Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
You can touch
Exercising restraint might be tough as you feel the low vibration of the Dodge Charger Daytona’s 5.7-liter V-8 engine rumbling beneath you.
The annual Fort Lauderdale International Auto Show continues through the weekend.
You didn’t think the Fort Lauderdale International Auto Show was a look-don’t-touch affair?
Get those fingers moving, Little GTO. After all, the reason more than 500 vehicles are on display this weekend at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center is to get you excited about buying or leasing a new car, truck, SUV, van, crossover and hybrid.
And touching isn’t only allowed, it’s encouraged.
Inside the main exhibit hall this weekend, new car enthusiasts are opening doors, popping hoods, reclining seats, squeezing upholstery, twisting knobs, pushing buttons, and lifting hatches.
What they can’t do indoors is start engines. That’s what the test drive area is for just outside the hall.
On Friday, Toyota, Ford and Chrysler each made six to eight models available for quick getacquainted test drives around the convention center buildings. GM will be joining them on Saturday, offering test drives of several of its offerings, including the Chevrolet Camaro and Volt.
Participants can drive as many as they want, as long as they’re 18 or over, can show a valid driver license, answer a few personal questions, and pass a breathalyzer test.
Yep, you’ve got to blow. “We don’t want anyone to come in here hammered and start driving a car,” event spokesman Cliff Ray said.
Nor do the car makers want any driver going any faster on their test drives than they would in a typical shopping mall parking lot.
But exercising restraint might be tough as you feel the low vibration of the Dodge Charger Daytona’s 5.7-liter V-8 engine rumbling beneath you, begging you to press the gas peddle so it can show you its capabilities.
But you can drink in that new car smell and hear that tight “thwap” sound that new cars make when their doors swing shut.
One reason people like taking test drives at the auto show, says a Toyota “co-pilot” who identified herself as “Kelly,” is “we’re not here to sell you a car.”
“There’s no pressure, no stress,” she said during a test drive of the Toyota RAV4. “If you make a good car, it sells itself.”
This year’s show features a wide range of domestic and foreign car makers, including the big three U.S. makers — Chrysler, GM and Ford and most of their brands, such as Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Chevrolet, Lincoln, Dodge, and Jeep. Foreign brands include Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Lexus, Acura, Volvo and BMW.
Luxury and exotic brands are showing off, too: Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Infiniti, Fiat, Maserati, Genesis, Land Rover, Mercedes and more.
New models on display at the auto show include a 2018 Ford EcoSport, with an adjustable honeycombshaped cargo shelf made from high-strength, 100 percent recycled paper.
Volkswagen’s new Atlas SUV is at the show, as is Chevy’s new all-electric Bolt, which runs 230 miles on a single charge.
Prices vary widely for featured vehicles, and most of those shown are loaded with extras.
A black GMC Sierra Denali 1500 FWD crew cab that comes with a 6.2-liter V-8 engine that gets 17 mpg will set you back $62,200, while a 1.4-liter 4-cylinder Chevy Spark that gets 32 mpg is priced at $19,700.
A pearl white Maserati Quattroporte assembled in Turin, Italy, can be yours for $122,900.
If you’re not willing to make that big of a commitment, there’s a Honda CRF110F minibike that might be calling your name. At $2,249, it’s probably the least expensive vehicle at the show.
Here are the hours for the auto show, and for test driving sessions:
Saturday, show is open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Test driving runs 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday, show is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Test driving runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
More than 100,000 visitors are expected to pass through the convention center doors before the show concludes Sunday evening, Ray said.
The convention center is located at 1950 Eisenhower Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Daily admission to the show is $8 for adults and $3 per child [children 5 and under are free]. Parking fees start at $3 for the first hour and $1 per additional hour up to the $15 daily maximum. Parking for up to five hours is $6.
This year’s show is the 26th. Auto dealer Rick Case organized the first one in 1990 not only to promote the newest models but also as a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County.
Now produced by the South Florida Automobile Dealers Association, the show has raised $7 million for community organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Sheridan House, Easter Seals, Parkway Academy at Broward Community College, and the Boys and Girls Clubs in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to its website.