OppoLock
RWD Addict
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This was bittersweet.
The only S650 they had on display was a Rapid Red GT convertible, which is exactly how I’d spec the least appealing S650 possible. On top of that, Ford put it on a restricted platform, but I went full-blown Oliver Twist and expressed my freak-obsession with the car, so I managed to get a rep to escort me onto the display.
Immediate thoughts:
I can’t convey just how much more upscale it looks in person. Like I hoped, it’s really hard to understand just how resolved the surfaces are until you see the way light seamlessly blends across the body. It looks $5-10k more expensive than the S550 and Camaro that were a ball toss away (more on that in a sec).
Part of this upscale perception has to do with how sharp the details are. Nothing’s overwrought, but for example, the headlights have a precision finish, the fascia cuts front and back are extremely sharp, and the horizontal crease that splits the trunk lid (and the respectively-shaped taillights) look “right” and tight. In fact, I totally get the taillights. Right behind the S650 was another S550 with its ass pointed my way. The S650 looks way lower and consequently more lithe from the back, but not in a wimpy way.
It’s just really freaking defined.
The other part of why this looks so upscale is the ridiculous finish on the paint and the fitment of the body panels. I cannot emphasize this enough; the fitment is damn-near perfect and something that I always pay attention to is the way light either scatters and distorts across panel shutlines or continues uninterrupted. I tried to get this to translate through the video by raising and lowering the perspective so you can see the show-room light bars melting fluidly. This is something that plagues S550s… and damn near every car under six figures. I’m skeptical because this pre-prod likely received some extra TLC and I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut and polished the paint to death considering the number of eyes it’ll cross. But just glancing at the S550, I could see scattered lines and surfaces that suck in and poke out and create distortion as a result (on top of the fitment tolerances not being in the same league).
Other thoughts: the interior isn’t bad. It’s not great either. It’s positively average. The screens don’t even stand out in a distracting way; it’s the lack of flare going on and the fact that the materials aren’t going to be the super upgrade you’d expect. The leather—or whatever faux-substitute they use—that covers the center console and various touch points looks like your typical smooth grain vinyl. The console looks just… there. Again, not bad, not good, just a little flat for a car that should have some major character and quirks (said in my Doug DeMuro voice).
The screens do look cheap compared to literally every other brand-new car on display that I checked out though. Both the size of the bezels and the black levels being shallow. It’s a far cry from what you’d find on an OLED, for example. But the graphics looked crisp. Part of me is still crossing fingers that something changes when it hits production.
POSITIVE interior pointers: there’s definitely a cohesive solidity to the design and everything looks less chunky irl. The steering wheel, for instance, looks like something out of a Ram pick-up in photos, but it’s much smaller looking in person, both the rim diameter as well as the airbag. Big relief there. Also, there aren’t any areas that stand out looking glaringly cheap (like the underside of the S550’s dash and it’s scratchy hard plastic, or the mixed materials for the door cards). So that’s good; it looks consistent in terms of material construction. And the steering wheel definitely looks a tier above, at least from afar, and that’s the most important thing at the end of the day.
Also, the wheels are absolutely baller as f***.
Side notes from the show: the new Dodge Hornet is one of the cars of all time, I would still buy a GT3 over anythingelse if I had Zuck money, the Caddy Lyriq is nutso, the Z06 still looks ugly-cool like a C8, but like it went through puberty and finally has enough tinsel on it to the point it looks right, the Nissan Z is exceedingly whelming, the new Tundra is laughably mid, the Supra’s seats are awful, and Hyundai/Kia are killing their competition in ways that boggle my mind with their newest models.
LAST POINT: the Camaro looks NOTHING like the S650 in person. Seeing them back to back in the metal will have you rolling your eyes at these comments moving forward.
The only S650 they had on display was a Rapid Red GT convertible, which is exactly how I’d spec the least appealing S650 possible. On top of that, Ford put it on a restricted platform, but I went full-blown Oliver Twist and expressed my freak-obsession with the car, so I managed to get a rep to escort me onto the display.
Immediate thoughts:
I can’t convey just how much more upscale it looks in person. Like I hoped, it’s really hard to understand just how resolved the surfaces are until you see the way light seamlessly blends across the body. It looks $5-10k more expensive than the S550 and Camaro that were a ball toss away (more on that in a sec).
Part of this upscale perception has to do with how sharp the details are. Nothing’s overwrought, but for example, the headlights have a precision finish, the fascia cuts front and back are extremely sharp, and the horizontal crease that splits the trunk lid (and the respectively-shaped taillights) look “right” and tight. In fact, I totally get the taillights. Right behind the S650 was another S550 with its ass pointed my way. The S650 looks way lower and consequently more lithe from the back, but not in a wimpy way.
It’s just really freaking defined.
The other part of why this looks so upscale is the ridiculous finish on the paint and the fitment of the body panels. I cannot emphasize this enough; the fitment is damn-near perfect and something that I always pay attention to is the way light either scatters and distorts across panel shutlines or continues uninterrupted. I tried to get this to translate through the video by raising and lowering the perspective so you can see the show-room light bars melting fluidly. This is something that plagues S550s… and damn near every car under six figures. I’m skeptical because this pre-prod likely received some extra TLC and I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut and polished the paint to death considering the number of eyes it’ll cross. But just glancing at the S550, I could see scattered lines and surfaces that suck in and poke out and create distortion as a result (on top of the fitment tolerances not being in the same league).
Other thoughts: the interior isn’t bad. It’s not great either. It’s positively average. The screens don’t even stand out in a distracting way; it’s the lack of flare going on and the fact that the materials aren’t going to be the super upgrade you’d expect. The leather—or whatever faux-substitute they use—that covers the center console and various touch points looks like your typical smooth grain vinyl. The console looks just… there. Again, not bad, not good, just a little flat for a car that should have some major character and quirks (said in my Doug DeMuro voice).
The screens do look cheap compared to literally every other brand-new car on display that I checked out though. Both the size of the bezels and the black levels being shallow. It’s a far cry from what you’d find on an OLED, for example. But the graphics looked crisp. Part of me is still crossing fingers that something changes when it hits production.
POSITIVE interior pointers: there’s definitely a cohesive solidity to the design and everything looks less chunky irl. The steering wheel, for instance, looks like something out of a Ram pick-up in photos, but it’s much smaller looking in person, both the rim diameter as well as the airbag. Big relief there. Also, there aren’t any areas that stand out looking glaringly cheap (like the underside of the S550’s dash and it’s scratchy hard plastic, or the mixed materials for the door cards). So that’s good; it looks consistent in terms of material construction. And the steering wheel definitely looks a tier above, at least from afar, and that’s the most important thing at the end of the day.
Also, the wheels are absolutely baller as f***.
Side notes from the show: the new Dodge Hornet is one of the cars of all time, I would still buy a GT3 over anythingelse if I had Zuck money, the Caddy Lyriq is nutso, the Z06 still looks ugly-cool like a C8, but like it went through puberty and finally has enough tinsel on it to the point it looks right, the Nissan Z is exceedingly whelming, the new Tundra is laughably mid, the Supra’s seats are awful, and Hyundai/Kia are killing their competition in ways that boggle my mind with their newest models.
LAST POINT: the Camaro looks NOTHING like the S650 in person. Seeing them back to back in the metal will have you rolling your eyes at these comments moving forward.
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