2015 Calgary Auto Show Discussion

[bjstare]

Originally posted by soloracer


Why the double take?
[all BMWs look the same blah blah blah]

Don't they all look like basically the same car with some small changes made between models?

I agree, and that's exactly why I had to do a double take.

Looked like a regular 4 series, but then it had 4 doors. Then I figured out it was a 4GC that I hadn't seen before. haha

[Mibz]

Like Benyl mentioned in the other thread, Calgary is a dealer show, not a manufacturer show. This means if the dealer doesn't have the car, you likely won't see it. Sometimes you get a media car that tours Canada (like the MB autonomous concept or Infiniti Qwhatever concept) but you're rarely going to see cars which aren't quite in showrooms yet, which includes every one Canmorite listed above.

[killramos]

I think the biggest head scratcher is ford didnt even bring a mustang GT. like a dozen F-150's but no V8 Mustang?

It was a fairly dissapointing show.

Got to spend some quality time with the Macan Turbo .

Th 235i convertible was hella expensive. Wast even loaded at 67 grand

Was very unimpressed with the new Escalade. The seats weren't even comfortable lol

I think the problem is that this is a volume seller show. So they bring in all the base model SUV's and compact sedans etc. I was talking to some friends about how the show would be alot better if they brought the ticket prices up to thin the crowds and encourage the dealers/manufactuerers to bring some better models in.



I just need to go to a real show one of these days i think...

[rage2]

Originally posted by Xtrema
If c450 get the same leather grade as the c63, it would be great.

The leather quality and workmanship is vastly inferior in the c300/400 compared to c63.

There are 3 types of interiors across the MB range, ARTICO (fake leather, called MB-Tex in the US), standard leather, and nappa leather. I believe you're talking about the Nappa leather in the C63, as the non AMG's get Artico or standard leather. With the C400, it's standard leather, and the C450 only gets nappa leather on the steering wheel. Fairly sure that the nappa leather will be a C63 exclusive again. You're right though, the Nappa leather is a huge step up from the standard leather.

Personally, I like the artico interior, which oddly enough wasn't available in Canada in the C63 except in the Black Series. The artico leather is much easier to maintain, looks and feels like leather, but has the added bonus of being trimmed in Dinamica, a fake suede much like Alcantara. Way sportier look.

Here's a comparison of the Artico vs AMG Red Cut Leather Recaro seats that's coming in the C63:





Moot point for us Canadians, as we can't spec out the Artico Recaros here in the AMGs, we're forced to go leather in the CLA45/GLA45/C63/AMG GT. With the C450 AMG, not being a real AMG, there's a huge chance that you can spec it out with the Artico interior, which is cheaper and way better imo.

[schocker]

^^^When I build a C400 online though it comes with artico. I don't want that vinyl garbage
$2k for real leather.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by schocker

It was a $67k 4cyl though
That trunk was I do admit

I'd rock it as a hauler to the slopes.

Bitches love the hatch.

By 'bitches', I mean 'car guys'.

[yobi5888]

Has anyone test drive the new C-Class?

I saw it Wed night at the car show and fell in love, went test drive it on Sat, one thing I found quite unacceptable is that there is air gap between the door and the body and will make whistle like sound when the car is travelling over 100km/hr.

Other than that, I love the interior and the looks.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by yobi5888
Has anyone test drive the new C-Class?

Drove the C400 and hated it. It's a completely different car from the last gen, and not in a way that I like. If the C450 is as different as they claim then it could be good, but the C400 was too old man for me.

[rage2]

Originally posted by schocker
^^^When I build a C400 online though it comes with artico. I don't want that vinyl garbage
$2k for real leather.

Have you seen the artico/dinamica interior in person though? I have it in my Black Series, and it's by far my favorite interior of all the AMG's I've owned. Even better than my CLK Black, which was full leather. Personal preference of course, but vinyl garbage is an unfair description.

Originally posted by yobi5888
Has anyone test drive the new C-Class?

benyl and I both drove and wrote reviews for the C400.

http://www.beyond.ca/review-2015-mer...tic/40872.html

http://www.beyond.ca/2015-mercedes-b...400/40995.html

The C400 had poor turn-in characteristics, lots of understeer for the both of us. We haven't driven the C450 AMG yet, but from reading the first drive reviews, Mercedes has addressed the turn-in understeer (most likely with the addition of curve dynamic assist in the ESP program) and steering feel issues.

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by killramos
I was talking to some friends about how the show would be alot better if they brought the ticket prices up to thin the crowds and encourage the dealers/manufactuerers to bring some better models in.

Or just whiten the crowd more with a big bass pro shop booth or something. Felt like 80% of ppl that went never seen a car up close and personal in their life before.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Show was pretty good this year, they aren't open as long on Sunday but I still saw most things. Some standouts for me, all IMHO of course:

BMW - Disappointed with interior quality. Either other cars are getting better, or they are getting worse, perhaps a combination. It's not bad, but it should be significantly better than it is IMO.

Hyundai Genesis - One of the biggest surprises at the show for me. Build quality seemed to be much better than usual. Lots of companies could learn from what they did with the interior and also how solid everything was. I'd be curious to drive one 5 years from now though and see how it all holds up beyond initial impression. The value proposition seems quite impressive, you get a lot of car for the dollar. I feel like these would be a bargain on the used market.

Cadillac Escalade ESV - What is with the 1" gap on either side of the trunk floor? It's just begging for things to fall down there. You lift it up, and are greeted with the cheapest chunk of plastic I have ever seen, which was already broken, still unable to get anything that may have fallen down the cracks. At $107K, they are lucky a sucker is born every minute. It amazes me these things keep selling.

There was that glossy black crap inside SO MANY cars this year! Everything from the econo boxes to Cadillac had it everywhere, and it's so bad it would be a deal breaker (IMHO). The worst offender was Cadillac CUE though, they still haven't bothered to fix that eye sore. It seems every other car I went into, even the Camry, was covered in that crap. Looks awful. Maybe you could swap it out?

Jeep Cherokee - I watched the door handle pop right off when someone tried to open it haha. Was not surprised.

New C-CLass - Interior is awesome EXCEPT for the doors. The wood trim, at least on the car show model, had no bracing behind it and I could push it behind the leather portion of the door quite significantly with little effort. The doors were also very light, and did not have the usual confident Mercedes "thud" when you closed them (Maybe because they were so much lighter?). Love these cars though, they look amazing other than the stupid i-Pad screen haha. They would be very high on my list if I was shopping.

GLA - Really liked this thing, and it seemed to be put together better than the CLA.

Cadillac CTS - $73K for a regular non-turbo V6 model? Wow. Also $80K for the V6 V-Sport (not the V) is way too much IMO. Infiniti, Lexus, and Cadillac are all putting very standard V6's in their expensive cars, and it seems like they are cutting corners by not having a 3.0 TT or something instead.

New Vette Stingray - Rather impressed with the interior this year (finally) except the doors are still garbage. I went to open the door, and instead my fingers went right into the weather stripping underneath. Closing the door with the window down sounds like the door is going to fall apart. Way more usable trunk though, and a nicely done interior otherwise.

New GTI - Loved it except for they used the ultra cheap plastic on the back interior door sills (wtf VW?). Starting at $28K I would take that car over anything else in that price range (Mazda 3, Acura ILX, etc.) Also I was surprised at how cheap the Jetta is - seems like a lot of car for the dollar compared to many others.

Mazda 6 - The only motor available is the N/A 184HP 4cyl? No thanks.

F150 - The switch gear panels didn't even fit in the holes cut out for them in the doors. There was a huge gap almost all the way around.

Audi S3 - It had a better feeling interior and more solid sounding doors than the S6 sitting beside it. One of the best interiors at the show IMHO, especially for the price. Looks like it's $55K for a full load though, which is getting up there. Makes the Golf R @ $40K look pretty damn attractive, especially if you want a hatch back.

Volvo - Loved the V60 XC & V60 Polestar. I actually think it's a relative bargain at $60K. Seemed to be built very well, and apparently has a very high residual (according to the sales person). Same price as the A4 Allroad wagon, but with a similar interior and quite a bit more power. I love wagons and this would be very high on my list.

Mistubishi Mirage - $17,000?

Not a fan of the all-LCD dashes a lot cars seem to be using. I much, much, prefer analog gauges. Also what if your car is parked outside in -30 for a couple days? I imagine it would be borderline unusable until things warmed up.

Lastly, the salespeople were more annoying this year than any other year in memory. There were a few we had to flat out tell to leave us alone, it was ridiculous. After literally telling them we were not at all in the market under any circumstances, they were practically begging us to come down for a test drive, etc. Followed us out of their area and into other manufacturer's areas. Kind of sad actually. Lesson learned: NEVER go up to the desk and ask a simple question unless you want a salesperson to latch onto you for the next 5 min.

Pretty standard show, it's always basically what the dealers feel like bringing, so there was a lot missing.

[schocker]

Originally posted by flipstah
I'd rock it as a hauler to the slopes.

Bitches love the hatch.

By 'bitches', I mean 'car guys'.

haha, probably true.

Originally posted by rage2

Have you seen the artico/dinamica interior in person though? I have it in my Black Series, and it's by far my favorite interior of all the AMG's I've owned. Even better than my CLK Black, which was full leather. Personal preference of course, but vinyl garbage is an unfair description.

I don't think so I just like to hate on it
I just figure at that price it should be included and they also call it Artico Leather which I think some people would not notice.
All my cars have been coated leather which is probably not much better anyways

[rage2]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
BMW - Disappointed with interior quality. Either other cars are getting better, or they are getting worse, perhaps a combination. It's not bad, but it should be significantly better than it is IMO.

Hyundai Genesis - One of the biggest surprises at the show for me. Build quality seemed to be much better than usual. Lots of companies could learn from what they did with the interior and also how solid everything was. I'd be curious to drive one 5 years from now though and see how it all holds up beyond initial impression. The value proposition seems quite impressive, you get a lot of car for the dollar. I feel like these would be a bargain on the used market.

GLA - Really liked this thing, and it seemed to be put together better than the CLA.

Agree with BMW and Hyundai. Honestly, Hyundai needs to hire a suspension/chassis guru, and they would sell like hotcakes. I've driven quite a few of the Genesis coupes over the years, and the only thing that is lacking is the handling.

As for the GLA, it's put together just as bad as the CLA. The difference is that they fixed a few of the issues that plagued the initial CLA's and B's, and have rolled those updates across all the platforms. The latest CLA's are much better than the year 1 cars, with more improvements on the way in the mid cycle refresh.

[gpomp]

^What's the difference between the CLA/GLA and B other than looks? Seems to me like the B has the most usable package and is a lot cheaper than the CLA and GLA.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by rage2

Agree with BMW and Hyundai. Honestly, Hyundai needs to hire a suspension/chassis guru, and they would sell like hotcakes. I've driven quite a few of the Genesis coupes over the years, and the only thing that is lacking is the handling.

As for the GLA, it's put together just as bad as the CLA. The difference is that they fixed a few of the issues that plagued the initial CLA's and B's, and have rolled those updates across all the platforms. The latest CLA's are much better than the year 1 cars, with more improvements on the way in the mid cycle refresh.

Yeah that's what I figured with Hyundai. The "shine" would come off once you drive it compared to much of the competition, but damn that interior is nice. And the doors shut SOLID even with the windows down, which cannot be said even for some Germans these days.

I didn't have time to check out the CLA and assumed it was the same as last year, so it's good to hear they improved the interior a bit - the first gen CLA interior was pretty weak IMO. Still not great, but they have definitely improved it at least somewhat if it's like the GLA. I wish the new C class had better feeling doors! Not a deal breaker but the rest of that thing is so nice, especially the unfinished wood trim.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by gpomp
^What's the difference between the CLA/GLA and B other than looks? Seems to me like the B has the most usable package and is a lot cheaper than the CLA and GLA.

I won't waste money on GLA250 as B250 is the exact same car for way less. GLA45 is the only right GLA to get.

Originally posted by rage2
Moot point for us Canadians, as we can't spec out the Artico Recaros here in the AMGs, we're forced to go leather in the CLA45/GLA45/C63/AMG GT. With the C450 AMG, not being a real AMG, there's a huge chance that you can spec it out with the Artico interior, which is cheaper and way better imo.

I hope nappa is an option on C450, I hate grainy leather, fake or not. ie. I hope this interior shows up on the C450:

[rage2]

Originally posted by gpomp
^What's the difference between the CLA/GLA and B other than looks? Seems to me like the B has the most usable package and is a lot cheaper than the CLA and GLA.

While it's the same chassis across the 3 lines, there's some differences between all the cars. The suspension tuning is setup quite differently between the 3. CLA is stiffest, GLA in the middle, B is the softest.

CLA is available in FWD and AWD for the 250. The 45 has an optional AMG suspension that makes the Black Series feel smooth over bumps.

The B looks like a mini-minivan, and was only available in FWD until this year. 4Matic was launched for MY2015 with the first cars arriving any day now. Huge bang for the buck on this guy, lots of room for passengers, storage, headroom. As long as you're ok with driving a mini-minivan. The only drawback to the B is that there's no AMG version.

The GLA has a slightly higher seating position, and is raised up an inch or 2 more than the B. The AMG version lowers it back down a little but you still sit higher than the CLA, and a little lower than the B250. There's also an offroad mode for the AWD version. There is no FWD version of the GLA.

Other than that, the 3 cars share the exact same interior, with differences in the back seat. The CLA has very little rear leg room and zero headroom, the B has amazing rear leg room, and the GLA has the same rear legroom but sacrafices a bit of headroom on the left due to the way the side windows pinches inwards at the top.

Originally posted by Xtrema
I won't waste money on GLA250 as B250 is the exact same car for way less. GLA45 is the only right GLA to get.

Yea, once the GLA45 keyless go wasn't happening for this model year, I ordered up a B250 4matic for the gf. Unfortunately, it's been backlogged in Halifax due to the storm last month.

[Xtrema]

Anyone notice the trend of frameless rear view mirror?


» Click image for larger version

I found that refreshing.

[killramos]

Originally posted by rage2

Yea, once the GLA45 keyless go wasn't happening for this model year, I ordered up a B250 4matic for the gf. Unfortunately, it's been backlogged in Halifax due to the storm last month.

i was wondering what happened to that, not offering keyless-go is embarrassing for MB for sure.

Not sure i could ever buy a car that needs the key again... Its made me seriously considering getting all the locks on my house changed.

[killramos]

doubled .