As part of our ongoing commitment to entertaining while informing, we hit the show floor to find the best in info-tainment displays you wont want to miss if you're braving the cold and visiting the Chicago Auto Show. Our advice: bring a barf bag, Advil and your favorite method of contraception.
The Nauseating:
We almost splattered the floor of the McCormick Center with fruit smoothie thanks to VW's uber-precise marketers and their VW GTI simulator, which spins a full 360 degrees as you try and keep a pixelated GTI on the straight-and-narrow. According to the VW people, you can't beat the track in less than a minute. But that's just what the Germans want us to believe. The DCX Germans on the other hand have their own NASCAR simulator which you can feel free to flog for at least a minute. True, it's not quite as "fun" as the real thing, but it's equally as likely to cause you to spit up something resembling a fully stickered NASCAR Charger.
More below the jump...
The Strange:
While not quite an interactive display, the suddenly reformed treehuggers at Ford did turn on their fully functional hydrogen/electric version of the Ford Edge for us and demonstrated the heretofore unheralded steam cleaning feature. You can see Ford PR pro Nick Twork cleaning his pants in the gallery — if only it could clean his soul.
The Pain Creating:
For some reason, Dodge thinks that the best way to sell trucks is to cause you back pain as one of their reps explains how well the vehicle would handle if you happened to drive over a bunch of I-beams left in the middle of the road. Despite the bumps, it's actually fun going up a 35-degree incline in the passenger seat of a Durango. We begged them to let us do it in an SRT8 Charger but they politely declined. Ford has a trimmed down display that involves sitting in a shaking chair to demonstrate its dynamic stability control. This ends up being less fun than it sounds and really should be avoided at all costs.
The Strangely Suggestive:
After giving us a case of the spins, VW sent us to the Dynaudio Experience chair which, honestly, looks strikingly similar to a diaphragm. Sit inside the... um... crevice and the chair moves to put you face to face with a display that shows what someone would experience facing the other direction (though it advises you to close your eyes to fully take in the experience). Apparently, entering a German woman looks and sounds a lot like driving straight into the Autobahn.
Related:
Dodge Swag Shows The Future Of Chrysler Group Manufacturing [internal]