{"id":369604,"date":"2011-12-06T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2011-12-06T13:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/?p=38454"},"modified":"2024-01-11T03:49:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T03:49:14","slug":"the-new-car-scene-from-the-la-auto-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-new-car-scene-from-the-la-auto-show\/","title":{"rendered":"LA Auto Show (2011) &#8211; The New Car Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Report by Martin Swig<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-788908 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ-770x513.jpg 770w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ-370x247.jpg 370w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ-293x195.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a>What a recovery! Two and three years ago, the Detroit manufacturers were almost dead, and their exhibit spaces reflected that. The Los Angeles Auto Show was alive in 2011. Domestic and import manufacturers have a ton of enticing new product.<br \/>\nAs you wander through thinking \u201cwhich one would I buy?\u201d you can\u2019t narrow it down to just one. The Toyota\/Subaru joint venture RWD sport coupe is number one on my list.\u00a0 But maybe I want to wait for a production Audi E-tron, easily the handsomest car there to my eye. Close behind, the Audi S6-S7-S8 trio are enticing. And at another level, Hyundai and Kia offerings are handsome bargains.<br \/>\nThe revenge of \u201ccheap\u201d cars: While the top tier cars are better than ever, so much good stuff has migrated down to less expensive cars that it\u2019s tempting to be an anti-snob and pick a cheap and cheerful model. A Nissan Versa, from $11,000, is a staggering bargain. A Chevy Spark, Ford Escape, Toyota Yaris and Fiat 500 are all under $20,000 and have considerable ability, and maybe even charm. Mini-Cooper continues to dazzle, and the new VW Beetle is better than ever.<br \/>\nI drove the 800-mile roundtrip to L.A. in a new Lexus CT 200h, which I was fully prepared to dislike. But in real life I found it to be very adequate, with a capable chassis, firm leather seats, and a thoroughly Germanic feel. Except for the hybrid part. But that was okay too. Fuel consumption, a little heavy in 90 mph running \u2013 33 miles per gallon. But it\u2019s quiet and capable. NOT an enthusiast car, and costing around $40,000, I\u2019ll still stick to my first choices.<br \/>\nI recently tried an $88,000 Range Rover non-supercharged. Beautifully done inside and out, and more interesting than a $60,000 Mercedes Benz ML Diesel, but neither had the verve and driving balance of a $50,000 Infiniti FX35. The big shocker was a fourth SUV I drove recently, a $23,000 Nissan Rogue. This car will never get you front and center with the valet parker, but it\u2019s tastefully designed, nicely finished in a simple way, and handles crisply and comfortably. Although it was front wheel drive, 4WD would only add about $1,500 and would make it competitive with the three much more expensive alternatives.<\/p>\n<p>One friend of mine suggested that the car to buy was the newest Toyota Camry \u2013 a totally capable, inoffensive car that didn\u2019t make my personal cut. But his reasoning makes sense: Buy the least costly, most reliable, all-around capable car you can find. Then you can spend all your time and money on some stupid, demanding collector car that you find irresistible.<br \/>\n[Source: Martin Swig; photo credit: Subaru]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Report by Martin Swig What a recovery! Two and three years ago, the Detroit manufacturers were almost dead, and their exhibit spaces reflected that. The Los Angeles Auto Show was alive in 2011. Domestic and import manufacturers have a ton of enticing new product. As you wander through thinking \u201cwhich one would I buy?\u201d you can\u2019t narrow it down to just one. The Toyota\/Subaru joint venture RWD sport coupe is number one on my list.\u00a0 But maybe I want to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":788908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[260,16921],"tags":[432,16928,16922],"class_list":["post-369604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-events","category-motor-shows","tag-events","tag-event-la-auto-show","tag-motor-shows"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The New Car Scene from the Los Angeles Auto Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Report from the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, in addition to driving impressions of several new cars including Lexus CT 200h and Infiniti FX35.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-new-car-scene-from-the-la-auto-show\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The New Car Scene from the Los Angeles Auto Show\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Report from the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, in addition to driving impressions of several new cars including Lexus CT 200h and Infiniti FX35.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-new-car-scene-from-the-la-auto-show\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-06T13:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-11T03:49:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Subaru-BRZ.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Martin Swig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Martin Swig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-new-car-scene-from-the-la-auto-show\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-new-car-scene-from-the-la-auto-show\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Martin Swig\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ff052c42b7f069fb6f2d367dd74219c6\"},\"headline\":\"LA Auto Show (2011) &#8211; 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