Geneva 2009, Part One

In which I totally waste a ton of mental awareness.

Anyway, let’s get right to it! First up, the less extreme stuff.

Magna Steyr Mila EV

So this being a down year, you’d expect more of these small cars. This one is just that, and to boot it’s an electric.

Of course, it’s just a concept, and jalopnik seems to think that it’s boring, but I quite like it. I mean, though I would not complain if every concept was long sleek impossible supercars, I do enjoy the occasional what if? real life car concept. I like the spaceship-esque lines that look like this is from a very tan version of I, Robot, and the way that all the lines do that curvy-then-straight thing. All in all, this isn’t really an epic exercise in design, but it’s nice and fun to look at.

Rating: Roadshow warm-up

VW Polo

According to European numbers, the 2010 Prius gets around 72 mpg. By American standards, the 2010 Prius does 50 mpg. Euro maths say that this VW with a diesel will do 80. Jeez, this is insane.

I’ve been told I have a really extreme taste in vehicles. Well, I guess you wouldn’t know from the presence of the humble Polo in this blog post (though the fact that I find Volvos more exciting than Audis…there’s a twist haha). And more importantly, this isn’t even a concept car! This is a full blown, soon to be in showrooms car! Much to Sam’s chagrin, I actually sort of like VWs. The Passat is a very handsome car, and this new front fascia style based off the Scirocco is doing wonders for VW looks. Of course, the Scirocco itself isn’t half bad either :]. Anyway, the Polo I think is supposed to be like below the Golf (a car we in America now know as the Rabbit…) in the product range, but you know, it doesn’t really look any less good. This car is to Geneva 09 what the new Renault Megane was to Paris 08.

Rating: Was is das auto?

Koenigsegg Quant

And right about now, anyone with knowledge of the subject will be wondering, why the hell have I put a Koenigsegg of all things in the less extreme car section? Actually the jury in my head’s still out on this one. So, this is supposedly a 4-seat saloon by the same Swedes that made the only car dangerous enough to almost destroy the Stig, and that actually becomes more powerful when fueled by ethanol. So what were they thinking? Well, apparently this is some kind of…actually I have no idea, one minute while I look it up. Okay…it’s a solar electric car. Tough times in the economy, no? Jesus F. Kennedy, only Swedes would ever come up with something this insane. At first, I saw the picture of the interior and noticed that in place of the standard gear lever for the Koenigsegg sequential gearbox, there was a hole. I loved that, because Swedish insanity has made them see fit to remove your means of changing gears. Then I realized it was a cupholder, and this thing had paddles behind the wheel. Oh. Right, anyway…The roof…why’s it so high? I understand they are going for a 4 seater here, but the sleek UFO roofline of the CCX series was awesome, and it works somewhat less well on the Quant. I mean, you can see it on the CCX on the right of the picture here, clearly Koenigsegg knows how to be insane.

Rating: Swedish insanity will always prevail.

Mazdaspeed3

Is it wrong that I want this? Of course not, because the Mazdaspeed3 by default is an awesome thing. I mean, who doesn’t love hot hatches (okay, maybe we in America need a few more before we understand quite what is so great about them)? I initially liked the new Mazda3. The lines were very Nagare, and overall it was an attractive little small car. Then I realized I was actually terrified of the new Mazda3′s maniacal grin. The Mazdaspeed version really doesn’t help matters, now it’s grown a hood scoop and is much much more impishly looking for mischief. It’s like a gremlin, and it’s probably going to dismantle your leg when you aren’t paying attention. With that then, yes I would very much like one. Also, one thing I liked was that in the interior, the seats have a red material covered by a black mesh so there is red showing through the black of the seats – not huge, but I think it’s very cool.

Rating: We make zoom-zoom in our pants

Renault Megane RS

I mentioned in my post about last year’s Paris Auto Show that I quite liked the new Renault Megane. I still do. In fact, I think it’d be great if we could get them here, despite how impossible that is. Anyway, Renault’s newest sporty product is this – the Megane RS, which is a much more yellow version of the normal Megane. Seriously. Anyway, I like that it takes many design cues from this monster, though obviously it is not allowed to be quite that mad. Anyway, like the Megane of yesteryear, I like the sleek profile of this despite it being a hatchback, and those funky wheels and the shouty paintjob don’t hurt either. It’s even got the French moustache!  However, Renault’s marketing of sporty cars revolves around tying them in with their F1 program, and well, let’s just say this year’s Renault R29 isn’t really the most attractive thing ever…

Rating: Not quite a wedge of cheese. At least, it hasn’t surrendered to me yet

More stuff in part two, where we get to the crazy shat!

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