Wednesday, March 7, 2007

2007 Geneva Auto Show

Well it's that time of the year again when Swiss prove once again that besides excellent watches, tasty chocolates and high end anonymous banking apparently they can throw a really nice auto show. Yup this week the big one is upon us - Geneva Auto Show - & with it a whole new slew of model introductions, interesting concepts & world first debuts. Really something for everyone car crazy and too much to talk about in detail although I would love to comment on a few notables of interest to me.

First is the all new Audi A5/S5 really an elegant & sporty interpretation by Audi. First seen as the Nuvolari quattro concept of 2003 this is today's interpretation of high performance and sophisticated coupe design. With a length of 4.63 m, the Audi is larger then it's BMW 3 series counterpart. Four comfortable seats, large usable trunk all add to make this "fiver" a comfortable long-distance tourer. The dynamic performance is provided by various choices of FSI and TDI engines with power ranging from 170 to 265 HP. The running gear is either front wheel or quattro four-wheel drive with choices of short shifted six-speed manual or multitronic auto gearbox. Here's a little video to see what I am talking about.

Second the all new BMW M3 disguised as a Concept car. The preferred daily weapon choice of performance enthusiast worldwide in addition to being a weekend race track warrior choice pictured here in "chrome shadow". Although following the lines of 3 Series Coupé, only the doors, trunk lid and head/tail lamps went unchanged with all other components especially engineered by the M Crew. Under the hood lays all new high-revving V8 engine derived directly from the V10 used in the M5/M6 rumored to be anywhere around 426-450 HP. The new engine, M specific sleek body styling and the high-technology CFRP roof are the highlights best seen in this video.


Third would be a malange of new models intros from: Mercedes new C-Class(blah!); the brand-new, gorgeous Pininfarina designed, long-awaited Maserati GranTurismo(sexy a very nice improvement); newly revised Nissan 350Z (with a new exterior and interior designs as well as a 313HP V6 engine); Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (increased power, lower weight, robotized mechanical e-gear as standard, sports package including shock absorbers, and special interior & exterior upgraded equipment); and many more that I don't really care much about to comment. More on some fantastic concept machines at a later date.

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Daily thoughts, musings & interests about anything (mostly horology) that currently makes my soul & grey matter tick.