My First Detroit Auto Show #NAIAS

I’ve been to lots of other auto shows, but never here. I arrived Sunday afternoon and that evening, Infiniti took me to lovely dinner at this very old mansion.

It’s a big year for Infiniti – not only did they have a world-wide reveal of a gorgeous new sedan, but they re-named their entire line of vehicles.  Everything now starts with a Q.  I wrote about it on Autonet – Infiniti adds a Q

Introducing the all-new 2014 Q50 – coming this summer.

http://www.autonet.ca/auto-news/auto-shows/2013/01/14/infinitis-shapely-future/

It boasts a world’s first technology, the ‘Infiniti Direct Adaptive Steering’, which transmits the driver’s intentions to the wheels faster than a mechanical system can. I’d like to try that.  Read more on Autonet.ca

The show was SO FUN.

Non-car nerds: NAIAS – North American International Auto Show. It’s the largest, most important show of the year. You reveal and debut your new car here.

Joe is my editor, I’ve introduced you before.

His texts are grey, mine are green.  Haha.

An auto show is like this super-clean fantastical land, filled with the finest machines in existence and that smells so good.

Nissan unveiled their new concept car – the Resonance.

Slick eh. The whole roof is a window, and I’m pretty sure the sideview mirrors are cameras.

I have a TON of fantastic car photos, I’ll blog them over the next few weeks.

The Wi-Fi at the show looked like this.

Where I uploaded from, in the media room.

The reaction to me seems to be polarizing – love or hate, no in-between.  I think it’s a mix of…. I’m from the blog and new media world, not a trained journalist; and I have a national weekly auto column, where I can write about whatever I want; but I couldn’t name all an engine’s parts, and I don’t know when the last auto manufacturing facility was built in North America.  But I never pretended I could. Besides, boring.

I’ve always said: I like cars, but I love driving.  Do I ever love driving.  And I’m pretty good at it.

My view on the flight home.

Then at 9pm I hit the wall, done.

Look for some great show photos, over the next few weeks.

 

 

The Thing About Nice Rims is This

(Infiniti G37 Rims)

See how low they sit?  It makes nicking them SO easy.

And a few dings on each, and the car starts to look straggly. That means you have to pay close, constant attention.  Curbs and corners have to be taken slower.

Being careful not to dent the $1,000s in rims

every time I park, that gets old fast.

Of course I love high performance tires and cars. But, I think rims work the best when you own 2 cars: one with rims, and an everyday car.

 I like nice cars, but I like driving more.

 (original post)

The Infiniti G37 Has a Great Growl

Infiniti G37 XS

It’s a real sports car – it’s a rough ride, the steering is tight and requires energy and attention, all is as it should be.

My favourite part is the engine sound.

Infiniti has mastered that quintessential car growl sound.  It sounds in real life, like it does in your head. I talk about the growl in my intro article for the paper, that’s how much I love it.

Pink astrick – note the seatbelt holder.

Coupe’s have longer doors, so to grab the seat belt, it’s a long reach back with a twist, especially if you’re little like me.

This stops that, I love this.  

It seems like a little thing, but it’s every time you climb into the car, that’s a big thing.

Infiniti G37 Coupe – starting at $46,800