Did anyone go to the Motorshow??

[PNH80]

Alright folks,

Didn't get to go to the British International Motorshow myself recently but i've seen the usual photos of exotica floating about online along with the poor journalistic write-ups....But did any of you guys go along?

Anything there really worth seeing? Highlights of the show?
I don't think Audi had any surprises on show but were any other manufacturers which look like they could have a good year? I've heard a LOT of good things about the new Vauxhall Insignia, bit of an A4/3 series beater apparently.

Anyway.... Just interested what the thoughts are of those who went!

Paul.

 

[mitch78]

:thumbsup:

 

[PNH80]

I thought the insignia looked quite good from photos...at least by vauxhalls standards anyway!

There seems to be some really nice mid range cars coming out at the moment from Citroen, Renault, Vauxhall, Ford etc etc and i'm hearing really good things. Just curious how they look and feel in the flesh from an Audi owners perspective...

 

[mitch78]

:thumbsup:

 

[PNH80]

Here's a question.... Did you notice a trend of BIG wing mirrors at the show? Or are other manufacturers disguising them well?

 

[Matt]

Where there any new Alfas there? I read that the 159 replacement is going to get a similar front end to the 8C which worries me as it hasn't worked with the MiTo!

 

[I'mRonBurgundy?]

I went.

Highlight for me was the new Lotus Evora. Can't belive it's a 2+2

The Alfa's looked nice too. They were all finished in a special order compitizione red which looked amazing under the lights. Bet they charge top dollar for it though.

Annoyed that Audi, VW and BMW didn't show - very poor attitude if you ask me.

Oh and listnening to an F40's turbo's come on song outside on the heritage track was nice.

 

[PaulMc]

I went, good day out, but not a great show.
No Audi, VW, Skoda, Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, Caterham, KTM....

Wont be going again if there are manufacturers missing from the line-up. It's easy getting to Geneva, so that is the one to do instead.

 

[PNH80]

I didn't even realise Audi and BMW weren't there. That is absolutely ***** for several reasons.... Didn't Audi state this financial year that the UK was one of their most lucrative markets?! They even made a special effort to go and launch the TT-S at Detroit!

I agree with the Geneva thing...Easy and cheap to get to, beautiful city and the best motorshow of the calendar.

 

[Vtec Abuser]

I went, good day out, but not a great show.
No Audi, VW, Skoda, Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, Caterham, KTM....

Wont be going again if there are manufacturers missing from the line-up. It's easy getting to Geneva, so that is the one to do instead.

Echo that mate.. Poor turn out by a lot of missing manufactures..
There was a few decent bits there, but on the whole I didn't really find it that good. + the totty wasn't all that either..

 

[PaulMc]

Nope, totty could have been better...or at least less clothing. Alfa girls probably get the gold.
Even the aftermarket exhibitors were pretty poor.

 

[Kris]

I went but knew before hand many of the key manufacturers would'nt be there so just treated it as a day out otherwise it would have been very dissapointing. I enjoyed the day in general but would say there was more exotica than manufacturers. As a one off it was ok but would'nt go again.

Alfa's looked fantastic in that red but unfortunately highlight of the day goes to the spicey chicken roll

 

[h5djr]

I didn't even realise Audi and BMW weren't there. That is absolutely ***** for several reasons.... Didn't Audi state this financial year that the UK was one of their most lucrative markets?! They even made a special effort to go and launch the TT-S at Detroit!

I agree with the Geneva thing...Easy and cheap to get to, beautiful city and the best motorshow of the calendar.

Another good show to go to is the German IAA Show held in Frankfurt. I went some years ago and it was huge and of course all the major German manufacturer's have huge stands. I actually went by car when I was already on holiday in Germany and it was so easy to get in and out.

Cheap flights to Frankfurt airport could make it a good day out. Usually held every two years in September.

 

[benw123]

I agree with the Geneva thing...Easy and cheap to get to, beautiful city and the best motorshow of the calendar.

I'm finally hoping to do a trip to Geneva next year, after years of talking about it. Would like to go with some other car enthusiast-friends and make a weekend of it.

I didn't go to ExCeL this year, although I have been a couple of times before to the NEC when it was hosted there. I couldn't find the time to get to this year's show, but because of the lack of manufacturers I didn't exactly pull out all the stops to go. Shame because London would benefit from a big show like that.

 

[sat1983]

The French part of Switzerland is *****- my parents have lived in Lausanne for 7 years and hate it. Geneva is even worse- have you seen the state of the buildings? They're all built pre 2nd world war.

 

[PNH80]

The French part of Switzerland is *****- my parents have lived in Lausanne for 7 years and hate it. Geneva is even worse- have you seen the state of the buildings? They're all built pre 2nd world war.

I think the attraction to Switzerland is the natural landscape rather than the buildings. Geneva is set in an amazing location in the valley. Worth going even if just once. I'm a bit of a watch man also, so it's double interest for me. I think they've tried to preserve the historic side of the country and not allow the usual sky scrapers etc to be built. The swiss are unbelievably tight on planning, construction and pollution. Probably why the country is like a time warp.
If the french side is a bit rough, what's the pre-german occupied east side of the country like? Never been myself but can't see that being much better!

 

[RedSportback]

I did the motorshow, as already stated was pretty dull compared to previous one's I'd been to back in the old days of the NEC. Getting there was a nightmare as Tower Hill Docklands stn is closed until 2009.

Cars were on the whole un-impressive, the new Vauxhall looks good in the promotion pictures but when sat in one or stood next to one looked ****** awful.

As i say very few caught my eye - perhaps the one exception was the AMG Black.
The girlfriend liked the new Fiesta - but not the price.

My mate booked a testdrive in the Kia Ceed (or something like that). To all intense and purposes very like an A3 - but you'd expect that as aparently the designer is the ex Audi A3 designer.

Like everyone else I'm sad that Audi, Bmw Volvo and the like didn't deem the event worthy of their company or companies.

Am glad I had a free ticket otherwise it would have been a waste of money.

 

[mitch78]

:thumbsup:

 

[AL_B]

I went too.

Not been to the british motorshow for years and years. Overall I enjoyed it, but was very disappointed that Audi, VW, BMW were not there.

Best bit was the heritage enclosure and the laps around the little circuit by the cars - great to hear the sound of them and smell the fuel.

I thought the standard of polishing on the cars, even in the prestige paddock bit inside and on the stands, was appauling. Swirl marks clearly visible on what should be top class cars. I know most of the normal cars are going to get some scratches on them due to all the people crawling in and out, but there was lots of swirling on the bits of the cars which are not high-traffic areas.

Great day out though, even if it did take over 4 hours to get to from the North West using the Great British transport network.

AL