Heh - I originally posted "2005" in the subject - I'm an idiot!

After going to Chicago's auto show last year, I knew I was in for a disappointment at this year's KC show. I could count the non-production models on one hand... easily. Nevertheless, I took some pictures.

Evo MR vs. WRX STi... which do you like?

How about the Pontiac Solstice vs. the Saturn Sky? I know, same car, but actually I like the Saturn version a bit better. If for nothing else, the simple fact that they now have a decent car in their lineup.

The Camaro concept was definitely the highlight of the show.

The new Z06 was pretty cool too.

The XLR-V is way too expensive, but still a badass car.

Dodge's only concept, the Razor.

Acura RSX-S

The Lexus SC430 finally gets less crappy rims. They're still not all that good.

This is supposedly a fast Hyundai Tiburon.

Roush Mustang

Infiniti M45

VW's new GTI

The BMW M5 looks awesome in black.

BMW M3 - can't wait for the new one.

Jaguar's new XK - not much changed from the concept I saw last year in Chicago, so basically it still looks like a (watered down) Aston Martin to me. Not a bad thing necessarily.

Porsche 911 Carrera

Porsche Cayman S - I love this car.

MB SLK55 AMG

A pimp 300C

Nissan 350Z Roadster

Honda S2000 - needs a redesign

Ford GT

Shelby GR1 - I saw this in Chicago last year, but they had these blue lights shining down on it. It looks much better in natural (err, flourescent) light.

GT500!

You'll notice the general absence of people at the show. It gets a lot busier. If you're a picture taker going to an auto show, I suggest going on a Sunday at opening time before the church crowd piles in and trashes all the cars.

My brother-in-law recently purchased a 1969 Camaro 307. It's in pretty good shape, but he restores cars on the side, so this will be his next big project. Regardless, cars this old now get all kinds of looks and thumbs up on the road.

I just noticed we rolled past 10k members here at GTVault. That number is a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger sites (never was a goal of mine anyway), but whenever you add a zero it's worth mentioning. Thanks to all for keeping this place alive!

Competition breeds innovation. Short of Forza on XBox, Sony and Polyphony Digital haven't seen any viable competitors in the console based racing sim genre. As a result, we players are suffering from a dearth of new ideas and creativity. Before the fanboys get their panties in a bunch, understand that I have personally devoted thousands of hours to build a unique community around the GT series. I have a lot of respect for the development team and what they've done in general. I never would have started this venture otherwise.

It's been around 9 months since the release of GT4, and I've had some time to reallly think about the game series in general, it's legacy and it's direction. The release of Gran Turismo 5 is some time off, but I guarantee the major development decisions have already been made. Personally, I've been less than ecstatic about GT4. The general formula of the GT series has not changed since the first release on the PS1, and I've had numerous discussions with longtime players who feel the same way. To me, GT4 is just a more polished rendition of the original game I played in 1998. Sure, there are more cars, more tracks, more races... it seems there's more of everything except creativity. The developers have taken the same narrow gameplay path with each successive release. I wonder if anything other than graphics, tracks, cars and the physics engine will set GT5 apart from it's predecessors? Judging by past releases, this may very well not be the case.

For both the long-time and new players, I ask of you: "What do you want out of GT5?" I'm not going to influence the direction of this by making my specific thoughts known in this post. I'm more interested in what you guys have to say.

My web hosting provider will be migrating to a new data center this Thusday, December 8, 2005. As a result, GTVault will be down for approximately 5-8 hours. Please do not e-mail about not being able to access the site. The matter is out of my hands until the migration is complete. I apologize for any inconvenience.

To those celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you have a good one. I am home for a bit between two dinners that I am attending today.

Also, let's wish a happy 4th birthday to GTVault. Actually, I launched the site on 11/22/2001, but that day was Thanksgiving so I'll go with that as the launch anniversary. The site has come a long way since the initial launch in the GT3 days. I appreciate everyone's contribution in making the site what it is today.

I'm very excited to announce the release of the Advanced Car Search, another feature exclusive to GTVault. As always, feel free to post your feedback.

From the FAQ:

The Advanced Car Search page is a complex yet powerful GT car search engine. With Advanced Car Search you can search for and display virtually all car related data in the GTVault database. The Search form is laid out in two sections. The top section takes various inputs to use as a search filter. The bottom section contains checkboxes for the items to display in the search results. Using a combination of these, one could answer any GT car related question. Here is an example:

Question: In GT4, Which FR cars from the USA have a Stock HP rating over 300?
Solution:

• Go to the Advanced Car Search page
  
• Select "USA" from the Nation drop down list
  
• Select "FR" from the Drivetrain drop down list
  
• Enter "300" under the "More Than" column for "HP"
  
• Check "Stock HP" (and any others you'd like) in the "Columns to View" section
  
• Click the "Search" button
  
• A list of FR cars over 300 Stock HP is displayed
  
• Click any of the column names to sort by that column
  
• For example, clicking the "Stock HP" column twice will place the highest HP cars at the beginning of the search results
  

The above example was a relatively simple one. Any car question, no matter how simple or complex, can be answered by using the Advanced Car Search. It should come in especially handy when researching which car to use for restricted events.

Notes:

• If no "Columns to View" are checked, Make is automatically selected to ensure results formatting is correct.
  
• Use Ctrl + click on the "Make" and "Nation" drop downs for multiple selections.
  
• When viewing search results, click the "Edit Search" button at the top right to modify your existing search. This will save time when you wish to change an already complex set of search criteria.
  
• From search results, click a Car Name to view all details for that car
  
• From search results, click a Setup quantity to view all setups for that car
  
• All text fields in the "More Than" and "Less Than" columns are designed for numeric entries.
  
• Car Name is always displayed first in the search results, regardless of what columns are chosen.
  
• After sorting on any column, you can save the URL as a bookmark for future use
  

Looking through the posts at GTVault, I have seen a lot of common questions asked and answered. I've implemented a Knowledge Base as a central area to house common tips/tricks, tuning guides, etc. There are currently very few items, but this will grow over time. Let me know if you have a good write up or guide that you would like to see posted.

I just released a couple enhancements to the site. First, members who were here for the original incarnation of GTVault will remember the Site Stats section listing a total count of users and setups. I've reintroduced the Site Statistics, which you'll find at the bottom left corner of each page. It's not one of those "couldn't live without it features", which is why I didn't set it up until now.

Secondly, I retooled the Top Ten Lists. You may now look at each top ten category for the last 7 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, last year, or forever. This levels the playing field by showcasing newer and recently active tuners. In addition, I added a new category named "Votes per Setup". Enjoy!

Each year GM sponsors an event held in select cities around the US called the Auto Show in Motion. I attended the event last year and had a great time. I had the chance to drive an '04 Z06 and a ton of other cars, including a lot of the competition. I'm already registered for the 2005 event and wanted to get the word out to those who are interested and have access to one of the following locations:

Anaheim, CA 8/11 - 8/14
Pomona, CA 8/18 - 8/21
Kansas City, KS 8/25 - 8/28
Houston, TX 9/8 - 9/11
San Diego, CA 9/15 - 9/18
Dallas, TX 9/15 - 9/18
Chicago, IL 9/29 - 10/2
Las Vegas, NV 10/6 - 10/9
St. Louis, MO 10/13 - 10/16
San Francisco, CA 10/20 - 10/23
San Jose, CA 11/10 - 11/13

I hope some of you can make it!