I went to the auto show with initial doubts about all three of these brands, especially since all three have a wide variety of models encompassing different lifestyles and catering to different consumer bases. Last year, the Audi TT won my first annual "best of show" award. Would a car from this group take the crown this year? We'll see. But, for now, I'll take you on a brief tour of what these three core brands of German enthusiasm had to offer.
This is the new 911-- the core for Porsche. For many a Porche-a-phile, a new 911 is the like the rebirth of Christ. Unfortunately, while the new car seems to be a traditional 911, it is in shape only. The interior is now more luxury oriented, with a navigation system, and a full width Panamera style console separating the two front seats. All is not lost, though. The familiar 911 lines are there, and it looks unmistakably Porsche as ever. However, only the "base" 911 is out now, and the 911 Turbo, and other variants are right around the corner. Do I like this more than the outgoing car? Yes and no. Yes, because it retains the simple, classic 911 shape, and the wheels are still not overly busy. No, because the car is bigger in all forms-- wider, longer, and a slight bit taller-- and it weighs more too. I suppose its bordering on becoming a GT car rather than a purebred sports car. To each his own, I guess, but give me a 964 or 930 any day over this.
Not all the attention was drawn to the new 911 though. Audi, whilst recovering from a year of so-so facelifts and shameless promoting of the new A6 and refreshed A8, brought two significant cars to this year's show stand. As you know, the A5 and S5 coupe made their debut in 2008 stateside. In Europe, this wonderful lineup of sultry coupes has been gaining praise left and right; diesels, gas engines, turbos, normally apirated, quattro, two wheel drive, you name it, the combinations are endless. A luck would have it, the US range is pared down to an A5 coupe and cabrio, or an S5 coupe and cabrio. To my knowledge, the A5s get the 2.0T found in the Volkswagen GTI, whereas the S5s get the choice of a 4.2 V8 for the coupe, and the cabrio gets the supercharged 3.0 V6 found underhood the Audi S4 sedan. But the real news comes with the A5 and S5s more badass brother. For 2013, Audi has brought the havoc-wreaking RS5 monstercoupe to our shores. Fitting, since the TTRS came over this past summer. And here is the RS5 in all its quattro and turbo glory.
And here it is. Couple the 4.2 V8 to Audi's successful quattro system, throw on a set of curb-muching ground-effects that would make any Audi tuner jealous, and there you have it. Like the TTRS, Audi's newest monstercoupe is available with the 7 speed "auto-manual" effectively called DCT. Like its TTRS sibling, this new car is underrated-- it produces more than the adverstised 444 horses. At a 3950 lbs dry, it is far from being a light track star, but Im sure this is about as sophisticated as a Nissan GTR when it' rolling. 0-60 times range from 3.9 to 4.6 seconds depending on which car magazine is your trusted source. At any rate, $75,000 and some change is enough to buy one, and I think it's probably the coolest mega-two-door out there. Even more-so than the Cadillac CTS-V.
New a couple years ago, the Panamera now has more variants than it probably should. Of course, it can't be a competitor today unless it, too, has some sort of "green" credentials. Of all the Panameras out there cluttering up the market, the hybrid seems the most redundant. Why? Because of the price, and what you get. It's the same 3.0T V6 that's found in the Audi S4 sedan, but with an added 47 horse boost from a small electric generator. The result is a very not bad 380 combined horsepower, with a diesel-like 428 ft/lbs of torque. The performance is definitely there, is it not? What I do have an issue with is the price. The auto show example stickered for about $115,000 give or take. Okay, so that's typical luxury sedan money. But if I really wanted green credentials, I'd hope the Porsche Panamera diesel would be sold here. Then, and only then, would I be able to have my fuel-efficiency cake-- and not look smug doing so. Till then, the Panamera hybrid is more proof that carmakers are simply milking the "hybrid" nomenclature because they know people will pay that bit more--without looking at their fuel bills to see if they are really saving any money at the pump.
And now for the cars that were simply "there". These are vehicles that were at one point significant, and now there's some catching up to do in their respective markets. While I don't necessarily hate the next few cars, their time to shine is not now. Cars like the VW CC and Audi allroad were at one point--and still are--good ideas except in one area: styling. To be honest, I quite like the VW CC, and have liked it since it came out. I reviewed one either last year or in 2010, and it hasn't changed since then. The Audi allroad should be cool, but it looks.. like every other damn A6, and I hardly gave it a second look.. and the A8? Well, it's there. And it honestly looks quite bland.. and has for a while.
Introduced in 2008, the Volkswagen CC has since dropped the "Passat" from its name; it now goes only by CC, and has everything else carried over. Same 2.0T as last year, same R-Line trim, and same 3.2L V6. But with a price increase. While this initially looked like quite the promising entry-level luxury sedan, Volkswagen's rampant priciness has taken hold. A fully loaded car will set you back a staggering $45,000. Not exactly "people's car" money, is it? I'm sure there are better family cars out there, but I do still like these. I'm not sure other members of the car-buying public do, though, and the price is probably the main reason why.
The Audi allroad used to be cool; it had special cladding, special wheels, and just looked badass--like an upscale Subaru Outback, right down to the two-tone paint scheme. It even had its special color palette. The new one loses that charm-- in a big way. Gone are the typical allroad cues. No two-tone, no special wheels, and no outright distinguising features. Even for being an Audi nut, I had no idea this was coming. And nor do I care, because it lacks everything that made the allroad what it was. But, it does have something in common with the original, though: the price. As the first-gen allroad had a rather hefty price premium, the new one will too. Stickering at damn near $50,000, it surely isn't cheap. But at $50,000 will Audi fans flock to it? Or will it linger on, unsold for months after its debut like the original? Only time will tell, but I don't think this is a safe bet for Audi.
Here is the Audi A8; while not a bad-looking by any means, it's just.. blah.. Stylistically, it's an akward blend of taut German design, while the front grille--and profile--have shades of 2005 Hundai Sonata. It might just be my fanboyism of Hyundai, but for a $80,000 luxury, one would think it'd look more radical than its more pedestrian siblings--or not. Audi likes to make everything look the same. Not a bad thing, really, but when your flagship sedan evokes no emotion, a problem is clearly had. Would I turn one down, hell no. Would it be my first choice? Probably not. I'd choose a Hyundai Equus or a Mercedes S-Class over this any day.
I really enjoyed the Volkswagen group's auto show display this year; my only gripe is the selection of cars on display. If the feel of the brand is to be truly captured, the good cars shouldn't be locked up. To let auto show goers only sit in --and try on-- the base models seems a bit silly. Unless you want to drive people to shop at a competitor's dealership. As it stands, this year's display in itself was rather neat, if only we could try on the cars instead of merely staring at them, and battling the crowds for picture opportunities.
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