vtechbrain

Spent Saturday depositing my butt in essentially every car in the show. The Honda-Acura area was incredibly crowded. I'm happy to say that IMO The TSX and TL have better interior appointments than any other vehicle in their class. The BMW and Mercedes leather is plusher, thats about it. In all other measures acura has nothing to fear from the other luxury brands in interior fit, finish and materials. Of interest I visited the Ford and chevrolet areas (I usually just skip them) The new Malibu is a good effort but the interiors are nissan or mazda level. Of interest the ford 500 (next Taurus) looked quite impressive although the cars were for display only. Funny thing, I was commenting to my buddy how good the car looked when I pulled on the door lever and the painted cover came off! No it wasn't broken they all did, I guess some things never change at the big 3.
One car that thoroughly impressed me was the Audi S4. That shoe-horned v8 was a work of art! I Checked the mazda are since their 6 has been nicely reviewed. I really liked the exterior design, the interior was a big let down it was pretty chintzy. The same chintzy interior theme was true of the other mazda and Nissan products. What came as a big surprise was the RX8 engine bay, it looked like a half baked engineering project !Haphazard cables, hoses and so on. Like previous Wankel engines the poor finishing touches might be bad news in reliability terms. Infinity's again failed to give a good impression in the materials and fit and finish categories.
All in all car shows are only about looks and comfort but from that stand point the major Honda products aquited themselves quite well.

rets

Thanks for your reviews.

About Infiniti, you just confirm my opinion. That's why I always doubt what G could offer to the public in 05. Lots of guys have talked about Infiniti insists that their 05G could have better interior to match up to other high-quality competitiors...

ndabunka

Did you get a chance to see the new 300C Hemi? Was it there?

UminChu

It was there. So was the ME 412 during the first weekend.

fsttyms1

agreed i too compared like vtechbrain at the chicago auto show and found the same results. to me after sitting in the g35 and the new tl, the g35 almost seemed like a pontiac (no offense pontiac owners) just overall cheap and plasticy looking. i found the 04 tl to be on par with fit and finish with the lexus and german boys, and i even thought the wood trim looked better than the bmw's

UminChu

I agree with you, though I think Audi sets the bar superb interiors throughout their model line. I agree that the TL has closed the gap significantly in the new TL with amenities, appointments and surfaces. IMO, fit & finish wise, Audi still wins the trophy for best in class.

jzinckgra

Regarding the G35. Was it an 04 or 05? I thought infiniti was completely redesiging the interior for 05

Brokedoc

Rumor for premiere of 05G interior will be at NY Auto Show in April.

vtechbrain

Must be the 04 since it looked exactly like last years.

rets

I check JDM Nissan website, they have a few of good interior out there, but it's not as perfect as Infiniti has said. However, I'm really interested in seeing what they would offer in April's NY Auto Show. Thanks.

digital_b

obviously infiniti skimped on the interiors. but they had too since they were broke and put on the corner by renault. theyve made a great comeback now and its time to get in the game with the interiors.

vtechbrain

Personally I'm glad nissan has improved a lot. Having good fierce competition keeps automakers on their toes to our benefit. I'm a Honda die hard fan but dont think for a minute I wouldnt buy another brand if I thought they offered a better value vehicle. The reason they have kept my loyalty is that I do cross shop but I just haven't found something better. For example the Audi s4 was fantastic but I would never buy it since I well know the mediocre reliability of volkswagen products nor would I buy any mercedes or porsche either. Since reliability is paramount to value in my book the only other high on my list is Toyota, unfortunately Toyota is tantamount to the Japanese Buick, boring, non imaginative design and engineering. Honda has always distinguished themselves as the guys that put cutting edge science into the cars the average Joe drives. Through the years I've owned a total of 6 Hondas and I have been completely satisfied with each one. Ive owned a sprinkling of non Hondas from which I gained considerable mechanical knowledge since they were always broken, therefore to pull me out the fold, honda will have to sell me a real dud and the competition will have to come out with a real gem, chances for that in the foreseeable future are slim to none.