autoshow in motion

Today, Duksim and I attended this event, which was held at Arlington Park parking lot. I only assume that I received an invitation in the mail because I got included in some database when we attended the auto show earlier this year. Whatever the case may be, of course I jumped on the opportunity to go to this event. Why? Well, aside from there being cars, it provided an opportunity to test drive the models they had on hand and experience more than just sitting in the models on the showroom floor. They had a pre-defined track from which to navigate once inside the cars - and the vehicles they had available to test ranged from small cars to the monster SUVs. This was basically a GM-sponsored event, so most of the cars were from GM. However, they also had other models from the competition on hand to test (for comparison) - which was nice. It was interesting to test drive cars that otherwise I would not be able to test unless (1) someone I knew had one - and would let me drive it, or (2) visit a dealership. But there was no pressure to buy here - which made the experience altogether rather laid-back. Some of the models we tested were: Chevy SSR, Hummer H3, Acura MDX, BMW X5, Nissan Titan, Lexus ES330, Lexus LX470, Mercedes ML350, and Volvo XC90.



















But by far the best of the day was test driving the Corvette!











I had my skepticism of this car prior to jumping in the driver's seat - I dunno, maybe my bias of American cars was affecting my perceptions. But after driving this beast, I was blown away! This car was a smooth as silk, engine growls like a cougar, corners like it was on rails, acceleration left my breath at the starting point - you name it, it happened...but I did not wet myself, thankfully. Unbelievable - I can see why so many Corvette fanatics love this car. Not bad - not bad at all...left me with a huge grin on my face...

Lastly, this is for Jae:




























They had a live display of the upcoming Saturn Sky. Have to say, looks very nice - much better in design than their other attempts in the past. Quality and reliability remains to be seen - but this is a very promising start...