I went yesterday and I have to say that the Fit and GTI were my two favorites cars there mainly because they both offer plenty of room for tall guys in a compact/sub-compact format.
- Fusion: interior felt was cheaper than I expected it to be, but otherwise, not too bad of a car. But really, anything is better than the Taurus...
- The Nissan X-Terra was impressive, lots of room (passenger and cargo), well designed interior. If it wasn't that it was so truck-like and swallowing fuel, this SUV would be close to the top of my shopping list for my next vehicle.
- Toyota RAV4 felt very cheap... lots of cheap plastic everywhere. Doors feel light and empty. Didn't like it at all... this one is definitly out of consideration.
- Suzuki Grand Vitara, pretty nice... but rear headrests are a deal breaker... they come out at least 2" in front of the back rest, and since they only go up maybe 1 foot at the most, they go up against my neck. Since they come out so much from the back rest, it really is uncomfortable and I couldn't stand it for even 5 seconds. That's disapointing for otherwise very nice vehicle.
- Mercedes M and R-Class: WOW!
- Mercedes B-Class: disapointing. Seat was way too high, head in roof, yada yada yada... always the same story it seems...
Even my friend who is about 6'1, 6'2 tops had the same problems as me in most of the cars we tried...
- Yaris: hate its interior. Typical cheap Toyota interiors. Honda is so much ahead of Toyota in terms of interiors it isn't even funny.
- HHR: just like with the B-Class, the seats are just too high, which means my head is right in the roof. Heritage High Roof, but high seats too..
- Audi A6 was very impressive. Tons of room front and back, I really don't see the point to go with an A8 when the A6 offers so much space. I couldn't find a single flaw or thing I didn't like about the car.
- Audi A3 was very nice. A bit longer than the outgoing Golf, but the roof is also a bit lower. If I was 5'10 instead of 6'3, I would look very seriously at this vehicle. Other than its low roof, it was great.
- VW Passat: impressive as ever. They had the 3.6 Quatto model there, awesome vehicle inside and out, other than its around $45k sticker price if I remember correctly.
- VW GTI: more headroom!!!!!!!! Rear passenger space has been a bit improved too compared to the outgoing Golf. Interior is pretty similar to the new Jetta, which is definitely an excellent thing. I can't wait to see the 4-door GTI, or even the new Golf, when they arrive here. If they can get their reliabilty up, these will be excellent vehicles.
- Honda Fit: tons of room all around, incredible interior quality. In my opinion, the interior of the Fit is better (design and materials) than cars costing easily twice as much. Seating arrangements and cargo versatility is unparallelled in sub-compact, or even compact cars. This one is a car to watch, we'll see tons of them on the roads. Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Chevy and Suzuki better be ready because their days of not having a Honda alternative in the sub-compact category are over... and what an entrance the Fit will make! I didn't see the Versa from up close, but I honestly can't see how it could best the Fit, especially with it Quest-like exterior design which I don't like too much...
- Mazda 5: Finally got to see one up close... anyone that said that these third row seats are usable for anyone older than 6 has to be lying. The front seat was adjusted for a 5'6-ish lady, I sat behind her and had to slide my seat all the way back (it can only be adjusted maybe 5 or 6 inches anyways)... and when I did that, there was about 4 inches of empty space between my back rest and the seat of the 3rd row... I've always said that I thought this vehicle would have benefitted from having a normal 3-seat bench for rear passengers, and forget the 3rd row altogether, and this thought was confirmed. But the front seats were great, tons of headroom and legroom, and its interior design was top notch.
I'm probably forgetting a few cars that caught my eye, but that's most of it.
My favorite car was definitely the Honda Fit. Without a single doubt.
