The 2024 Montréal Auto Show was more prevalent to automakers this year. I will be giving you a run-down of everything at the auto show, including my own opinions. Prior to that, let’s talk VIA Rail. I woke up, an early reveille at 0415h, Got changed, and headed out to Tremblay, the Ottawa Station for VIA Rail. Due to my work with Cadets Canada, I was granted 25% off my billet. The total came to $77 CAD with tax, not bad for a round-trip. I wandered on the single Airport-like Terminal of Tremblay, and stumbled upon the gorgeous Business Lounge, seeing if I could either sneak in, get a good deal, or relax there paying full-price. With my military discount, it totalled to $50, which didn’t make sense for just 30 mins of luxury. The lady at the front desk was very kind and patient, which I do appreciate in this day-and age.

When it was time to embark, I was guided to my car, in which I booked a window seat. Malheureuxement, it was pillared. The good news was that I was aboard the new escape cabin, with nice finishes, large tray tables, comfy seats, and speedy Wi-Fi (yes, speedier than the TrenItalia Frecciarossa that I boarded for Venice and Napoli this past summer). As the train was as fast as automobiles going down the 401, it was maybe 15 minutes quicker than a car for travel. Considering that including parking and petrol, it would cost about the same if I took my car, with less pollution and time to get to Montréal. I had a falafel wrap for breakfast, with a coffee. It was ok, flavours were good, however, the wrap was dry. It needed some tahini or something to break up the falafel monotony. Overall, VIA Rail was a 9/10. When I arrived, I was searching for the tunnels to the Palace Des Congrès, which I couldn’t find. I was 2 hours early and decided to explore one of my favourite cities in the world.

I bumped into my Architecture History Prof, Alessandra Mariani, at UQÁM, and walked with her a bit towards her class. It was a fun surprise, yet I wasn’t either, as I knew UQÁM was her main university, and that she commuted to Carleton every Monday morning for our lectures on Italian Churches and columns.

The weather was nice, but very strong with snow and hail. I walked towards the east, near the Hôtel De Ville, and went on Ste. Catherine’s. Après, I returned to the centre, and awaited the ouverture of the Salon D’Auto de Montréal. After that, I went to the STM, and rode back to Ste. Catherine’s, where I did some looking around at COS, be”cos” my mum wanted something. But then she said no. Womp womp. I went back to the station, and wrote. Then, my train going back was an older VIA Rail train car, but was still very comfy, and I had a table seat all for myself. I had a girl dinner of White Wine, and a Cheese and Fruit plate. It was very nice. I arrived home, and bussed.

Disclaimer.

A quick disclaimer: As this is Bélanger’s Brilliantly Boring Blog, Reviews, and Op-Eds-these are my opinions. Apologies in advance if you disagree or get offended by my words, because that’s what they are words, no one else’s. These words do not reflect my affiliations, nor their values, nor my actual political values, as I respect and care for everybody. Every now and then, we need to throw jokes around for the sake of humanity’s mental health, so let loose a bit. If you are not ready to read my quips, now is the time to close this page. Everybody else; you are in for a real treat! I cannot wait for you to read this! So with that said, let’s get crackin’!

Infiniti.

I can understand why Hertz calls them “Luxury Cars”. It’s a rebadged Nissan, with cheap faux leather aboard the door panels, dated designs, and Nissan/Mitsubishi rebadges. I did like the fragrance sticks they passed about to advertise their new alternatives to the deliciously carcinogenic “New Car Smell”. They were ok, but it’ll never beat “New Car Smell”. No wonder I loved the GM offerings; they were the strongest in “New Car Smell”.

The Good Cars.

Infiniti QX60. Good leather, a new interior based on the Pathfinder, and excellent infotainment. Nice sunroof, and feature full.

The Bad Cars.

Q50, QX50/55, QX80. They are dated, crappy infotainments, bad finishes, and uninspired designs. Unimpressed.

Volkswagen.

VW was a good one. The interiors felt good, and retained that signature VW cheap interior that felt nice to be in. The seats were high-grain yet felt really fresh. VW has always been able to achieve this, and I have no clue how.

The Good Cars.

VW Golf GTi; What a shifter! Rear seats were crappy, but up front was great!

Tiguan (Surprisingly), iD. 4. They again, felt airy, affordable, yet very comfortable. German, for sure. Everyone I’ve seen despises the VW Haptic buttons, yet I beg to differ! They are comfy, clicky, and satisfying! What’s not to like>

The Bad Cars.

The Atlas, Taos. Basic, cheap, no VW charm. Makes sense, as they are both built in North America. They don’t get the same Wolfsburg heritage, nor any sort of VW personality.

Mitsubishi.

They should stick to making air conditioners and escalators. Mitsubishi presented us only Nissan Rebadges, not especially wowing ones either. The Mirage just felt like my 2014 Nissan Versa Note with a 8” touchscreen pasted on. What I did appreciate is the new upholstery added to the Mirage, adding a sense of mystery, like would it really become a Mirage if that Mirage was broken down on the side of the road on route 66? We’ll never know.

The Good Cars.

The Outlander. That’s it. As it is a Rogue rebadge, it was closer to the luxury of an Infiniti than a Nissan. A bit of a step-up. It felt substantial inside, and well-equiped.

The Bad Cars.

Everything else. The Eclipse Cross was a depressing disgrace. The RVR/Outlander Sport is old and obsolete. The Mirage…you get the point.

Buick.

The whole General Motors gang impressed me deeply this year. The Buicks haven’t updated much since last year, yet they still feel like good value. Like Denali, Avenir is the lux trim of Buick, which makes it feel a bit closer to a Cadillac. The leather quality of the seats were on-par with Cadillac, although the door panels and dash (including the infotainment systems), not. They had thick bezels for their LCDs, cheaper leatherette, and the visors felt low-class; as if it was off a Chevy Cruze.

The Good Cars.

The Envision and Enclave were the winners. They were comfy, and felt well-appointed.

The Bad Cars.

Buick didn’t really have any bad cars, although, the Envista and Encore were a bit lacking compared to their older siblings. My thing with Buick is, as long as it’s an Avenir, it’s good. If it isn’t, just get yourself a Chevy.

Toyota.

Meh. Eeeeehhhh. I didn’t feel that sort of connection to the vehicles as I did with other brands today. Last year, Toyota had a much more impressive showing, with their Tundra Capstone making me mentally orgasm in surprise with how nice it was, a true Denali equivalent. Unfortunately, Toyota lost that magic touch that they had last year.

The Good Cars.

The GR Corolla, The Supra, The new Prius Prime. The Race-going vehicles had wonderful shifters that would click into place effortlessly. The Supra was low and felt like a Toyota more than a BMW this year. Good Stuff.

The Prius felt like a nice place to spend time in. A step up from the refreshed Camry, by a lot! I cannot fathom the fact that I said this.

The Bad Cars.

The rest of the Toyota line-up. As I said, the new refreshed Camry looked awful, with a whale beak like the RX was given last year, and the interior was basic. The Crown, which Toyota had milked as a worthy successor to the Avalon was also disappointing, with cheap materials throughout. The only high note was the pretty little power dial smack-dab in the middle of the dash. Tasteful.

The Highlander was meh. The Grand Highlander was a Crown, but giant. Meh.

The Rav4 was melatonin. Boring same-old crossover North Americans buy by the dozen. The Venza was ok, the Tacoma wasn’t wowing, and the interiors of the Sequoia and Tundra were not as wild as last year. No new Land Cruiser either, womp-womp. The Corolla was just a Corolla, and the Corolla Cross was stupid. The GR86 was Toyota’s take on the Nissan Z, and was cool, but meh. The BZ4X was stupid, it felt like a 2000s Prius, but the cloth dash was cool. The Toyotas need a redesigned steering wheel; it looks so dated and cheap. If that happens, I do strongly believe that the whole line-up would feel just a bit more haut-gamme.

You know, Akio Toyoda, the Chairman, said that he’d vow to never release a boring Toyota ever again. He lied, as I clearly saw today.

Chevrolet.

Chevy was ok. It was the worst of the GM brands, but not the worst-in-show. The new Equinox seems promising, the EVs look great and feel solid. Their full-size trucks and SUVs were same-old-same-old, a good product but not wowing. Just like Toyota.

The Good Cars.

Their big stand-out today was the Corvette Z06. In its highlighter colour and wonderful interior appointments on par with Cadillac, I was as impressed entering it this year as I did last year. It is low, it hugs you and feels special. I like it!

The Silverado High Country and 2500 were gargantuan and imposing. Not a bad thing, as their height is concealed to the plebian pedestrian its a nice interior. One thing I appreciate about GM is the real wood that they use in their luxury trims; it always classes up the space. The new Chevy infotainment seems interesting, too. I am open to the fact that they are ditching CarPlay for their system, and working with Android and Qualcomm to brew something up. GM right now is pretty smart. I trust their judgement.

The Bad Cars.

The Trailblazer, Blazer, Trax, Traverse, and Colorado. They were all meh. What do you expect for the price point?

Little Break… Let’s talk about my opinions on what is considered “Nice” for me.

• Alcantara/Suede/Nubuck headliners

  • Has to also come in any other colour than grey/cream

• Good quality leather

  • Smooth Nappa Leather please. If you will make a vegan leather or leatherette, save the stamping machine cost, and skip the tacky leather texture. It feels gross, looks fake, and doesn’t abide with Dieter Rahms’ 10 Principles of good design.

    • Good Design is Honest”. With fakery like that, it breaks that. If you are plastic or plant poop, just say it. Be unique and cool!

• Obtrusive stitching. GM kept on hitting the nail on the head this year, with some thick threads holding the leather together of grab handles, steering wheels, seats, and dashboards. It felt quality and artisan, something most automakers have lost this year.

• OLED screens.Not big screens, but weirdly shaped OLED screens with pitch-black blacks, and bright whites, making the screen feel infinite with the right software and UI.

• LEDs (duh)! The new standard is here, and I want to see Matrix LEDs that keep your high beams on whilst avoiding drivers. I want weird turn signals that dance, glide, pulse, and animate!

• Chrome and silver accents inside! It’s not a luxury car with cold and clicky touch points!

  • Haptics! Clicks makes neurodivergent brains happy.

• Lots of customisation and continuous attention to detail! Make things old-school, bespoke, and interesting, Genesis takes the W this year on this!

Now, back to our regular programming.

Ford.

Ford was a mixed bag of things. Some were well-executed, and some were afterthoughts in their line-up. Some models felt as if they weren’t even trying to impress customers, and others were really begging you to like them. Materials were ok, seats were excellent, infotainment was ok, and the good was good.

The Good Cars.

The Mustang Dark Horse. What an excellent product. Springy handbrake, good shifter and clutch, great driving position, and styling that could suck my hand off. I did feel as if they were copying Dodge with their branding, with a “dark horse” on the fender, as Dodge would do with different animal glyphs on the fenders, too. A great vehicle, and a good competitor to the Z06. What I will say, is that I’d still go Corvette, just for interior quality and exterior design.

The F-150 Lightning. Night and day would I take one over a regular F-150, as it doesn’t slack on features, looks sick, and is EV. I’m always down for an EV if it's an option. The F-series fleet delivered, and I tremored looking at the F-150 Tremor; my hands couldn’t stop shaking. I was seizing. I had to “Escape”. I was on the “Edge” of the vehicle, and as I fell, I saw Dora the “Explorer”(‘s) footsteps. Haha.

The Mach-E is back in town. Oh, the shark bites, with his teeth dear. And he shows them, his pearly whites. Just a jackknife, is the Mach-E, dear. Is that someone, Mach the Knife?!?!

If you get the reference, it’s an old song about this killer called Mack the Knife, and it reminded me of the Mach-E. It’s not a bad car when you opt for the GT, but the regular one is meh. Get a Model Y instead. Feels way nicer than the Mach-E.

The Maverick was a win in my books. The Resin-like door panels with the orange accents were fun and creative. A great vehicle. The Broncos were both excellent, with the sport exceeding my expectations in interior finishes. Big Kudos.

The Bad Cars.

As you may probably guess, the main loser was the Edge. I would never Edge to this car, considering how dated it is. I’m not into older folk, sorry.

The Edge was old, and dated, with a portrait touchscreen pasted as an afterthought. A cheap plastic bordure covered the screen, further cheapening the vehicle. The interior was mid at best and makes the Murano feel high-class compared to it.

Another one is the Escape. It had begged me to disregard it, as it presented itself cheaply, Avis-grade, and repulsive. It made no effort to beat its competition. Sad.

The Expedition was ok, but I’d go in the GM direction and purchase either a Yukon or an Escalade. The ranger was ok.

Tesla.

Mismatched expectations were the theme. As were their panel gaps. As someone who lives with a Tesla, the Model Y gave me no surprises; it’s a decent product. It is above average, yet not insane. The novelty of owning a Tesla is the real value proposition.

As this was run by the Tesla Owner’s Club of Québec, the S/X plaids were unable to be accessed, only the Model Y.

By the way, let’s discuss the Steel Elephant in the room: The Cybertruck.

Where do I start; it was a caricature of what a pickup should be. It felt fake yet brawny. Large yet delicate. Like a Dungeons and Dragons Cosplay, but performed by a B-List actor, not a nerd who lives in his mum’s basement. I give gravitas to the fact that it’s so iconic. Iconic to the point that it is a symbol of the future. I felt an understanding of the Cybertruck’s value; it had an excellent interior (from afar), and it was like nothing else.

The only negative is those obvious Panel Gaps. At this point, Franz Von Holzhausen and his team were looking too much into the past, with panel gaps the size of tailfins, protruding from the refrigerator-like arse of the truck. Other than that, I liked it. It was something. Not beautiful, but a character. Like me throughout the auto show!

Little Break… Let’s talk about my outfit.

Why did I make a fool of myself dressing chic to an auto show? Well, glad you asked, and as I always say, there’s a method to my madness. A clever rational justification to everything I do in life. My style is Scottish Male Croquette, with a touch of Gen Z. Sometimes I go full on Hobo-chic, grunge, skate, or I don’t give 5 shits about my outfit. At the Auto Show, I dressed in a teal tam o’shanter, diced vans sweater, dotted shirt, mustard necktie, Carhartt pants, my 1461 DMs that I shine till I reach a stage called Glaçage (Mirror Shine), white mickey-mouse gloves, and my military wool socks (I’ve gotten used to the itch for 6 years; I can’t go back to another sock now). It looks cool, and makes all the staff think I’m an influencer, so I get extra goodies and attention. The gloves are for interior presentations, as my fingers are not the most presentable due to biting.

Because of my eccentric Scottish-esque garde-de-robe, I have received so many complements regarding my taste. Especially in the aristocratic city of Montréal, where on the fashion-focused Rue Ste. Catherine, I was getting compliments and looks everywhere. That’s why I prefer Montréal over Ottawa; they appreciate fashion way more.

Did it make me look gay? Perhaps. Am I gay? Well, bi, but what about it? Men can’t dress fun because it’s fruity? Stupid norms.

Now, back to our regular programming.

Genesis.

No, not the Genesis of the Earth. Not Phil Collin’s Genesis either. I’m talking about one of my favourite luxe brands at the moment.

Picture this: You see Genesis, and step into their zone. The only brand that padded their space in memory foam and fur carpeting. Excellent first impression.

I was always a big fan of Genesis, for their old-school lux approach to a car. Materials and colours were a-plenty, fun shapes, timeless graphic elements reminiscent of Porsche (with the GV70), and just overall good quality offerings.

The Good Cars.

Without a doubt, the first car that comes to mind is the Electrified GV70. Wow. Considering that it was competing with an X3, I was blown away; It matched every criterion I gave it, even down to fun elements, including ovals everywhere, from the climate screen, and light-up trim. The steering wheel was dual-spoked and was as puffy as a doughnut. It glowed subtly, projecting its essence to the Nappa leather adjacent. Excellent vehicle overall. The gauges’ 3D effect was eye-tracked, with it appearing as a hologram effect wherever you looked, and removing it at certain angles. This was created in partnership with Continental, as they supplied the screen to make that happen.

The GV80 was cool, but not GV70 cool. Its theme was boxes, and there were definitely those. It was good, yet not as connecting as the others.

The GV-Fuckin’ 60. It was something. Almost Nordic, in the means of fashion and design, not vehicles-wise. Its theme was pill-shaped ovals and circles. Reflective strips over Alcantara lead you towards the highlighter-green boost button. An art-deco sphere would reveal itself when not in-use, and the glovebox was a drawer! One of my favourite new trends.

The Bad Cars.

G70. Mate’s got to go. It’s old-ish, and unfit compared to its siblings. I don’t like it. Kill it. (I think they are, actually).

McLaren.

Stupid, Next.

Supercar sections.

Stupid, Next.

Pro Tip:

If I cannot enter it, nor feel it, it shouldn’t be displayed at an auto show, unless it’s displaying a potential production vehicle, like a concept. Plus, I can see those in the wild, I don’t care about seeing them stationed atop mats. The only cool Ferrari displayed were the two Monzas. Even the JDM section was stupid.

GMC.

GM Fuckin’ C. Finally, something remotely interesting! They were one of my tops this year, as they showed quality products and good design. Their big cars are excellent, and their Equinox rebadge, meh.

The Good Cars.

Anything Denali. Like Buick, the Denalis were the only good GMCs. The AT4s weren’t bad either, yet not as wowza as Denali. The door trim was Nappa leather, the seats were prominently stitched, Semi-Aniline leather was used, and the tech was good! The Yukon, Sierra, and Canyon delivered without a doubt, providing massaging seats, a nice design, and a good fit and finish.

The Bad Cars.

Sigh. I have one obvious car, and two surprises.

The obvious is the Terrain. It’s cheap, boring, and uninspired. It is a step above the Rav4 or Escape but below the Rogue, CX-5, Envision, Tiguan, and whatnot.

Alright, you ready for a scandal? GMC Hummer EV. The truck and SUV.

Don’t get me wrong, they are big, sick, comfy off-road beasts. The exteriors are great, the interiors are bigger than most tiny homes, and easter eggs find this vehicle as their utopia.

The thing I don’t like is the vinyl used for their “rugged” finishes, it feels cheap for $150k CAD. It’s good, but not wow.

Nissan.

I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I miss my main man Carlos Ghosn. That stringent CEO who saved Nissan from Bankruptcy, and turned it into a $2 Billion dollar Profit in 2 years is a legend. He ran Renault at the same goddamn time. He added a French twist to the company. He made the GT-R a thing. He was great. Too bad some angry racist Japanese executives framed him for prison, in which he escaped to his home in Lebanon via “Music Equipment”. What a badass, also hiding from Interpol. He was great. Business is business, and firing thousands of workers is sometimes the best for the company.

Enough about Mr. Ghosn, let’s discuss Nissan.

The Good Cars.

The Ariya was good, I guess. A solid product, with good Japanese design. The Rogue impressed me a bit. It was good, I guess. The Pathfinder was a good product as well. To combat some of my points, I liked the Murano a lot, and still do. As much as it is a 10-ish year-old design, it feels nice. Nissan makes delicious seats. The ambiance is pure comfort. It’s a great product, especially with a cream interior.

The Bad Cars.

Everything else. No, I’m serious. The Sentra was dogshit. The Kicks was begging me to kick it in the Bose speakers. Despite a redesign, the Frontier was still dated inside. The Armada was rotting into the ocean from its hidden age. The Z; a love-hate situation. The exterior is stunning, as are most Nissans. However, once you climb aboard, you find 15-year-old tech mishmashes with new stuff. The seat adjusters looked like a Fisher-Price toy, as most Nissan touch points did in the time period, like its steering wheels. It would fit right in with a kiddie car from Fisher-Price, I swear to god!

Hyundai.

Again, another story of attractive and compelling exteriors with decent innards. The interior features were well-equipped, absolutely, yet they felt unrefined. Uninspired. Too beep-bop for show, if that makes sense?

The Good Cars.

Hmmmmmmmmmm. The Ioniq series were all homeruns, with one drawback of the Ioniq 6: headroom was abysmal. The 5 was good. The Boston Dynamics bibitte was cool, too. The Palisade delivered well, as always. It needs a refresh on tech and touch point quality, although I am always impressed with what if offers for the money.

The Bad Cars.

The Sonata was meh. The Kona (Cunt, in Portuguese) looks great outside, yet mid inside. The new Santa Fe is a character, yet inaccessible to enter. The Tucson was same old, same-old. The Santa-Cruz was a Tucson with a bed. I’d go Maverick. What else… That’s it.

KIA.

Or should I say… K Backwards-N? KИ? Hey, look! That’s the new Kia logo! I really like it; way better than the boring old one. It gives avant-garde interest to an otherwise conventional brand.

The Good Cars.

The EV9 was on the top. It felt like an office chair on wheels. It was pixel-themed, as most Hyundai-Kia EVs are, with a mesh headrest, limo-like rear seats, and great tech. Very impressed. The EV6 was good too. The Niro EV was nice, but basic, with further insight from the Niro EV we rented in LA. My father had described it as boring with the driving. Fair. The Sportage is a better offering than the Tucson, yet I’d much prefer a new Santa Fe over a Sorento. The Carnival was great, with the only thing missing was a black headliner as standard. That would be the icing on the cake.

The Bad Cars.

Forte. Boring. Seltos. Boring. Yeah, that’s about it.

Lexus.

Lexus? More like Lex-sus. Nah, jk. They were good. Yet, I wasn’t impressed compared to their competition. They were ok, but not awe-ing.

The Good Cars.

The NX, ES, LC, and IS. They are all excellent tech-wise, comfy with the seats, and good quality. I’m missing Alcantara headliners or better-quality door panels to give them the W. The RX was fine, it’s just that the exterior looks like a shark. I hate it. The LX is cool, but still feels dated inside. The IS500 would be the perfect Luxury Sedan if it had one thing: A manual transmission. A big NA V8 is great and all, but without a manual, what’s the point?

You know who was the best, though? The new GX! If only I could climb into that interior…It was magnificent. What an SUV.

The Bad Cars.

UX, TX and RZ.

The User Experience (as I like to call the UX) was meh. The TX (Everything is Bigger in Texas) was meh, as it was, quite frankly, a rebadged Grand Highlander. The RZ was interesting, yet the range was abysmal, and the packaging was mediocre. If it was Lyriq-level quality (spoiler alert), the price would be further justified, yet it wasn’t. The Steer-By-Wire is interesting, same as the radiant heating, but idk…they’re gimmicks for a car that doesn’t deserve those gimmicks.

Lincoln.

The Abraham Motherfuckin’ Lincoln of Cars. They were good, ish.

The Good Cars.

The new Nautilus, and Aviator. The new Nautilus was fully developed in China, and I’ll tell you what, those Chinese folks make good tech. Screens that make a full panorama below the windscreen impressed me. The seats were squishy, and the exterior design was tasteful. The Aviator was lacking in the door panel, yet the wood was nice to feel, the seats were gorgeous, and the only thing my white gloves could say about the buttons was “bling-bling”. Shiny chrome felt cold to the touch and substantial to feel, and the dash was well-made in material quality. The only minus is the infotainment screen, and the older exterior compared to the brand-new Nautilus.

The Bad Cars.

Navigator and Corsair. Meh.

Bélanger’s Crazy opinions.

All car manufacturers should launch redesigned vehicles at the same time, so the brand has a consistent brand identity. This is preferred, as currently, most automakers stagger their fleet with beautiful new examples for their design language, and the others in their 2010 liveries. Inconsistent, and a lot of times, it leaves the flagship lagging. What a financial mess that would cause them; a logistical nightmare, too.

VinFast.

Second to last always goes to a bad egg. VinSlow. Hmmmmmm. Como sé dice… pas bon? I’ll give you a brief history of why I have so much beef with VinFast.

At the last auto show, VinFast only had two vehicles to present, that were interactive, the VF8, and VF9. VinFast prided itself so much by bragging that “they were designed by Pininfarina”, that the motors were Bosch, and that the parts are from BMW.

I don’t give 2 shits. Pininfarina, or Facebook, as I like to call them designs Ferraris and whatnot, cool. A naïve Viet company wants to hire them for outsourcing for billions, and those Italian Salamis are laughing on their leather chaises about how they made the VF8 look like a goddamn chicken.

And the chicken wasn’t even halal! No! It was brutally tortured!

They invited the press over to Vietnam inside their famous Vin Pearl Resorts, to bribe them. They were shoving Bahm Mì after Bahn Mì and Vietnamese Coffee after Vietnamese Coffee that they made the press diarrhoea.

Very badly. Like the gushing of crystal-clear waters off the beach of Vietnam.

They said obvious false impressions, in which, influencers had claimed in testing the VF8 on their own time (without the watchful eye of a Vin Group employee) about how bad the car is.

The acceleration is not breathtaking; it’s at a standard of which all new EVs should be. The regen is boring. The interiors are second to all. Basic, crappy, textured, and full of unjustifiable gimmicks. No one needs inoperable massage seats at $35k.

Now, my take. Last year, my father went into the VF8 and VF9, and played with the screens. Screens are what my dad does for a living, he manages operations with OEMs on making operating systems. He crashed it.

Seeing that it was a press vehicle, that was unacceptable. Bad design, bad materials, and bad tech, but great Vietnamese coffee. I’m sold.

The Vietnamese coffee is excellent though. Shoutout to them.

They have a good vision. They have a decent start. Do they deserve to be selling at the price they request? No. It’s a piece of junk. Such junk that they offer you a 10-year warranty on the car, and make you lease the battery pack. It’s dumb. Just like VinSlow.

The Good Cars.

The VF9 has that older styling, but is a much more solid product. Materials are a bit higher in quality than its little sibling, and the space is good. The dash still needs work.

One detail that I adore from all VinFast models is a haptic click when you floor the accelerator, to tell you that it’s going to the most it can. That is something that I want in every car. The new VF7 and VF6 are more of the same, but with new styling. This time, it’s a stretched chicken, very pretty, with skinny DRLs.

Their VF3 concept is a cutie, and their truck looks impressive.

All the cars had excellent sound deadening; very quiet compared to most cars offered at the show.

The Bad Cars.

As I have stated, the VF8 is a grotesque vehicle. No wonder they can’t sell them. It’s just not good.

Cadillac.

Cadillac Arrest was my heart as I saw the line-up for 2024. My mental orgasm came all over in the form of a smile. Cadillac is slowly becoming that Standard of The World it so prided itself of being all those years ago. Thinking about Cadillac slowly going back to its glory days makes me so happy, as GM toxically neglected Cadillac by giving them rebadges of lesser vehicles.

That’s too sad.

So, let’s analyse.

The Good Cars.

My favourite was the Lyriq, by far. It was tasteful in every way, especially with the cream interior and wine-burgundy accents. Stitching was impeccable, that OLED screen made me cry for mercy to Mary Barra. The comfort was unmatched to most cars on the floor.

The redesigned XT5 was solid, too. It had replaced the dated XT5 with everything that I wanted in a Cadillac. Better value.

I’d love to see the Escalade IQ inside, although unfortunately, it was today’s show car. Womp-womp.

The Escalade never disappoints in finishes, and the CT5V Blackwing made me want a Cadillac even more. Those seats were carbon fibre works of art. The shifter was crafted by angels. The engine comes from a goddamn Corvette; it’s everything the IS500 should’ve become.

The Bad Cars.

XT7. Meh. CT4. Meh. They need a refresh.

In conclusion, most of the bad cars just need refreshes and some TLC. Most automakers are going in the right direction for what clients want. Modern, competitive, and quality automobiles.

Who did I wish to see at the auto show?

• Stellantis (Alfa, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Maserati, Fiat)

  • Need to make a Big 3 batte; so far GM is crushing Ford.

• Mazda

  • I want to feel the CX90 and all of its glory

• Mercedes-Benz

  • I want to see another world-standard express how it does lux

• BMW

  • Why tf not.

• Audi

  • VW is there, why not Audi?

• Porsche

  • VW is there, Lambo is there, why not Porsche? Besides, I want to see the new Macan EV and Cayenne.

• Fisker

  • I want to see the Ocean for myself. See the Pear, and the Alaska. Maybe even the Rōnin.

• Lucid

  • I fell in love with the Air. Will I fall at 9.81 metres/second with the Gravity?

• Volvo

  • C’mon! Volvo is a great standard! Let’s see the new EX vehicles!

• Polestar

  • If Volvo comes along, we need its stripper sibling. It’s Montréal, too! Great poles, it you know what I’m saying…Jk.

Dream Brands.

• Renault

  • I want to see their new offerings in NA for myself

• Stellantis Europe (Minus Citroën, as they are not the same company as they used to be)

  • Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot, and yeah.

• Chinese Brands

  • BYD, Geely, JAIC, BAIC, Great Wall, etc…

• Škoda

  • Wouldn’t it be nice if Laurent & Klément paid us a visit

• Cupra

  • I was “Born” for them to be here (haha, car puns)

  • Not Seat as they are killing their brand, sadly enough.

Cars I was glad not to see.

• Honda

  • BOOOOORRRRRING! Nothing cool going on with them!

• Acura

  • Includes their “luxury” brand.

• Citroën

  • I’m praying to the car gods that Citroën will go through the same renaissance that Cadillac is going through currently

• Subaru

  • I don’t care. Nothing new, not interested.

• Any supercar

  • Good riddance. Stop it with your entitled gates that don’t let the “peasants” in.

Worst in Show.

Worst Automotive Group: Nissan-Infiniti-Mitsubishi

Offerings lacking the TLC they so desperately need to be up-to-date is the reason why they are the worst of the bunch.

Worst Display: Lamborghini

So insignificant and crappy of a display that it was the only brand present that I didn’t talk about. No vehicle access. No merch. No big signage. No crazy cars, just an Urus.

Most Boring Brand: Toyota

I fell asleep looking at the bronze trim inside every goddamn Toyota on that floor. Same SofTex. Same stupid headlights. The work of lazy people.

Most Surprisingly Disappointing Brand: Ford

They were consistently not hitting the mark. Something was always off with their offerings.

Worst Brand in all: VinFast

One day, they’ll be good. One day, people will be lining up mall showrooms to purchase their chicken-faced Facebook-designed junk, just because they had good Vietnamese coffee.

Worst Vehicle Presented.

3rd: Nissan Sentra.

How was Nissan proud to present this base model piece of econobox? You’re supposed to show flagship stuff, not the scraps from Enterprise.

2nd: Mitsubishi Mirage.

Very crappy, very old. I appreciate the slight updates, but good riddance! It’ll be gone forever soon!

1st: VinFast VF8.

VinSlow and their chicken-faced car. Their cars’ quality are like top-of-the-line Mahindras; crappy but hey! You’ve got a navigation and leather seats in a piece of Asian trash. They seriously think they have a product good enough to sell in picky North America? Mark my words, in 5 years, VinSlow will be VinGone. I can assure you, 100%, that Supercar Blondie was paid $5 million + a free timeshare at that Vin Resort to say good things about VinFast. Why? Because, as stupid as Supercar Blondie is, even she knows that the VinFast is an unrefined product. She reviews concept cars and rare cars for a living! She’d know. Everyone would know. A Nissan Rogue was better quality that that piece of junk. The fonts on the steering wheel were miniscule and cramped. The PRND selector had this hyper-basic font just put on there in giant; taking up ½ of the centre console. What a waste.

I’m hoping that this will change.

Best in Show.

Best Automotive Group: GM

I’ve over-stated in this article how GM has impressed me. Deeply. Good job!

Best Display Games: Hyundai

The sim racing and Roblox were sick. Keep it up.

Best Brand Identity/Vision: Genesis

Their product is excellent. I need more GV70s in this world.

Most Improved Brand: GMC

The Denalis were just rebadged Cadillacs

Best Brand in all: Cadillac

Their slow goal of reaching the Standard of The World is getting there, and they’ve proved it at the Palais de Congrès!

Best Vehicle Presented.

3rd: GMC Sierra Denali.

The Sierra Denali had everything I wanted in a car; good looks, good ride height, my picky interior finish requirements, and good tech. The massage function on the seats won me over.

2nd: Cadillac Lyriq.

The Second GM vehicle on the List, it conquers its competition with pure attention-to-detail compared to its competition.

1st: Genesis GV70.

I wasn’t surprised that the Genesis would impress me. For the value proposition it offers, it’s a no-brainer. Low-50k for a flagship interior? Count me in. If it were about total luxury, the Denalis would win, however, value is paramount in these rankings, so that’s my verdict.

Final Thoughts.

Oh, what a day! 24,000 steps, lots and lots of cars, beautiful Montréal, good trains; what’s not to like?!?!? These opinions do not cover reliability, as my list would grow boring and uninspired. These recommendations really just go for leases or vehicles in which you have an excellent warranty and want to buy new. I was very happy with today, and I don’t think it couldn’t have gone any better!

If you would like more info and photos, look them up yourself, as I am too lazy and don't want to cite anything.

Also, If you would like to contact me for more insight and word clarifications, including my footnotes that did not paste through, shoot me an email via the queries section. I cannot wait to hear from you!

Kindest Regards,

Santiago Bélanger.

So that was my day. Alright, Let’s go by order of the path.

Gallery.