IAA Frankfurt 2011

It's that time of the year again - one of the biggest car shows takes place in Frankfurt am Mein (Germany). The 64th IAA (International Automobil-Ausstellung) starts tommorow September 13 and ends 12 days later - September 25. There are 90 new cars/concepts, let me introduce the most important ones.

   Aston Martin will show their street racer - V12 Zagato, an amazing piece of Italian design (tribute to the original Zagato from 60's) powered by the 380 kW V12 engine from Vantage. I want one so bad!

Aston Martin V12 Zagato

Ferrari have cut the roof off their 458 Italia - resulting in a hardtop convertible supercar called Spider. They really did their best, it's only 50 kilos heavier than the standart 458 and it takes 14 seconds to put the roof up. But they still haven't convinced me their design is better than Lamborghini's...

Ferrari 458 Spider: Italia

Mercedes-Benz did the same thing as Ferrari, took their SLS AMG and made it a Roadster. It has the same performance as the original SLS, it's 40 kilos heavier and the softtop folds in 11 seconds. Well done, Merc! And they ditched the silly "gullwing" door, well done indeed!

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster and Coupé

And finally the new Porsche 911, 991 generation. I personally am not a big fan of current Porsche design, but I have to admit they did a pretty good job this time. Let's see who wins the epic battle Turbo vs. Nissan GT-R this year!

Porsche 911 (991)

I recommend you to visit the IAA, it's one hell of a show! Or if you are less lucky just stay tuned, I'll review some more cars later.

BMW recalls 120k cars

Have you worked hard and finally decided to buy a decent car? Yes! So you pay a visit tou your local car dealership and for some unknown reasons it's a BMW dealership. But which one should I buy? There are so many models... You finally decide to go for a 5 series and because the petrol prices went through the roof recently you buy a diesel one. What a smart choice... or is it? One day a telephone wakes you up in the morning and it's a BMW employee histerically screaming your car is dangerous and in some rare cases it can even burn you to death. Oh hell no, I should have bought an Audi or a Mercedes instead, runs through your mind. Yes, you really should have... But that's not the point.

   It seems lately the car manufacturers really mess up. BMW now recalls 120k cars because of a fuel filter malfunction and it's not just the 5 series, it's actually 1, 5, 7, X3, X5 and X6! You think this is the only case?

• GM recalled 1.5 million cars because of a screenwasher malfunction (fire possible)
• GM recalled 250k cars because the seat belts weren't working properly (death possible)
• GM recalled 100k Cadillac CTS's, the airbag didn't work (death possible) ...Jeez, GM, do something about it! 
• Toyota recalled 100k Priuses (every single car of the first generation) - steering and transmission issue

   And the big one: Toyota recalled 14 million!! cars over the last two years, no biggie, just the gas pedal jammed flatout from time to time. This could lead to some serious performance! Or, you know, a nearby tree.

  I mean how could this even happen? Apparently they just don't test the cars properly to discover some serious issues. Shame on you! And you would think that Toyota's and BMW's build quality and reliability were bulletproof.