And bloomin 'eck do my feet hurt!

What a great day to go, no queues for anything, able to chat to loads of the salesmen (mostly women though! ).

Got there and went straight for the Car driving section, took out the Subaru WRX and then the higher powered STi. Very nice cars, I was so sceptical and they were so much nicer than I expected and starting at 15k for a pre-registered WRX, a very tempting proposition. Then went over to the live action bit. Fairly entertaining but not worth queuing and paying extra for imho. Handily though we didn't have to queue so not all bad.

Then ventured round virtually all the stands, saw some very impressive kit (for me the Citroens C2 display was easily the best at the show). Had a long look around the excellent Volvo XC90 and a very nice chat to the lady next to it. The noble stand chaps were ace, and I sat in the GTO's and the N14. Am so impressed by them, the quality is awesome.

Leaving it to after lunch I then frequented the Ford stand with high expectations. The Thunderbirds setup is very impressive which when running involves loads of very loads bangs, crashes, sparks and smoke.

Unfortunately, all the noise and action was clearly a massive distraction from the fact that there was nothing new there. Loads of the current Focus, the ST220 and new Diesel ST mondeo were on the floor and open.

The Fiesta ST and RS were closed and mounted on raised spinning platforms, so you couldn't get particularly near them. Gutted is an understatement.

The Fiesta Zetec S was however on the floor, but I was too miffed by then to spend anytime looking at it. Must admit, I came away from the Ford stand really rather angry and dissapointed.

The upside is that the Fiesta RS looks infinitely better in the flesh than it does in all the photos I've seen. I'll post up what few pics I took after dinner.

Surprise cr of the show for me was the Mazda RX-8. Looked awesome, love the suicide doors and amazingly spacious on the rear seat. Certainly wouldn't kick one of them out the garage.

The RS is looking great in your pics. Really nice. I am dissapointed they aren't further ahead with the ST yet - they should really be letting people sit in them at this stage!!

Bring on the RS!

Oh, and the RX8 should command a bit of respect. It is one of the few sub-£30k motors that I would actually fear meeting in the RS! A bit quicker in a straight line and properly sorted RWD handling. Just saw one at lunch, and the engine note is certainly different, not entirely sure if I like it yet.

Anyway, it's irrelevant - it ain't got a Ford badge on the front!

Cant w8 to go to the Motorshow!!!

Double Dose of Antibiotics and Strong Painkillers from my Doctor should sort me out :S

Just got back myself what a day!!!
Got talking to one of he guys at the ford stand and he said that the RS fiesta will handle loads better than the Focus and that they still haven't decided to go ahead with it

Went to the live action arena it wasn't all that but one bit that made me laugh was that when it all started the bought out a saab 93 convertable and blew the sump off it!!! well funny
Got loads of pics of the RS and other cars will post them tomorrow from work

The 93 blew up?? The bloke nearly smacked it into the concrete blocks three times yesterday, had to keep braking and change trajectory!

I too went yesterday and I have to confessthat I was not impressed by what I saw of the Fiesta ST. Was quite excited about this car once other but after seeing it up close....not that excited any more.

The RS looked very nice and looked far better in the flesh than in the pictures I had seen.

However if I were to be honest the car I took a shine to was the new MG ZR. Also the Seat Ibiza Cupra I thought was very nice indeed.

Gazza...

The ST and RS were on the Pulling Power motorshow review last night. Mockney boy Mike Brewer reviewed them and loved them both. He had a good look round the ST and sat inside but thought it looked a bit too swish inside to be a proper XR2-a-like. He really loved the RS though.....and so do I!

FSO Polinez deluxe?

- Nope (sadly!).

CTR?

Already driven that.

Clue: 15 years ago I'd rather of been shot than sit in one.

VX220

Nope. It is a saloon.