LA Auto Show

[ZAMIRZ]

I went yesterday and spent 5 hours looking at just about everything, highlights of the show for me:

981 Cayman: Even better in person, I love this car. If it isn't a stretch, I will strongly consider getting one after I graduate in 2014.

991 Carrera 4S: Looks pretty good, just what you'd expect from the widebody...more of the same, but with slightly wider hips. Rear light-bar is just one long laser-looking LED.

Viper: Looks like Dodge has finally gotten the Viper right. It no longer looks like a cobbled together POS. The styling is cool, it has super-aggressive lines and looks very handsome in the dark grey color that was at the show.

Ford Focus ST seats: The Recaro seats in this car are freakin' amazing. Totally catches you off-guard and fully unexpected, but they are among the best reclinable seats I've ever sat in.

Honda Accord Coupe: Pleasantly surprised by the new Accord Coupe. With V6 and 6-speed manual gearbox it will be a solid car in that segment. Never thought I'd be impressed by a Honda, but the quality and level of appointment is pretty high on these economical Japanese sedans.

2014 Mazda 6: This car is going to be awesome in its segment. The front grille and styling have subtle shades of MBZ CLS, the front fender line continues to drop down the side into the door, it just looks good. I think with the Diesel and 6-speed manual, this is going to be a cool car for $32K fully loaded.

Aston Martin Vanquish: It was on the stand and it looked spectacular. Not really elegant and classy like older AMs, but the lines are aggressive and it looks super badass.

BMW M6: Looks great, love the lines and subtle aggressive styling over the regular 6-series, but would personally never consider it over a comparable 911.

BMW i cars: They were both there and they look way way futuristic for something that's supposed to come on the market in the next 1 or 2 years. I like the direction they're going with these cars though, and I think BMW is ahead of the game.

MBZ SLS Black Series: Meh. Looks just like the pictures, no better or worst. Not really as excited about this car as I was when we kept seeing development photos from the 'ring. I'm sure the performance will be spectacular, but I don't really think the styling and look suit the SLS' personality.

Bentley GT3 racer: Cool car, happy to see Bentley back in racing, hope they do well with it.

Toyota Avalon: A great car in the segment. Nice styling, well-appointed interior with quality-feeling components and good packaging.

Cadillac ATS: I hope this car is going to be a hit. There's very little I found wrong with it considering the garbage coming out of GM these days, and compared to the 3-series and MBZ C-class it is much nicer IMHO and the styling is pretty cool too. At $52,000 fully loaded it's not cheap, but definitely looks like an $80K sedan, but smaller.

Overall, I recommend going to the show this year, even though there's no Ferrari or Lambo.