Have now used the motorshow tickets, and had a brilliant day out on Sunday that all the family thoroughly enjoyed.
Journey up was a piece of cake, sailed across London. Left Weston Super Mare about 9am, and despite 25 min stop to buy supplies for the show somewhere in London, and another pit stop about 5 mins later for #1 daughter to use the loo (then get more supplies as stopped in supermarket car park that needed a valid receipt to be let out of) arrived at the show at about 12.40. In the end we all got in for nothing, as they waived the ticket price for my eldest daughter as only recently turned 5.
All the staff and visitors there came across as extremely friendly, and chatted to quite a few people. Only exception was the coffee stall in the central aisle, who were as miserable as sin and treated customers with utter contempt despite extortionate pricing.
On to the cars, although we missed a lot of stands found a lot of noticeable things on the ones we did see. Biggest revelation had to be the Citroen C5. Sat in the tourer, and whilst it was the top of the range model, it felt very very special. The interior felt more like something out of a prestige german executive model, not a mainstream fleet model. The only other car I sat in on the day that gave me a similar feeling was the Mercedes CLS. My wife was bowled over by the new Citroen Berlingo, and now wants one. Excellent use of space inside, with a massive boot and a nice easy to use driving position. The other big surprise for us was on the Kia stand. Have been a fan of them since renting a Cerato a couple of years back, but they have come on in leaps and bounds since then. The Karens 7 seater is a brilliant family car. Although quite small compared to other MPVs the access to the 3rd row is far superior to the C4 grand picasso I hired recently. The rear seats are much better too, tried them out myself and a tallish adult could easily ride in the back in comfort with plenty of leg room and 2 full size rear seats. Only downside is a lack of bootspace with the 3rd row in place.
Sat in the C'eed Estate too, and was amazed by the boot size and the rear legroom. Are both definitely cars I would be more than happy to own.
Of the premium brands fell in love with the Merc CLS I sat in, but was left a bit flat by the S Class, and the SL. Guess without actually driving them cant get a complete picture, but whilst the CLS gave me a feel good factor from behind the wheel, the others didnt.
Other let downs included the new Vauxhall Insignia. Although all the press seem to be raving about it, the rear end of the hatch looked just like a Proton Gen 2 to me. Going back to the feel good factor, the biggest disappointment had to be the new Ibiza. Looks very good on the outside, but the interior is horrendously cheap and nasty. Specifically looked at this car as my parents test drove one a couple of weeks back and hated it. Mum said that she thought the interior of the Citroen Dyanes she had in the '70s had more of a quality feel, and having seen it now I agree. The plastic used reminded me of the thin crinkly red plastic used in biscuit selection tins. Looked really hard and cheap. Actually said all this to one of the reps on the stand, the only thing liked on the inside was the steering wheel. The worse bit was that Seat seemed to have taken a backward step from my old 2000 model year Cordoba!
Away from the car stands, the Honda show was well worth the money, with some amazing driving/ riding- although the hosts seemed to be local radio wannabes- and "to dream the impossible dream" was sung/ played ad nauseum. Dont know whose stand it was, but there was a track where punters could be taken out in westfields power sliding and doing doughnuts, which was good to watch. The girls got very excited by the Disney Cars roadshow, and had photos taken next to a full size Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater.
Top Gear stand was quite small, and not a lot happening, but did have the Police cars from the latest series. Funny part was, on the TV the Lexus looked like it had been professionally repainted in white, but standing close to it looked more like domestic gloss white, and am sure could see brush marks in it.
Going home, we did get stuck in traffic, but did detour to show the girls Buckingham palace, but both were sound asleep by the time we got there. Left the show 6.30, and were home before 10 though.
To me it would make more sense to have the show at the NEC, just to make it more accesible to more people, as it was a long day driving there and back. Overall though, we had a fantastic day out, and even without winning the tickets we probably would have gone anyway. If anyone is going though, would suggest taking along your own refreshments- especially as it was absolutely baking hot on Sunday, even inside.
Pete.
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