounge last year and started one of their own. the bmw one is okay, you get a view of the intire auto show, but everyone sees it so its a crowded lounge. MB's is much better

 

Ok you get some snacks and some peace and quiet. Anything else in the lounge? Maybe free stuff? Hot models?

 

Hah, free lap dance. Niiiice!

 

You read my mind...

 

just came back from the show in the afternoon...nothing really special for MB other than the vision CLR, but personally I think it's not that hot. They had E55, S55, SL55, and G55 all for people to sit in.

BMW has some highlight stuff tho. The new 5-series is much better looking in person as well as the new 6-series they had for people to sit in. The X3's okay, but tacky.

Audi was showing mainly the new A8 and the new S4 convertible. They also have a blue S4 w/ blue seat insert. Now after checking out the new S4, I can say that all three (C32, M3, S4)'s interiorfit and finish are about the same. All have their high and low. The rear seat is soo small for the S4 btw because the RECARO seats takes up a lot of the space.

Jaguar was just like last year where they showed the new XJ and the R-series.

Volvo had the new S40, very nice car. fit and finish is very good and it's also very sharp looking.

Nissan/Infiniti had nothing new
Honda/Acura has the new TL. Indeed it's very nice, very unJapanese other than the styling. Superb fit and finish.

Toyota/Lexus has nothing new.
Mitsu had the EVO8 RS and many EVO8s while Subaru being cheap only had one STi on the floor.

Mazda showed the Mazda 3. Nice little compact.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler was just typical stuff. nothing interesting enough.

Brabus brought everycar they had from last year plus a new CLk 6.1 in the mix.

Ferrari and Maseratii showed 360 Stradale and the Quarttroporte

Didn't check out Aston...

Porsche like usual had all the model line up. New ones being the new GT3, Turbo convertible, Cayenne 3.2 and the Carrera GT

Lambo showed two Gallardo and one Murcielago. Typical Lotus stuff. Morgan showed their Aero 8.

Down to the tuner section there are lots of Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo lying around. There was also a black new Rolls Phantom.

Couple of those calender/poster models are pretty hot.

 

Frank,

How can you say typical lotus stuff ???


Lotus unveiled one of the best cars to date.

The US elise.

I have already put my deposit down for it. It is gonna take the place of the slk 55 I wanted.

 

I think the Audi and BMW's interior is far more appealing then the C32's that just my opinion the C32 dash looks plain and doesnt seperate its self from the other C320's and the C230k. The S4 has a nice interior so does the M.

 

at the entrance of the vip lounge, they USUALLY pick a cute girl. mine was ugly
u missed out on austin's line up necause they unveiled the new DB9 what a piece that thing was. i sat in the S4 and one thing i noticed and aggree on is the fact that the recaros take up too much space so there is little to no room in the back and the seats itself were very race like and uncomfortable. wouldn't want to go on a 1+ hour drive in an s4.
The lotus elise is incredible, i must agree with you. ive been contemplating getting one as well for my next car in about 10 months. here are my reasons why i wouldn't
very light and SMALL between 1700-1900 pounds. Yes this is a good thing if you want to race, but imagine getting rear ended by a freaken excursion!
for 40g's id rather getting something that doesn't have a radio and air C. as an option.
0-60 in 5.9 seconds. this thing is supposed to handle emazingly and its acceleration isn't too bad but id much rather get a bmw 330ci for that price.
if it was between the new SLK55AMG and the Lotus Elise, id get the SLK without a second thought. just my .02 cents

 

I had a 2000 328Ci which basically has the same interior as the M3 other than mine was w/ burl walnut trim. Different style than the MB and the Audi that's for sure. Quality wise, I really don't find any of them having a edge over the others. All three seperate itself from their sibilings w/ steering wheel being different, seats, shift ****, and the new gauge. Trims are just options easily changed. In Europe you can get anything for almost all the cars.

Prasith32, don't get me wrong, but I said typical Lotus stuff because the Elise has been on the market for the long time now. The car is already 6-7 years old w/ only minor sheet metal update from when it first came out. The only difference is that the engine is now supply by Toyota instead of Rover and it's now left hand drive. I've know the US version is coming for about a year now and I've seen the car last year, so nothing really exciting about it.

 

anywayz...where was the VIP lounge? I didn't see it around MB's section...

 

Yes I agree the elise has a very narrow focus but that is what I plan to use it for. I am going to use it 70% for autoX and track. The other 30% will be to embarass ferraris on tight curves. You really can't push it to its limits anywhere other than a track. This car is so fast in the corners where normal car (ie corvette or viper) will start braking at 300' the elise doesn't have to brake for a corner till 100'. Also it is mid engined and you would be hard pressed to find another car that can do all the things it does performance-wise. In the end I decided that the slk55 is too much like my c32 in order to have both of them. It will be nose heavy, lots of power for sure but the power/weight ratio will definitely not be better than the elise. When will I really have fun ???

Also the new elise does 0-60 in 4.9. The old elise with 111hp was 5.6.

Frank,
The US elise with the toyota lump is supposed to be a drastically different beast. With 190hp and improved brakes and suspension I can't wait to get my hands on mine.

I think there are some other c32 owners on the board as well who are getting one but I can't remember who.

 

chassi still 7 years old... just playing...it's a good car. I'd like the Exige tho

 

I heard that a lot of car manufactures are not unvailing some of their new cars until later in the week due to a conflict with the Detroit show.

How about the new Ford Lightning was that at the show?

 

the vip lounge is behind the counter on the right side. right near the vision cls and the clk. Simply ask one of the mb people and they will direct you. the bmw one was right by the 6 series and certified pre-owned 5 series.

 

When I went, they said having a Mercedes wasn't good enough and that I needed a special invitation to get in. This was at the LA Auto Show on January 2, 2004.

 

you should have just told" i guess an AMG isn't enough then" hahah just kidding

 

 

THe show was alright this year but oen thing i did notice was that the 5 AMG's mercedes brought took ALOT of attention. People were sitting in the E55 tlakign to their dealer on their cell placing an order which was kinda cool. Brabus was packed with people who have never heard of the company and hearing reactions from them was great hahah. I was kind of dissappointed with BMW's booth since there was basically nothing there except 1 M3 and the new 6 which wasn't relaly even that great. THe aftermarket section however had the Carlsson sl55 and the DUB Loutis Vuitton S500kinda caught my eye alot but yea in regards to just the manufacturers Mercedes was holding own the the "8 names of thunder" hahaha BUT the Carrera GT just completely rocked the La Convention Center

 

thats completely ridiculous. i went january 2 as well. simply walk in there show them your key, act like you own the place. i have been going to the lounge the past 4 years, each year except for the first i wasn't invited.