Notes from the 2007 NY Auto Show

Ah, the NY Auto Show. The chance to scarf and quaff on the automaker's dime. And rub on cars that we don't have time to rub on proper-like. We checked all the booths (except for Pontiac... people were falling asleep as soon as they got near the G5, we swear!) and here's what we thought was worth mentioning. Oh, kudos to Buick for always having coffee when the big keynote (with Mr. $28 million for four months of "work" Alan Mulally) only had coffee on the fucking table! Hello? Us stragglers need coffee, too. Jerkasses.

Acura
Updated: MDX. New: RDX.
So we're driving in our buddy's Acura TL and we says, we says, look, dis here is a pretty nice car. And he's all like, "What's with the accent?"

Anyway, Acura updated the MDX to be more of everything and also showed off the already-on-sale RDX. Both SUVs are classy as hell and if you are willing to admit that you're not buying an SUV to go off-roading (because none of you are), these two are worth checking out.

Audi
New: A5/S5
It's so funny to see different manufacturers have totally different takes on market segments. Take coupes. Toyota is bailing out of the coupe by discontinuing the Solara (2008 will be last year for it), yet here comes Audi with a new model, the A5.

We looked at the A5 and said, "Hawt!" and moved on because, really, are we ever going to be able to afford one? We'll tell you one thing, Audi's got a crap load of cars for sale now. We do expect to see Audi's sales rise in '07, '08 and '09.

BMW
Updated: 5-series
Not a lot different on the outside, but an updated interior and bigger engines. We found two things sorta/kinda funny: The updated i-Drive system gets new "shortcut buttons" to take you to some presets inside the i-Drive system but the whole reason for the i-Drive was to remove buttons! So now you have the better-but-still-clunky iDrive AND buttons. That's what's called added value, folks! Also, during the press conference, BMW German Dude made sure to point out that while the engines are bigger, they pollute less and should use less fuel. Since when did folks start caring about the environment when making bigger, more powerful engines?

Buick
Updated: Super editions of LaCrosse and Lucerne
Bigger engines. Snore!

Cadillac
New: '08 CTS and '08 STS
Screw Cadillac for kickin' our asses. We're not saying the division is the greatest, but they've pulled themselves from the brink to the, er, uh, non-brink. The CTS looks just kick-ass and the STS looks not dead. The DTS is still a load, so if you are looking for big luxury, you'll have to look elsewhere or at least wait until Cadillac can get around to figuring out what to do with DTS.

Chevrolet
Concept Action Time: Beat, Groove, Trax
Aw, yeah, Chevy's got them dancers out shakin' their thangs and... oh, you had to be there. You see, they had these kids dancing around and thanks to our fat asses, we were slow to get to the intro, so we had to go to the side of the stage where the dancers gave us wonderful close ups of them adjusting themselves. We barely noticed the cars.

Chevy wants you to notice and make a choice by voting for the Chevy you'd plunk down money for. It's up to you! All of Chevy is depending on you. You. Vote for your favorite Chevy minicar here. Dancers adjusting their young, tight, available bodies not included.

Ford
Concept Action Time: Flex
We just don't understand Ford. Isn't the Flex going to go up against the Freestyle? What about the Edge? And how can the Edge and Freestyle even be made by the same company? Anyway, the Flex is a minivan/crossover alternative dealie. According to our "inside" sources, there's a 68.78% chance that Ford will rename the Flex during it's formal introduction. Probably to something along the lines of Flaurus or Flexystyle.

Honda
Updated: CR-V
Boy did Honda pull a Jeffersons on the CR-V (movin' on up, duh!). The old (previous to 2007 models) CR-Vs were a fun mix of smart design and utility, but with the 2007 model, we're talking school in September: all class! Gone are the cubbies and in is the chrome. We're guessing Honda decided moving customers from CR-V to Pilot to Acura model stands a better chance if the models aren't get 'er dirty ready. That leaves the simple, but wonderful, Element to fill the role for the utilitarian in all of us.

And what's up with the Accord looking older than old? Man, did that thing age fast.

Hyundai
New: Verzcruz. Conceptin': Genesis.
There is no way that you'd know the interior of the Veracruz was a Hyundai if you didn't see the badges. In fact, our buddy Jason has a pic like that (pic of Veracruz with no badges. It's $36k, so it's no "take a chance" vehicle, but it sure looks good. It's missing a navigation system, something we know is going to hurt sales.

Also shown was the Genesis concept. Sweet mother -- go Hyundai! It's got all the goodness that big boys have, but at a price that we know is going to have folks saying, "That's a Hyundai? No shit!" Competition is good... unless you're the competition. Hey, Jason wrote up the whole review of the Veracruz, so check it out.*

Infiniti
New: G37 coupe. Conceptin': EX
Infiniti showed off its updated G coupe, now the G37. There're big numbers from this coupe: 330 horses and 270 lb-feet. But it's heavy at nearly 3,700 pounds. What happened to small, fun coupes?

Also on display was the EX concept. A pretty and small crossover that's really nearly ready for production (sans the fancy roof dealie - a liquid crystal contraption). Not sure if the interior will be this white once it hits production, but it's clean as hell lookin' now.

Jaguar
New: Nuthin'
To be honest, we only walked through the Jaguar booth as went went to look at Volvos. Why? Snore city! Can you believe Jag is still making the X-type? Neither can we!

Jeep
Updated: Liberty
The big news from Jeep was a super updated Liberty. They made the thing look manlier. In fact, they made it look like the old Cherokee that doesn't seem to be made anymore. Long live the Cherokee (and its replacement)!

Lexus
Updated: LX 570
Blah. A bigger truck. Woohoo! Still, it seats eight... we'd be OK if it regularly carried eight people, but it never will. And it'll never go down a hill any steeper than a driveway.

Lincoln
New: No name changes!
The big news from Lincoln was no name changing to any existing products! Yay, Lincoln. Meanwhile, we saw three Lincoln reps sitting in a 2008 CTS, crying.

Mercedes-Benz
Updated: C-class
Bigger, better, still not affordable! There are several new models: Luxury, Sport and bigger sport version (bigger engine).

Saturn
New: Astra
Yay, a replacement for the POS Ion. Yay! Coming in as a hatchback (great design) with either 2 or 4 doors, the Astra sure seems to be a positive replacement for the ill-received Ion. This has potential, but we're keeping our cards close our chest. Uh, Alison's chest! Rowr!

Subaru
Updated: Impreza and Tribeca
Two cars counts for a considerable amount (percentage-wise) of Subaru's lineup, so kudos to Subaru for taking a big chance. The Tribeca looks "nicer" although we were never really bothered by it before. The interior is still pretty classy, although unless we missed it, there didn't seem to be any air vents for rear seat passengers. The Tribeca seemed to be a good alternative if you want to be different. The Impreza looked sweet as well, but the slightly higher price might turn off the tightwads. Considering it has all-wheel drive it should sell well. Unless folks insist on having an SUV (people are soooo weak).

Volkswagen
Update: Touareg
We like the Touareg as far as SUVs go. It's slightly tweaked and we only mention it because Alison is hot.

Volvo
New: C30. Updated: V70, XC70.
Crap. We need to be younger or have more money. Younger so we can jump into the C30, Volvo's sweet new coupe. This car is so friggin' sweet that we're insanely jealous of any person under 30 with one. This is the exact car we'd buy. If Alison buys one we're gonna freak the hell out.

Meanwhile, we're jealous of all the richies out there who can swing the payments on the Volvo V70/XC70 wagons. Those are sweet wagons and reason enough not to get an SUV. Picture this, Alison and our family headin' down the highway in our new V70 listenin' to some Shawn Colvin just looking for a secluded place to...

Be sure to check out all our Auto Show coverage.

*We work for About.com