Monster's visit to the Australian International Motor Show 2007 (Review+Photos)


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Thanks mate, it is always nice to see some feedback from other forum members.
 
Something different this time. I was interested to check out the new Subaru Impreza range. The fact that I didn't bother to take any photos of it tells you how boring it is, even for the WRX version. It looks very boring and the front looks dated already. Subaru promised a much improved interior quality for this generation of the Impreza, but sadly although the fit and finish is excellent, the material quality is very cheap. Brittle plastic everywhere, cheap feeling buttons. It is definitely disappointing, but when you put things in perspective, the material quality is about the same as the Mazda 3.

The most interesting display in the Subaru show area, for me (possibly martinbo) is the competely exposed drivetrain layout from the Liberty/Legacy 3.0R. It is fasiniating to see how everything in my car fits together, and to see the engine is positioned extremely in the car. Notice the driveshafts for the front wheels are located ahead of the gearbox to shift the front wheels in front. Audi has only recently started doing something similar.

Subaru call this Symmetrical Drivetrain cause the driveshafts for the front and the rear wheels have equal length and the propeller shaft is right in the middle of the car.
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The top black part of the engine contain the air filter, intake manifold, aternator and various pump and pulley.
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You can see the engine block sits very low in the car, thanks to the horizontal engine. You can see the transfer case located infront of the gearbox, sort of under the bell housing.

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Front suspension arms and links, closer look at the transfer case.
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Rear suspension subframe, suspension linkage anti roll bar and the differential with cooling fin at the bottom. I think the diff is a viscus coupling type.
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Mazda 6. They only have the sedan on display, and it is locked, so i can't check out the interior. In real life the wheel arches are not as pronounced as they appear to be in the press release photos, but it is still a sharp an attractive design with nice details. The front headlight design is particuarly unique, with 3 rounded parallelogram shape stacked together. The rear light design looks great from far away but upon closer inspection, the detail looks a bit tacky. The best view of the car is from front on sadly I don't have a photo of it

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I am back with more. Some of you might know, I have a massive soft spot for Saabs ever since i had a 97 9000cs.

The Saab stand is tiny and it was combined with the Hummer show area, thanks GM for destroying whatever respect Saab has.

This is the 1st time I get to see the facelift version of the 9-3 range. I like it a lot, including those clear tail lights which looks significantly better in real life. The car looks sharp and modern, and lots of young girls were crawling over the 9-3 Convertible saying "its hot", so Saab has done something right. The least appealing view of the car is the dead front on view. The front end looks too narrow, have a look

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This 9-3 Turbo X wagon is seriously sexy. Good to see Saab has gone back to their unique 3 spoke wheel design. The design has disappeared for a while now, but it is back and Saab is the only company to pull it off.
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The Bentley display area was being combined with the VW display area. They had their full car range on display. There was a bright red Continental GTC which looks absolutely wrong. Next to it is the brand new Continental Speed GT. The bonnet was opened for the entire show so I can't get a decent photo of it. You guys can see the engine bay is packed to the max. There are hardly any clearance between the engine intake manifold and the bonnet.

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Now we come to this personalised Muller Flying Spur. For some reason my camera just refused to take good photos of this car. Maybe it is because it doesn't like it. The car is definitely very "bling" but it isn't what Bentley should be like. I still dont' like the overall shape of the Flying Spur, there is something strange about the side profile and the proportion of the car. The Arnage sitting next to it, now that is the genuine, real deal.
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The Arnage is imposing and confident, unlike the Flying Spur which has all these extra and unnecessary styling jewellery to help it gain some respect. In another words, it tries too hard to impress. The Arnage has none of those but it is still a million times cooler.

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Ok I think it is time to continue my review since i have gone a bit lazy and I have been dragging it out.

Porsche missed the show last year, but they promise to have the full range of cars this year. I was hoping to see the GT3 or the RS version, or a 997 Turbo Coupe, but no, Porsche decided not to bother and gave us the "normal" 997 line up and a single 997 Turbo converterble, which I must admit, looks a lot better in person, espically in metallic black.
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There was a rare white coloured Cayman S on display, it is rolling on optional 19inch wheels, and it does look very sharp even though there is still a sense of awkwardness about the styling.
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The "star" of the Porsche display area is the RS Spyder. It is always nice to see a manufactur bringing in their sportscar for display, and the RS Spyder sorta make up for the missing GT3 or GT2.

This RS is the previous season's version, but it runs the same engine as the current race car. The car is seriously wide, very low and massively long. It runs a 3.4 V8 which produce around 503bhp, and the entire car is only 775kg. Not sure if it is the dry weight or not, but it is still impressive for a car with such vast dimension. If you look close enough, you can see the exhaust pipe is located just in front of the rear wheels. Unlike the current car, this version has the larger headlights and the side profile is a lot cleaner without the various aerodynamic device attached to the side of the car.
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My goodness monster, what a great set of photos you have.

I like the CS. It's scary, bold, unconventional and it looks like it'll eat the curvy QP alive anytime. I also read about your comment on the GranT; after having the QP a few months I've learnt to accept the quirks of Italian cars. Yes, sometimes the windows don't open, or it might even fall into the door, and yes, some parts don't fit too well, but in the end the sense of occasion of sitting in one, as well as for the people around the car, is unparalleled. That's something an Italian car can offer I would say no other car can.

The Mazda 6 looks hot, I should tell my cousin to go take a look since he's interested in one.
 
Mr. M said:
My goodness monster, what a great set of photos you have.

I like the CS. It's scary, bold, unconventional and it looks like it'll eat the curvy QP alive anytime. I also read about your comment on the GranT; after having the QP a few months I've learnt to accept the quirks of Italian cars. Yes, sometimes the windows don't open, or it might even fall into the door, and yes, some parts don't fit too well, but in the end the sense of occasion of sitting in one, as well as for the people around the car, is unparalleled. That's something an Italian car can offer I would say no other car can.

The Mazda 6 looks hot, I should tell my cousin to go take a look since he's interested in one.
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Thanks mate :usa7uh:

The CS is absolutely stunning, and I really dont' think its competitors have much chance. The Maserati display area was directly behind the BMW, and I looked at the curvy black QP, and looked back at the CS, it makes the QP looks very soft, and boring. The CS doesn't have the understated elegance of the QP but the CS just look so right. I don't think my vocabulary is big enough to describe what it is like to see the CS in person, so if you have a chance, you must go and see the CS yourself.

I was hoping to see the more sporty hatchback version and the wagon of the Mazda 6, but I guess seeing the sedan version is good enough, at least it made it to the show.

The styling detail of the car is very light sensitive, you have to see it in the correct lighting angle to notice the slightly flared rear wheel arches. Overall this the Mazda is one good looking car, much better than any of the current Japanese sedans. I would love it get inside the car and check out the interior but sadly it was locked.
 
monster said:
Thanks mate :usa7uh:

The CS is absolutely stunning, and I really dont' think its competitors have much chance. The Maserati display area was directly behind the BMW, and I looked at the curvy black QP, and looked back at the CS, it makes the QP looks very soft, and boring. The CS doesn't have the understated elegance of the QP but the CS just look so right. I don't think my vocabulary is big enough to describe what it is like to see the CS in person, so if you have a chance, you must go and see the CS yourself.

I was hoping to see the more sporty hatchback version and the wagon of the Mazda 6, but I guess seeing the sedan version is good enough, at least it made it to the show.

The styling detail of the car is very light sensitive, you have to see it in the correct lighting angle to notice the slightly flared rear wheel arches. Overall this the Mazda is one good looking car, much better than any of the current Japanese sedans. I would love it get inside the car and check out the interior but sadly it was locked.
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Let's just say that if we call the QP sexy, then the CS must be just bad-ass. :D

Hmm, for some reason I can't see new posts 'real time'.
 
Bro, May I know where is the motorshow and when it will end? I'm paying Australia a visit this week. :usa7uh:
 
Bad news mate, the show ended almost a month ago. Which part of Australia are you going to visit? and how long are you going to stay?
 

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