Autos.ca Top Picks: 2016 Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) Highlights
Autos.ca Top Picks: 2016 Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) Highlights – It's that time of year again. The North American International Auto Show in Detroit press days wrapped up yesterday before opening to the public this weekend, and once again there were a series of significant product reveals, sexy, powerful concepts and sports cars, and endless luxury vehicles to entice the senses.
Autos.ca Top Picks: 2016 Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) Highlights
Autos.ca Top Picks: 2016 Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) Highlights
Autos.ca Top Picks: 2016 Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) Highlights – After spending a day and a half roaming the halls of Cobo Center in Detroit, we pick our favourite vehicles and some interesting tidbits that stood out from the many worthy debuts.
Autos.ca Top Picks: 2016 Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) Highlights
Best in Show: 2017 Lexus LC 500
Best in Show: 2017 Lexus LC 500 – [JY] If this was a concept car, it would have still been a coin flip between Lexus’s new flagship coupe and Buick’s slinky Avista coupe, but Lexus gets extra credit for delivering the LC 500 in production form looking like a wild concept, earning it my vote for best in show. Backing up its outrageous true-to-concept looks is a renewed dedication by Lexus to take the next leap to luxury, with a halo coupe for the brand, and powered by a V8 familiar from the RC F and GS F paired with a new 10-speed transmission and a singular focus on light, low weight and ideal balance for a rewarding driving experience. This is something I desperately need to drive and hear and feel.
Best in Show: 2017 Lexus LC 500
Best in Show: 2017 Volvo S90
Best in Show: 2017 Volvo S90 – [JW] Unsurprisingly, hot on the heels of the XC90 (the freshly-announced
North American Truck of the Year, no less), the new S90 sedan is a stunner both inside and out. And it seems I'm not the only one to think so since over the two press days, it was always virtually impossible to get up close to the two cars on display. Both were constantly under the lights and cameras of international media making any meaningful seat time (or photos!) nearly impossible.
Best in Show: 2017 Volvo S90
Best in Show: Buick Avista Concept
Best in Show: Buick Avista Concept – [CC] Who would've guessed Buick would be the one to blow us away with a stunning coupe? Naturally, we'll wait to see how much of what we see in this concept actually reaches production, but a sexy two-door could be a turning point in Buick's effort to rebrand itself.
Best in Show: Buick Avista Concept
Best Concept: Buick Avista Concept
Best Concept: Buick Avista Concept – [JY] GM managed to keep the Avista under wraps until their private showing on the eve of the show, so it was a nice surprise to reward us for braving the weather to make it down to Detroit. Based on the Camaro platform, there is a familiarity to the proportions, but it is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the sharply angled, faceted Chevy, instead opting for liquid curves with organic, pointed accents throughout the exterior and interior. Not only is the shape and form beautiful, but the many subtle design cues throughout kept me fascinated, and the interior was a delight in a light grey, with futuristic gauges that curve in three dimensions with a soft glow that reinforced this dreamy coupe that looks like it should be parked in a garage in Rivendell.
Best Concept: Buick Avista Concept
Best Concept: Buick Avista Concept
Best Concept: Buick Avista Concept – [JW] Not only is Buick's sexy coupe concept a delight for the eyes from every angle, it possesses enough shared GM components that production of something pretty close to this concept is a distinct possibility. Bravo Buick!
Best Concept: Buick Avista Concept
Best Concept: Nissan Titan Warrior Concept
Best Concept: Nissan Titan Warrior Concept – [CC] This is Nissan's answer to the Ford SVT Raptor. We like it. Make it happen, Nissan.
Best Concept: Nissan Titan Warrior Concept
Best Production Car: 2016 BMW M2 Coupe
Best Production Car: 2016 BMW M2 Coupe – [JY] There were quite a few significant debuts that are bound for production, from the luxurious E-Class, Volvo S90 and upstart Genesis G90 to new entrants in the ever-popular crossovers segment like the GMC Acadia, Buick Envision and Audi A4 Allroad Quattro, not to mention the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, but who can say no to the
M2? Properly compact, tidy yet menacing and packing BMW’s 3.0L turbo straight-sex, er, I mean straight-six adapted from the M3/M4 making 365 hp and 343 lb-ft with a manual transmission. Yeah, I’ll have me some of that.
Best Production Car: 2016 BMW M2 Coupe
Best Production Car: 2017 Honda Ridgeline
Best Production Car: 2017 Honda Ridgeline – [JW] My pick for best production car of the show isn't a car at all, it's a truck. Sort of. The new Ridgeline represents exactly what most people really, truly need in a truck – comfort, reasonable capability and expected long-term durability. This could prove to be a great choice for a lot of families and tradespeople alike. Plus it still has the giant under-bed 'trunk', yet looks more rugged than the first generation Ridgeline did.
Best Production Car: 2017 Honda Ridgeline
Best Production Car: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Best Production Car: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica – [CC] As a car guy, I feel dirty for naming a minivan as my favourite production vehicle from this year's NAIAS, but I can't help it. I think it's a great-looking design that seems to take the best cues from the 200 sedan and transpose them onto a family-mobile. It deserves a mention simply for being such a massive improvement over the current boxy design.
Best Production Car: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Most Gratuitous Waste Of Natural Resources: Rolls-Royce Dawn
Most Gratuitous Waste Of Natural Resources: Rolls-Royce Dawn – [JW] Listen, I enjoy the finer things in life as much as the next person, but there's an awful lot of teak plastered throughout the interior of this
Roller.
Most Gratuitous Waste Of Natural Resources: Rolls-Royce Dawn
Biggest Disappointment: Acura Precision Concept
Biggest Disappointment: Acura Precision Concept – [JY] Okay, while not as horrifying as Acura’s 2007 Advanced Sedan Concept is the new face of the brand, and it’s a face I’d rather forget. It seems a generation behind the latest concepts, and there is something clunky about it even though it doesn’t seem to advance the bar. A shame too, because it has some gorgeous details like the headlights, taillights and tailpipe opening. Honourable mention here goes to the somewhat bland Lincoln Continental.
Biggest Disappointment: Acura Precision Concept
Best Luxury Car: 2017 Genesis G90
Best Luxury Car: 2017 Genesis G90 – [CC] I just caught myself typing Hyundai in front of 'Genesis,' but of course we can't do that anymore, can we? Say what you want about the Korean brand's decision to split Genesis off into its own luxury line, but I think it'll do well for them if the second-generation Genesis sedan was any indication. The G90 looks good, and should propel Hyu– sorry, Genesis into proper competition with the likes of the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Best Luxury Car: 2017 Genesis G90
Best Lights: Acura Precision Concept
Best Lights: Acura Precision Concept – [JY] See, it’s not all bad for Acura… the headlights feature a delicate but irregular lattice throughout the front lens cluster, transforming the jewel-eye headlamp array from creepy surgical implement into ethereal alien structure, in a good way. The taillights also impress, with a simple yet eye-catching shape when seen from the rear, with depth and sparkle added by the floating ‘crystals’ in the wraparound element when seen from above.
Best Lights: Acura Precision Concept
Best Classic Car: Lamborghini Miura
Best Classic Car: Lamborghini Miura – [JW] The legendary Miura earns my pick. As the original wild, mid-engined
supercar, this Lambo is every bit the fantasy machine as the Countach for me, but with far more fluid and beautiful styling.
Best Classic Car: Lamborghini Miura
Best Economy Car: 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback
Best Economy Car: 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback – [CC] If I can't have small station wagons (aside from the VW Golf), I'll gladly take something that looks this sharp. Granted, there's not much here stylistically we haven't seen in the Kia Forte5, but good-looking is good-looking.
Best Economy Car: 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback
Car I Most Want to Park in my Garage: 2017 BMW M2
Car I Most Want to Park in my Garage: 2017 BMW M2 – [JW] I simply adore the current M235i, so one with more power and more flare can only mean it's more desirable. Please can I take it home?
Car I Most Want to Park in my Garage: 2017 BMW M2
Oddest Feature: Kia Telluride Concept
Oddest Feature: Kia Telluride Concept – [JY] Umm, what? Lights [That's the "Light Emitted Rejuvenation system" to you – Ed.] that help alleviate jet lag? Because Kia customers frequently drive long distances after flying internationally? What?
Oddest Feature: Kia Telluride Concept
Best Choice to Drive Home in a Snowstorm (Or Zombie Apocalypse): Kia Sorento PacWest Adventure Concept
Best Choice to Drive Home in a Snowstorm (Or Zombie Apocalypse): Kia Sorento PacWest Adventure Concept – [JW] Since the weather between Detroit and my home near Toronto is a bit snowy this year, I think Kia's pseudo monster truck concept Sorento would be a great choice.
Best Choice to Drive Home in a Snowstorm (Or Zombie Apocalypse): Kia Sorento PacWest Adventure Concept
It’s that time of year again. The North American International Auto Show in Detroit press days wrapped up yesterday before opening to the public this weekend, and once again there were a series of significant product reveals, sexy, powerful concepts and sports cars, and endless luxury vehicles to entice the senses. After spending a day and a half roaming the halls of Cobo Center in Detroit, we pick our favourite vehicles and some interesting tidbits that stood out from the many worthy debuts.
BEST IN SHOW
Jonathan Yarkony: Lexus LC 500
If this was a concept car, it would have still been a coin flip between Lexus’s new flagship coupe and Buick’s slinky Avista coupe, but Lexus gets extra credit for delivering the LC 500 in production form looking like a wild concept, earning it my vote for best in show. Backing up its outrageous true-to-concept looks is a renewed dedication by Lexus to take the next leap to luxury, with a halo coupe for the brand, and powered by a V8 familiar from the RC F and GS F paired with a new 10-speed transmission and a singular focus on light, low weight and ideal balance for a rewarding driving experience. This is something I desperately need to drive and hear and feel.
Jeff Wilson: Volvo S90
Unsurprisingly, hot on the heels of the XC90 (the freshly-announced North American Truck of the Year, no less), the new S90 sedan is a stunner both inside and out. And it seems I’m not the only one to think so since over the two press days, it was always virtually impossible to get up close to the two cars on display. Both were constantly under the lights and cameras of international media making any meaningful seat time (or photos!) nearly impossible.
Chris Chase: Buick Avista
Who would’ve guessed Buick would be the one to blow us away with a stunning coupe? Naturally, we’ll wait to see how much of what we see in this concept actually reaches production, but a sexy two-door could be a turning point in Buick’s effort to rebrand itself.
BEST CONCEPT
JY: Buick Avista
GM managed to keep the Avista under wraps until their private showing on the eve of the show, so it was a nice surprise to reward us for braving the weather to make it down to Detroit. Based on the Camaro platform, there is a familiarity to the proportions, but it is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the sharply angled, faceted Chevy, instead opting for liquid curves with organic, pointed accents throughout the exterior and interior. Not only is the shape and form beautiful, but the many subtle design cues throughout kept me fascinated, and the interior was a delight in a light grey, with futuristic gauges that curve in three dimensions with a soft glow that reinforced this dreamy coupe that looks like it should be parked in a garage in Rivendell.
JW: Buick Avista
Not only is Buick’s sexy coupe concept a delight for the eyes from every angle, it possesses enough shared GM components that production of something pretty close to this concept is a distinct possibility. Bravo Buick!
CC: Nissan Titan Warrior
This is Nissan’s answer to the Ford SVT Raptor. We like it. Make it happen, Nissan.