Taking a Nap with Natalie Portman: Breaking in our Long-Term Nissan GT-R

Should you be fortunate enough to be passed by a Lamborghini Aventador at speed, the exhaust note alone will practically shake the ground, though that may just be the shiver it sends down your spine. The Ferrari 458 was the only one of our 2011 Best Driver’s Car participants to send harmonic proof of its existence to the pits, regardless of what turn it was devouring at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Seeing an Audi R8 5.2 launch from a standstill defies all preconceived notions of what 3900 pounds of metal can look like when not moving, then moving very, very quickly. From behind the lens at Motor Trend, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to photograph some of the most magnificent machines in existence. But more often than not, our busy schedules and all-too-brief time with the cars usually only allows me time to admire them through my viewfinder whilst the writer-types reap the bulk of the seat time. Imagine my delight then when new boss man Ed(itor-in-Chief) Loh texted me on a lazy Super Bowl Sunday afternoon, “u want gtr?”
Ed was talking about our so-new-it’s-still-practically-hermetically-sealed long-term 2013 Nissan GT-R, and yes, I did want it. The timing could not have been better. I care as much about the Super Bowl as much as HBO cares about horses, and since I’m mostly alone in that sentiment, the roads would practically be empty. Just me, the road, and the car that reigns supreme in the eyes of the PlayStation Generation from which I hail. This all seemed a little too good to be true, and something called a break-in period proved that it was.
Our Pearl White GT-R Black Edition was still a long way from the 1200-mile odometer reading that dictates when it’s ready to be driven hard. The 368 miles on the clock were a digital stop sign that translated to: No rapid acceleration in gears 1-3, don’t go over 3500 RPM, no hard or unnecessary accelerating or cornering, and drive in Comfort mode for 900 more miles. So in the third-fastest-accelerating production car for sale to the general public, I couldn’t launch harder than I would in a Nissan Leaf. The old Nissan GT-R was capable of a Bugatti Veyron-besting, very God(zilla)-like 1.05 lateral g in our figure-eight testing, and I couldn’t take it past speeds that would conjure up more lateral g than falling out of a chair. In short, it would be like climbing into bed with Natalie Portman, only to find she is fast asleep and not to be disturbed. An awesome experience, sure, but so much for taking that ride I’ve really been longing for… in the car, I mean.

A Late Boomer and Friends Try Out the Acura ILX

I was born in the penultimate year of the baby-boom era, so I realize my impressions of the 2013 Acura ILX are not germane. This Acura is designed to appeal to hip faux-hawked and tattooed Gen Y-ers who have somehow managed to get themselves off the couch and out of the coffee shop long enough to amass the kind of wealth and income it takes to lay down roughly 30-large on a car. So when it came time to pair up for the ride-n-drive, I latched on to the youngest guy in the room — 22-year-old Joe Gustafson of Bullz-eye.com (full disclosure — Joe’s hair is normal, and no tattoos show, wearing normal clothes).
Right off the bat, Joe expressed reservations over the car’s pleasant but ho-hum exterior design. His generation likes to draw some attention with its wheels (and hairdos and body art, presumably), and this one didn’t seem to be drawing any. Not that it matters, but I’m right there with him on that assessment. The interior’s buttony center-stack and traditional forms didn’t move our gee-whiz meters much either — especially when rendered in monotone black. More manufacturers are taking risks with interior design, and cars aimed at youthful audiences are the canvasses on which to try such new things (see the 2013 Dodge Dart). This made us wonder if the youth-marketing target was baked in from the start or added on during the car’s roll-out.
We started out in the ILX Hybrid and were both disappointed in the way the Acura’s engine impersonated some far less happy mill, moaning under the whip. The only real hyper-miler coaching aid provided is a little green ball display between the gauges, whose diameter varies with pedal position — great big for good-boy coasting, a virtual pinpoint when at full moan. Even with the much-ballyhooed extra sound deadening and dual-rate amplitude-sensitive shocks, small inputs generated a loud report that may have tricked our ears into thinking the car rode rougher than it did. Our test car included the $5500 tech package (heated leather seats, a bunch of amenities, plus navigation and the ELS stereo), which brings the price to $35,295. That struck Joe as a total no-sale. Me too.

Wall to Wall: It’s a Tough Job, but Somebody Has to Do It

From the front cover to the last page, our June 2012 issue of Motor Trend is stuffed with the kinds of cars whose pictures kids would tear out of magazines and pin to the wall, back when kids read magazines and pinned actual pictures onto real walls.
It wasn’t easy to capture all the exotic hardware you’ll find throughout this issue. We sent crews out of town, across the country, and around the world to gather photos, video, numbers, and driving impressions. We logged hundreds of hours in the air, on the set, and behind the wheel. Were all the early call times, 14-hour days, connecting flights, and time away from loved ones worth it?

Well, you could ask John Carey, who traveled all the way down to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to be teased with a drive of the World’s Fastest Roadster. You could question Paul Horrell, who jetted to Nardo, Italy, to bear witness to the birth of Porsche’s next-generation supercar. Nate Martinez and Mike Shaffer have an answer as well. They dropped everything to sprint to across the country to catch five hours with a Motor Trend exclusive: BMW’s all-new Spyder concept.
You could ask every member of the crew involved with the hectic, epic week that brought the stunning new McLaren MP4-12C to our office, alongside a Porsche 911 Turbo S and Nissan GT-R. The most mind-bending part of that week wasn’t the incredible numbers all three put down at the test track, but how they looked standing stock still, in a rundown warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, next to the blood-red reptile that dominates this month’s cover.
Scott Evans can tell you all about it. He went on a 10-day sports car bender that started at the 2012 Geneva auto show, where he and I (along with Angus MacKenzie and Todd Lassa) witnessed the official reveals of the world’s fastest roadster and the most powerful Ferrari ever produced. After that, Evans jetted to the South of France to fling around the all-new Porsche Boxster. The day following his return, he and Jonny Lieberman met up to carve some canyons in the aforementioned 911 and GT-R. The very next day, he was back on a plane to the Motor City for details on the Viper. Yeah, whew!

Is Top-Down Motoring Enjoyable in the 4500-pound 2013 BMW M6?

Two of the great things about living in Southern California — as we often point out — are the plethora of easily accessible driving roads and weather almost always suitable for taking advantage of them. In a way, it almost takes some specialness out of the exercise of ‘going for a drive’ to the point that it takes a special car for me to get off my ass and spend part of my weekend up in the mountains. A car like the 560-horsepower BMW M6 Convertible.
The operative word here is convertible. Were it the M6 coupe, I probably would have stayed home or instead taken my motorcycle out for a quick run up Angeles Crest Highway. Why? Because the new M6 is fat. Yes, BMW shoved a twin-turbo V-8 good for the aforementioned 560 horses and 500 lb-ft of torque, but the laws of physics are what they are. Automakers may be able to bend them when it comes to performance test results — this M6 can run a proper-quick 3.9-second 0-60 mph sprint, dust off the quarter mile in just 12.3 seconds, hold an impressive 0.98 g on the skidpad — but when it comes to the driving experience, 4500 lbs is 4500 lbs. That said, open-top motoring is open-top motoring and it’s not something I get to do that often, so off I went.
My final destination was probably my favorite road in Southern California, Route 33 north of Ojai. My first, destination, however, was Malibu’s Decker Canyon Road. The autocross-tight road proved a challenge for the big BMW, and its often oddly-cambered pavement sent the Bimmer’s traction control haywire in many a turn (I wasn’t adventurous or foolish enough to turn it off), but it’s hard to focus on that when your view of the scenic mountains is only obstructed by the A pillars and the temperature is, well, absolutely perfect for driving around with your top off — especially since, unlike on a motorcycle, you’re not spending most of your energy concentrating on your continued survival and can actually take a moment here and there to enjoy said scenery.
Decker dumps you into the 101 in the suburban city of Thousand Oaks. From there, you have the choice of a direct or highly indirect route to get to Ojai. The direct route involves the 101, the indirect involves Highway 23 and some rural backroads. Given I had plenty of time, I went with Option B, though the main advantage of these is that they’re not the freeway. The fun started once I got past Ojai’s tourist district and to Highway 33 proper. Well, it would have been if the M6 were a fun car.

Detroit 2009: A Pivotal Moment

 This is a remarkable Detroit show; one that 10 or 20 years from now may be seen as a pivotal moment in the history of the automobile. At Detroit 2009, the electrification of the automotive powertrain moved from being a technological sideshow to the mainstream. For the first time ever, the most of the star cars of an American auto show were not powered by internal-combustion engines.

Detroit 2009: America Reinvents the Compact Car

I bumped into Ford design chief J Mays in London last summer, just outside the Bluebird Restaurant on the chi-chi Kings Road. J lives nearby, and we strolled a half a block or so to grab a couple of coffees and sit in the bright summer sun and talk cars.
As we watched the traffic stream past, every second car seemed to be a Mini Cooper or Mini Clubman. Ford had recently announced it intended to bring the new Fiesta to the U.S. But would Americans, I wondered, be really interested in buying a relatively expensive, high style small car that wasn’t a Mini?

Best of the 2009 North American International Auto Show

DETROIT – Strip away the glitz and glamour of gimmick press conferences, brightly lit, unrecyclable displays, burnout-ready rear-wheel-drive V-8s, and what do you have? The 2009 Detroit show. The good thing here is, without all that glitz, one tends to notice the cars. And we ink-stained wretches get more or less the same show that the public gets beginning Saturday. A few of the things that stand out:



Best concept: Cadillac Converj. A coupe that’s so good-looking, you’ll want it whether you love or hate the idea of extended-range electrics.

Best concept detail: Blue lights along the 2+2 center stack of the, yes, Cadillac Converj that lights up “reverse waterfall” style, from back to front, as you start up the car and light up the battery pack placed under the center console. Cool.

Best of show: Cadillac Converj. See above.

Best contrasts: Both Cadillac’s and Lincoln’s concepts are front-wheel-drive models on c-segment platforms.

NAIAS 2009: Congresss Car Show

As press days for the 2009 NAIAS wind down it occurs to me that this year’s show was scripted perfectly for congressional consumption. You want future tech? We’ve got full-electric vehicle announcements (Ford’s 2010 commercial vehicle and Dodge’s Circuit plus Toyota’s FT-EV and the Mercedes E-Cell), and we’ll show you more plug-in EVs than you can shake a Con-Ed bill at. Ethanol? That’s so 2007. Fuel cells? Their Right Honorablenesses are skeptical that’ll pay off before the loans come due. Diesel? Wheredya think ya are, Eur’p?

Jaguar XFR/XKR Tech Donors: Vette ZR1, Ford Fusion

During the 2009 North American International Auto Show I had the opportunity to chat up some engineers and get a deeper dive on the technology that helps Jaguar’s new supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 develop its astonishing 510 horsepower and 461 pound-feet of torque.

First and foremost there’s the Eaton Twin-Vortices Series compressor, which is identical in concept to the ones pressurizing the Corvette ZR1 and Cadillac CTS-v, using four-lobe screws with considerably more twist in them than most of the old three-lobe blowers had. The design is 20 percent more efficient, and a redesigned air intake resulting in a more direct airflow path reduces flow losses by 30 percent. As a result, this supercharger consumes less energy to produce 510 hp than the existing engine uses to produce 416, and virtually delivers the efficiency of a turbocharger without the lag. Pressurized air flows out through a pair of intercoolers, each of which can remove 28 BTUs’ worth of heat per second.

2010 Detroit: Sporty Hybrids – Go Fast or Suck?

Take the temperature of the auto industry right now, and you’d find that it’s green. Or blue. Or whatever color you happen to associate with fuel efficiency and environmental consciousness.
So far, not a single automotive press conference has gone by without mention of some sort of new gas sipping vehicle, emissions reducing technology or campaign to save the whales. Just look at the vehicles announced at this year’s show; of the twenty odd major reveals, seven involved either hybrid or electric vehicles. From the Audi e-tron to the Hyundai Blue-Will, BMW ActiveE and Volvo C30 BEV (battery electric vehicle) – the message is clear: green is the new black.

The Electrics Are Coming! (But will anyone care?)

To walk the NAIAS show floor one imagines that the gasoline supply is practically gone and the world will be plugging in to get around any day now. There’s a whole “Electric Avenue” area on the main floor, a big display featuring several electric competitors vying for the $10 million Progressive Automotive X-Prize, and a driving loop in the basement. Below are highlights of the some of the more intriguing exhibits, and you can read our postings on the Commuter Cars Corp. Tango and Green Vehicles Triac. But is there really a market for these cars?
But before the NAIAS opened the Boston Consulting Group addressed the Automotive Press Association to present its research into the challenges, opportunities and outlook for electric cars over the next decade. They are not bullish. Barring unforeseen breakthroughs in chemistry, lithium-ion battery costs will drop by only 65 percent or so, to around $360/kilowatt-hour. Most assumptions for volume adoption of electric cars are predicated on a $250/kWh battery price (and Boston Consulting reckons $215 is required for total cost of ownership to break even with combustion after three years). Further cost reductions are limited by a floor in commodities that comprise a quarter of the battery pack. Manufacturing in third-world countries doesn’t help either, because the intellectual property costs are higher than the manufacturing costs, and shipping costs eat the savings. That means that total cost of ownership may break even with combustion engines in 1-5 years–but only if current incentives are extended. It’ll take 9-15 if they’re phased out. External factors that would change that horizon include: Continued incentives of $7700, $375/barrel oil, or a 210-percent gas-tax hike. Failing any of that, Boston pegs EV penetration at no more than 10 percent of the market by 2020.

2010 Detroit: Best of the North American International Auto Show

DETROIT – A grizzled veteran who attended all of the 2010 North American International Auto Show press conferences here Monday and Tuesday says he lost count of automakers’ use of the word “sustainable.” That much hasn’t changed — it’s been the word of the show since at least the mid-’00s. The difference, this time, is that while electric vehicles grabbed much of the headlines, the big news this year is small cars.
Consider the new Ford Focus, perhaps the major star of the show, judging by press day coverage, or the Chevrolet Aveo RS “concept” car, the 1.4-liter turbo four-door hatchback headed for production late this year. The Aveo’s only concept elements may be the 19-inch wheels and center dual exhaust pipe, which Chevy hopes the sport compact tuner crowd adds to the suddenly interesting subcompact.
So let’s call that the theme of the 2010 NAIAS. I didn’t attend all the press conferences, because Motor Trend has a full staff covering this show, and we split them up, but I saw pretty much everything:
Best in Show: Unlike previous shows, even last year’s, there are no big standouts. Rather, the show was filled with good, solid product, most of it quickly headed for production or lightly disguised future production models. That said I’m going to award the Audi e-tron Detroit concept because the German automaker continues to extend its design leadership to a rather pie-in-the-sky electric sports car. Updated from the Frankfurt ’09 e-tron, the crystal-blue Audi combines R8 styling in what looks more like a TT-sized coupe. The two rear motors provide 201 horsepower and 1955 lb-ft of torque (that’s not a typo — that’s apparently Audi’s multiplied torque number) to the rear wheels only (no quattro). What I like best, though, are the rear sail panels flowing into horizontal taillamps that give the car a mid-century “Jetsons”-era look. Sublime.

2011 Detroit Show Underdogs—the Little Guys

Detroit is back to maybe 80 percent of its original glitz and glamour, but with Nissan and a few other mainstream makers absent there was room on the main floor for some decidedly un-mainstream players in a dimly lit corridor between the swanky Chevy and Volvo stands. And these small companies that I had never heard of purport to be taking orders for cars you can buy now, or very soon.Coolest looking of the bunch is the Mach 7 Motorsports Falcon, a Corvette-powered mid-engine exotic hailing from Holly, Michigan, a small skiing hamlet north of Detroit. This company, best known for making body modification kits for Dodge Vipers, is trying its luck with a 200-mph, $200,000 American exotic, but most of the purchased components come not from the Viper, but from its archrival Corvette. Engine choices include your choice of a 500-horsepower LS3 or a supercharged 640-horse LS9 small-block, the frame is a hydroformed tube chassis employing mostly Corvette suspension pieces, upgraded with an adjustable KW coil-over spring/damper kit. The body and interior are completely custom made (those sinister looking headlamps are aftermarket replacement units for a Dodge Avenger, shrouded a bit). And a Targa-style roof panel lifts off for open-air motoring. Performance is quoted at 3.5 seconds to 60 for the top-dog version. The company hopes to build 15 per year. We wish Mach 7 all sorts of luck–Michigan could certainly use another profitable car company–but considering that the official Falcon web site doesn’t load on the day of the press conference, we caution you not to fork over a hefty deposit in giddy haste without a thorough read of the refund policy.

2011 Detroit: Our Take on the Good, Bad and Ugly from This Year’s Show

DETROIT – Two years after being left for dead, Detroit’s auto show has lived to see another day. Last year, Chrysler’s dank, dark display looked like something out of the Gulag Auto Show, and it left Chrysler division CEO Olivier Francois depressed over his brand’s complete lack of new product.
This year, Chrysler’s display is bright, full of new 300s, Dodge Chargers, Jeep Grand Cherokees, plus facelifted Chrysler Town & Countrys, and Sebrings magically turned into relatively tasteful 200s. Those 200s are short-timers, designed to help Chrysler’s midsize lineup limp along for another couple of years.
Amidst all the glowing bright lights, are very few concepts at this year’s Detroit show. No, the paucity of concepts isn’t the sobriety of an auto industry that only wants to show realistic, near-production cars. The “dream” cars will be back in a year or two. This is the budget-cut hangover. The Detroit Three, especially General Motors and Chrysler, laid off so many designers and engineers and put so much future product on hold that it’s paying for it this year.
Nevertheless, there’s plenty of reality and near-reality to love and hate at this year’s show. Here’s what Team Motor Trend thinks of this year’s 2011 NAIAS. Be sure to click here for our complete look at everything from the 2011 Detroit show floor.

Rulebreaker: New Cadillac ATS is GM’s Most Radical Car Since the Volt

“We broke a lot of our own rules,” says Dave Masch, chief engineer of the highly anticipated 2013 Cadillac ATS, Cadillac’s new 3 Series fighter. He’s a GM lifer, and that term carries a lot of baggage — GM lifers are supposedly dull, plodding, buttoned-down company men who worship system and process over product. They follow the rules that gave us the Olds Alero, Chevy Aveo, Pontiac Aztek, and dozens of other forgettable pieces of automotive dross. But here was Masch showing me around the new baby Caddy and pointing out all the stuff GM’s product development rulebook would never have allowed. And he was loving every minute.
The ATS might look relatively conventional — the exterior and interior are predictable evolutions of the current Cadillac design language — but in truth this is arguably the most radical new car from GM since the Volt. As you will have read in “Trend,” this Caddy is basically the size of an E46 3 Series BMW, and weighs about as much as a new BMW 135i. That doesn’t sound like rocket science, but getting the ATS built with those attributes intact required a fundamental mindset shift within GM’s product development teams.
The decision to optimize the new Cadillac’s exterior design and chassis engineering around 18-inch wheels is a case in point. Bigger wheels and tires look cool, but are heavy. By taking them off the table at the beginning of the development program, not only could the ATS designers finesse the styling to suit, but Masch’s engineers didn’t have to overengineer suspension components to cope with the extra unsprung mass. Instead, they were able to focus on their core deliverable: making the ATS feel as light and agile and fun to drive as an E46 3 Series. Besides, as Masch points out, even on 18-inch rubber, the car still has the same rim-to-road ratio as a Corvette ZR-1.
But Masch’s team went further than the obvious stuff like right-sizing the new Cadillac’s wheel/tire combination. “Our mantra was ‘every part, everybody, every gram,’” he says. And to do that, they tore up large sections of the GM product development rulebook, the one Bob Lutz colorfully rails against in his book “Car Guys vs. Beancounters”:  “…we engineered for an extreme situation…and alienated literally thousands of customers…on a daily basis.”

2011 Detroit: Choose Your Own Edition

By now you’ve seen a ton of our 2011 Detroit auto show coverage.  Our team attended all of the sneak peaks, press conferences, reveals and receptions and exhaustively profiled all of the concepts and production models made their debut. Now, it is time for YOU to make your picks.
I’ve walked the show floor and put together six match-ups based on vehicle class, price, exterior design, and just because it seemed like a good idea. Some of the pairings are obvious, while others are semi-ridiculous.  Click on the links if you need more information or to see more pics – or just go with your gut. In the comments section below, let the world know which one you’d rather have in your garage.  Time starts now.

Porsche 918 Spyder and GT3 R Hybrid

Porsche takes the plug-in hybrid concept and adds an F1-style steering-wheel button for a push-to-pass power boost (when that 500-plus horsepower V-8 alone isn’t quite enough) and a pair of torque-vectoring motors on the front axle to get enthusiasts onboard with going green. Porsche claims its plug-in hybrid 918 Spyder is quicker around the Nurburgring Nordschleife than its Carrera GT forebear–just under 7:30.

And for even more extreme duty, the endurance-racing-optimized GT3 R Hybrid mounts a twin-electric-motor drive unit at the front axle, with each motor capable of delivering 80 horsepower to its wheel, with more going to the outside wheel in a turn (torque vectoring). But to enable these motors to recover a lot of braking energy very quickly–way more than it would be possible to feed into a chemical battery–the recovered energy is used to spin up a flywheel. Yes, Porsche is planning to put the flywheel energy storage device on the track. You’ll recall that Chrysler tried to power a LeMans prototype racer with a flywheel and met with disastrous results, but that was a very large flywheel storing many orders of magnitude more energy storage capacity. This one is compact (it fits on the passenger side floor), low mass, and spins at 40,000 rpm. Its mass is easily contained within its ribbed aluminum housing. And if something does go awry, the flywheel stops, and all energy is dissipated–this isn’t always the case with electric batteries. The Porsche system provides 6-8 seconds of E-Boost at a time. Porsche plans to run the car at the 24-hours of Nurburgring on May 15-16. We’ll be cheering for the flywheel.

Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid

Behold the hybrid, as conceived on the altar of lightweight. This Chevy-Volt-style series hybrid shaves mass by using a dedicated three-cylinder range-extending engine with an aluminum monoblock that integrates the block, head and exhaust manifold in one casting. The engine weighs just 187 pounds and runs on gasoline, ethanol, methanol, or any combination of the three.; Acceleration to 60 mph is claimed to take less than 4 seconds. Electric-only range is quoted at 35 miles, with hybrid range at 307. One of the coolest tech tricks here is the “HALOsonic” Internal and External Electronic Sound Synthesis system which offers four driver selectable engine sounds–a V-6, a V-12, a futuristic sound (think Tron bike) and a combination of the futuristic one overlaid on the conventional engine. The system, designed in conjunction with Harmon International, grew out of a noise-cancellation effort (which will also be employed to mask the monotone of the range-extender when it kicks in). Steering wheel paddles direct HALOsonic and the power controller to simulate the sound and feel of accelerating with a seven-speed twin-clutch. Using them during acceleration will blunt acceleration a bit (it has to taper torque slightly before each shift to give you the up-shift shove in the back), but it’s quite useful for providing precise control of the regenerative braking during deceleration.

Ferrari 599 Hy-KERS

This concept is still in its infancy. The show car was just completed and will commence dyno testing upon its return to Italy. According to Franco Cimatti, Concept Engineering Manager, the net weight increase of the hybrid system is 176 pounds, which shifts the weight bias by a welcome two-percent toward the rear. Only 44 pounds of that comes from the lithium-ion battery pack, which is divided into two one-inch thick aluminum-sheathed units packaged beneath the floor in openings cut in the underbody tray. They’re as smooth and flat as the aero tray, and the air cooling saves the mass of a battery cooling circuit. The batteries store 3 kWhrs, enough for about 10 km (6 miles) of Euro city-cycle range or 10-12 seconds of auxiliary thrust with the hammer down. The 80-kW (107-horsepower) electric motor powers the dual-clutch transmission’s odd-gear shaft, but by selecting neutral on the odd gears and closing the odd-gear clutch, it also powers the car when even gears are selected. (This works because Ferrari’s exceptionally robust triple-cone synchronizers can engage and disengage way quicker than most.) A separate motor in the front runs the accessories. Many other opportunities for weight savings and driving dynamic improvements may prove possible as development continues. For example:
Use the electric motor’s regenerative capabilities to rapidly slow the engine for faster gearshiftsUse the electric motor to smooth the resonance vibration peaks that naturally occur in the transmission during hard accelerationEliminate reverse gear and drive the car backward electrically
It remains to be seen how customers would react to a silently accelerating Ferrari, and Cimatti is opposed to adding weight for external speakers generating synthetic noise, but concedes that in-vehicle speakers could serenade the driver with faux V-12 music. It’s also unknown how one might jump-start the car if the entire battery system discharged (a voltage converter supplies 12 volts for ancillaries, and only a tiny 12-volt battery is used to power the radio preset memory and energize the car for startup). We’ll be keeping a close eye on Maranello’s hybrid efforts.;

Geneva 2010 Tech Highlights

 It seems as though every auto show for the past six or eight years has attempted to out-green the last one, but the 80th annual Geneva show featured more electric, hybrid, and fuel cell cars than I can ever remember seeing on one show floor. Not counting the boutique company stands, it was a struggle to find anybody in Geneva that wasn’t touting some manner of electric drive. The good news for us enthusiasts is that this technology is now being used for evil as well as good–if you consider using that electrification to boost performance as the evil side of green. Below are highlights of these and a few other technologies I encountered on the show floor.

2013 Subaru BRZ Limited: Believe (most of) the hype

Take a moment and mentally process all of the hype surrounding the launch of the 2013 Subaru BRZ. Go on, I'll wait. Now take that hype and dial it back to 80 percent. That's how good the Subaru BRZ is. It's not the second coming or the messiah for performance driving -- it's not perfect -- but it is quite good.

The B in BRZ should stand for "balanced" because that's exactly what Subaru's new rear drive coupe is. This car is all about balance with a near 50-50 weight distribution between its front and rear axles and a low center of gravity that is helped in part by its engine configuration, but is mostly due to the BRZ's purpose-built sports coupe design. This is no repurposed and hotted up econobox; it's a bona fide sports car.

It's also rather lightweight. Tipping the scales at 2,882 pounds in its heaviest BRZ Limited with six-speed automatic configuration (the heaviest setup the BRZ comes in), the BRZ is only 263 pounds heavier than a similarly equipped Mazda MX-5 Miata PRHT. Ditching the automatic gearbox in favor of one you shift yourself further closes that gap, but we'll come back to that in a moment. Even thought it is heavier, the BRZ has a slightly better power-to-weight ratio than the Mazda, only toting around 14.41 pounds per pony versus the Miata PRHT's 15.3 to 16.6 depending on configuration.

Speaking of power, the BRZ's comes from a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine that can be tucked low and far back in the engine bay, thanks to its horizontally opposed "boxer" configuration -- which is what the B in "Boxer Rear-drive Zenith" actually stands for. We've already gone into detail about how this Subaru engine makes use of a Toyota head that supposedly combines the best bits of port and direct injection tech. And many of you have gone into detail about your thoughts that its output of "only 200 horsepower" seems a bit low. We'll come back to that bit momentarily.

The Virtually New Infiniti M sedan

Infiniti wanted to reveal;its lower, wider, sleeker, more powerful, upcoming;2011 M Sedan during Pebble Beach weekend.; Just one problem: they didn’t have one yet.; Or at least, didn’t have a real one that they could show.; They have one or two well-detailed clay models.; And they’ve got some M test mules running around, but those still wear the old M bodywork.; The fix;that the Infiniti team;came up with is a clever one.

Pebble Beach 2009: The Cars of the Concours

So many cars, so little time: Here, in no particular order, are some of the cars — and motor cycles — that caught my eye on the lawn at Pebble Beach as they gathered for the Concours early Sunday morning. (Note: Captions at right correspond to the photos from the top)

2010 Beijing: Secret Machines

There were fewer copy cars at this year’s Beijing Show, though the badly out-of-focus Lexus RX 350 ripoff on the BYD stand lent credence to one cynic’s suggestion that the company’s name actually means “Borrow Your Designs.” The RX 350 was a popular choice among the knock-off merchants: The cheerful English-speaking chap on the Huanghai Auto stand assured me the crudely finished Landscape V3 prototype occupying center stage (pictured above) was “all ours” and “brand new,” even though from 50-feet away it looked like it had been made by Toyota. Never heard of Huanghai Auto? Neither had I. Apparently it’s in Liaoning Province, “just across the river from North Korea.” So now you know.

The fast-learning domestic Chinese automakers are beginning to understand they need to build cars that look like their own designs, even if they’re starting with somebody else’s cast-off tooling. So here’s this year’s Beijing Show party game: Spot the donor cars.

2011 Concours d’LeMons — The Antidote to the Overly Fabulous

California’s Monterey Peninsula is undoubtedly THE place for the seriously auto-addicted to gather on the third weekend of August, but after a few days, even the one-millionaires among us can start to feel mighty inadequate, watching the mega-millionaires coming and going in their Gulfstream jets and plying the highways in their Phantoms and Flying Spurs. Fortunately there is now a refuge available where even Thousandaires rolling rented Sebrings can walk smugly among the car-world’s hoi polloi feeling all superior ‘n stuff. The show field featured five Pintos (four wagons), three Pacers (two wagons), three Corvairs, an Edsel, a deLorean, and myriad other barely ambulatory automotive flotsam and jetsam. We’ve got highlights of the 2nd annual Concours d’LeMons.

Inside the Cadillac Ciel. A Vision We Hope Cadillac Executes. Do You?

“Every time Mercedes sells a $100,000 S-Class it’s a knife in Cadillac’s eye!” I slurred at Don Butler, Cadillac’s head of marketing. It was late night, after the launch of the Caddy CTS Coupe and we were — how to put this professionally — deep into our cups. Co-host of The Car Show Dan Neil and yours truly were (loudly) explaining to the boys from Cadillac that the new CTS Coupe is nice, but not enough. “I promise you!” Don pleaded with us. “I’m telling you guys. We’ve got something coming. Something special. I can’t say what it is, but it’s above the XTS. A flagship. I promise you.” Well, speaking for Dan and me, we had our doubts.

Well-founded doubts, of course. This is the same GM, after all, that has just emerged from federally-mandated bankruptcy. But more than that, this was Cadillac, and Cadillac can’t compete with the Germans. Not with Mercedes-Benz, not with the S-Class. Remember the movie Donnie Brasco? If you don’t, or if you’ve never seen it, the film starts with Lefty (Al Pacino) telling Nicky (Bruno Kirby) why Cadillacs are better than Lincolns. “Ain’t no comparison. Cadillac got more acceleration, more power, more better handling, better looking, more legroom for your legs, more power,” and on and on. After a bit, future boss Sonny Black (Michael Madsen) butts in and says, “What the @&%$ are you two talking about? Mercedes got it all over them.” And that scene’s set in 1978! Sonny’s view has held sway in the luxury car realm ever since.
Meet the new Cadillac Ciel concept and well Mr. Butler, you kept your promise. Knockout. Stunning. Homerun. Beauty. Triumph. Gorgeous. Those are just some of the words I heard used to describe the Ciel (pronounced see-elle, or CL) mere moments after Butler finished introducing Cadillac’s full-size, four-door convertible concept on top of the breathtaking Tehama golf course (owned by none other than Clint Eastwood, of course) in beautiful Carmel Valley, California. But what is the Ciel? Using as much background information as we (more correctly Todd Lassa) could gather, here’s what (we think) we know.

Ferrari GTO Familial Reunion: Chasing down Chassis No. 4219

I’ve done it. I’m in. My legs barely work and I can feel the column of sweat running down the length of my back because I’ve spent the past 30 minutes or so squatting behind a tire wall waiting for just the right moment. It arrives when the festivities begin and the guards in the tower behind the Shell station avert their eyes. I take my chance and walk with my arms crossed to cover my wrists and my chest so no one sees I lack all of the necessary credentials to be at the track.

The track is Fiorano and it’s June 24th, 2007, approximately 60 years after a man named Enzo founded one of the most recognized car companies in the world. I wander up the side of the track and mix with the “regular” crowd. This was no simple birthday bash as people in 599s and F40s were being turned away from the gates. They needed a pass. Not me. I situate myself just in time to see synchronized jets flying overhead right before Piero Ferrari rolls onto the famed Italian circuit in a one-off, factory built replica of the first car to bear his father’s name. Michael Schumacher passes by in an FXX and Kimi Raikkonen does donuts in his F1 car.
When the show dies down I wander off to find what else I wasn’t supposed to see. I stop to take a picture of an F50 parked neatly along the track and duck out of the way of a couple 430s. There’s a F40 here, a 275 GTB there, and finally I approach the 250s. They represent an era of Ferraris so special they command millions of dollars at auctions and adorn countless bedroom walls. There’s a pair of 250 GT SWBs so beautiful they made my heart hurt. But just past those two sits the best of all — a Ferrari 250 GTO.

Cadillac stretches out the DTS

Cadillac has announced that it will begin selling an extended version of its full-size DTS sedan, dubbed the DTS-L, early in 2007. The model will be making its debut at the upcoming Los Angeles auto show.
The DTS-L is 8-inches longer, overall and in wheelbase, than the regular DTS. Cadillac also equips the DTS-L with what it calls;”VIP privacy” rear seating, which results in the rear seat passengers being concealed behind the c-pillar. Like the regular DTS, it will be powered by the 275 hp 4.6-liter Northstar V8.
The photo here is of the regular DTS, but we’ll have photos of the DTS-L straight from the showroom floor during the show press days, Nov. 29-30.

Mustang goes Italian with special concept for LA show

concept making its world premiere this week at the Los Angeles auto show. Called the Mustang by Giugiaro, the vehicle is a styling exercise penned by famed design house and coachbuilder Italdesign – Giugiaro S.P.A. and tuned by Ford Racing technologies. Click to see more of the Mustang by Giugiaro in our Los Angeles Auto Show Coverage

Automotive icons such as the Mustang have long captured the attention of Fabrizio Giugiaro, Italdesign’s styling director. So in early 2005, when Giugiaro pitched his idea to work his magic on a Mustang with the help of his legendary father Giorgetto Giugairo, Ford group vice president, Design and chief creative officer J Mays was only too happy to oblige.

Mazda looks to Facebook users to help design 2018 Mazda3

Mazda has announced that;it will;tap Facebook users for help in designing the 2018 Mazda3.;Called the “Mazda Design Challenge,” aspiring designers from across the U.S.;are free to submit designs along with a 150-word description of why their future Mazda3 deserves to be brought to life.;The 2007 Mazda 3 is pictured at left.

Taking Peugeot’s Design Competition a step further, Mazda’s design team will sift through every electronic entry, searching for 10 semi-finalists. Over the course of a week, Mazda will put itself at the mercy of the Facebook community, letting users vote for the five finalists, each of whom will be paired with a Mazda designer to polish their designs.

Hyundai sports car concept among LA show world debuts

Among the 40+ vehicles, concept and production alike, that will be making their world or North American debuts next month at the Los Angeles Auto Show will be a new sports car concept from Hyundai, likely based on the Korean automaker’s new rear-drive architecture first seen in the upcoming Genesis sedan and likely the replacement for the Tiburon (pictured). Additionally, Nissan will;debut;the next-generation of;the Murano midsize crossover, and;Volkswagen will unveil;a new;variant of;its Up! minicar concept.

Last year’s;green;theme;will continue, with a repeat appearance of the Green Car of the Year Award and anticipated debuts of new hybrids and other environmentally-friendly vehicles.

The Los Angeles Auto Show has grown in importance since moving in 2006 from its previous January slot to November, thus becoming the first North American auto show of the season. As a result, it is becoming the site of more premieres, with Porsche going as far as not attending the Detroit Auto Show.

2009 Pontiac Vibe to make debut at LA auto show

GM has released the first official image of its 2009 Pontiac Vibe, which will make its world debut at the upcoming Los Angeles auto show in mid-November, a few weeks after its Toyota Matrix sibling will hit the stage at SEMA in Las Vegas.

Little is known at this point;about the all-new vehicle other than an all-wheel-drive model will return and the lineup will also;feature a performance-themed GT variant pictured here. The Vibe is expected to hit Pontiac dealer showrooms in early 2008. We’ll have more on the Vibe as it becomes available and will have the full story during our live coverage of the L.A. show.

What’s your initial take on the new Vibe’s look? With Pontiac moving toward rear-drive, does this vehicle even make sense for the brand moving forward? Let us know your thoughts.

Ford Mustang Bullitt to make official return at LA show

Ford has announced that its Mustang Bullitt;– made famous by the classic Steve McQueen movie;— will be returning;to the;automaker’s Pony Car;lineup in;2008 after making its public debut on November 13, presumably at a pre-Los Angeles Auto Show press event.

All that this promotional sketch reveals is that the car, which goes on sale early next year,;will be bathed in the famous Highland Green paint scheme;– as it should be. Stay tuned to Motortrend.com for more on the Mustang Bullitt and much more during the L.A. Auto Show press days, Nov. 14-15.

Subaru WILL debut US spec WRX STI at LA Auto Show

While the Japanese-market 2008 Subaru WRX STI has already made its world debut in Tokyo, we’re still waiting to see the U.S.-spec version – the one we’ll get stateside. But at least now we know when we’ll get our first glimpse.While we were in Las Vegas last week for SEMA, we spoke with a Subaru representative who confirmed that the 2008 WRX STI will in fact greet the world at this year’s LA Auto Show. As we reported earlier, the biggest change between the Japanese version and ours is in the engine bay. We’ll be getting a 2.5-liter horizontally-opposed four, while Japan’s STI makes do with a 2.0-liter unit of the same configuration. Expect a few trim changes too — we already know that the Japan-issue Recaro seats won’t be coming here – and of course, the steering wheel will be on the other side of the car.

2009 Pontiac Vibe breaks cover

GM spilled the beans on the 2009 Pontiac Vibe just days before its scheduled debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The restyled hatchback, err “small crossover,” will go on sale in the early months of 2008 in one of three trims — base, AWD, and GT (pictured).

Power for the base model will come in the form of a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 132 horsepower and 128 lb-ft of torque. AWD and GT models will come with a 158 horsepower 162 lb-ft of torque 2.4-liter four which will be optional on Base models. AWD models will come only with a four-speed automatic, whereas Base and GT models will be available with a five-speed manual and a five-speed automatic with manual shift mode.

First undisguised shots of Hyundai Genesis Coupe!

From a “friend” of newtiburon.com member Anthony718 comes undisguised pics of the highly anticipated Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Posing next to a silver Ford Mustang GT, the Hyundai Coupe makes it difficult for us to understand how this is the same company responsible for the designs of the Sonata and Elantra sedans. Anthony718 says the pics were taken at a market research event in June.Anthony718 claims the base model will come with a 2.0-liter turbo churning out 215 horsepower and starting at $19,900 while a 3.8-liter V-6 with 300 horsepower will begin at $25,900, before dealer markups. No mention was made of the possible V-8 option, which may be introduced at a later date.
Features on the higher-end models will reportedly include iPod integration in the center console, Bluetooth, a sunroof, and a limited slip with Brembo brake upgrades possibly in the pipeline.
Despite a slightly confused set of character lines, the Hyundai Coupe, set to debut at next week’s Los Angeles Auto Show, looks like a solid entry in the RWD sports coupe segment, and we eagerly await a chance to look it over and test it out.
Keep checking Motortrend.com for all the updates on upcoming L.A. Auto Show debuts.

2018 Mazda3 design competition winner featured at LA show

Mallory McMorrow has been chosen as the winner of Mazda’s 2018 Mazda3 concept design competition, where contest entrants submitted a 150-word description and optional sketch of their view of the future vehicle.

Mazda designers and members of the Facebook online community voted on the entries, with McMorrow’s design coming out on top. The concept will first be shown as a scale model at this week’s L.A. Auto Show, with a full-size version to be unveiled on Saturday. McMorrow worked with Mazda designer Jacques Flynn to get the concept sketch ready for primetime, and will;team up;with Franz von Holzhausen, Mazda’s U.S. design chief, on the final full-scale version.

Von Holzhausen and his design team will be sculpting the model live on the show floor at Mazda’s booth while spectators watch. McMorrow, dubbed the "Car Girl" by aquaintences at the University of Notre Dame where she is an Industrial Design major, is finishing her degree with aspirations to break into the automotive design industry.

 We’ve got a feeling that this is a big step in the right direction for McMorrow. We will be bringing you photos of her work live from the L.A. Auto Show floor this week. For more background on Mazda’s 2018 Mazda3 design competition.

GM showing 2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid at LA auto show

 GM has announced the Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid will make a return to the market with two-mode technology, paired with the same 6.0-liter gasoline engine as in the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade Hybrid;models, which;produces 332 horspower and 367 lb-ft of torque.

Previously offered was;mild hybrid version of the Silverado that also featured a portable generator with four electrical outlets, but the sort-of hybrid was ultimately discontinued due to limited fuel savings that generated limited interest.

GM says a 25 percent improvement in overall fuel economy can be expected over the standard non-hybrid Silverado, with gains of up to 40 percent in city driving. As with all GM two-mode hybrids, electric-only operation is possible up to 30 mph, and both Active Fuel Management and late-intake valve closing technologies are incorporated. With its 26-gallon tank and all the fuel-saving technology on board, GM claims the Silverado Hybrid has a 500-mile range.

Silverado Hybrid models will be available in the Crew Cab body style with two-or four-wheel drive. The Silverado “Pure Pickup” trim will be standard, including StabiliTrak stability control, a locking rear axle, and a trailering package. Sales for the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid will begin in late 2008, though pricing has not yet been announced.

GM announces pricing for Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon hybrids

General Motors;has announced that;its 2008 Chevrolet;Tahoe Hybrid will start at $50,490 for a 2WD model and $53,295 for a 4WD model, while a 2WD GMC Yukon Hybrid starts at $50,945 and the 4WD model at $53,755. All prices include the $900 destination charge. For comparison, a non-hybrid 2WD Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ starts at $45,680 and comes fully equipped for about $52,500. Even before factoring in the federal tax credit the IRS will likely approve, the heavy hybrids seem like quite a $50,000 deal.

The 2WD hybrids get the same city fuel economy as a four-cylinder 2008 Toyota Camry, can tow 6200 pounds, and can seat eight –;although certainly not all at the same time.

US pricing for Nissan GT R to start at $69,850

The launch of Nissan’s GT-R has arguably been the biggest and most explosive automotive debut of the year. Despite its world reveal already at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show and multiple stories, embargo breaks (we know, we know, we goofed) and other madness surrounding the vehicle, there was still a ton of interest generated at the vehicle’s U.S. coming out party today at the LA auto show.

As in Tokyo, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn introduced the car, this time a left-hand drive version, and made a couple of announcements surrounding the impending U.S. launch of the automaker’s distinctly Japanese AWD supercar packing 480 horsepower from its twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V-6.

Pricing for U.S.-spec models will start just under 70 grand at $69,850, which is right in the ballpark with the Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Expect to pay a few grand more for the car’s premium package.

Pre-orders for the vehicle will begin in January, with first deliveries expected in June, so we suggest you head down to your Nissan dealer if you haven’t already and start bribing them now.

The Beat goes on at GM, but not in the US yet

GM announced today at the LA Auto Show that it will, in fact, send its Beat concept into production, but not stateside — at least initially. Originally one of three sub-compact car concepts to be shown as a group at various auto shows earlier this year, the Beat was featured in an online poll in which over 1.8 million voters chose it as their favorite of the concept trio over the Groove and Trax.

Development of the Chevrolet Beat occurred mostly in GM’s South Korean styling department, leading to the decision to begin production in the same location. While specifics have not yet been given on GM’s choice of powerplant for the production Beat, we’re guessing it will be a small-displacement gasoline unit, at least to start.

No doubt, the General is nervous that such a small city-car might not catch on in North America, but the success of upcoming models such as the Smart ForTwo, should give it a basis on which to make the decision to bring the Beat to our shores. The Beat is slated for a global showroom debut in mid-2009.

Vector WX 8 shows its face at LA Auto Show

 We found the Vector display in the pathway just outside of the main Concours Hall at the 2007 LA Auto Show, separated from the likes of Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Lotus, and Spyker. Guess them’s the breaks when your claimed 10.0-liter, 1,850 horsepower, 275 mph supercar isn’t quite ready for primetime.

 Nonetheless, the Vector WX-8 prototype did its best to impress, wearing matte-black paint, matching wheels, and menacing bodywork. An all-aluminum V-8 was fitted with a Whipple supercharger and longitudinally-mounted in the engine bay, though few ancillary components were attached. The interior looked rather, um, unfinished and we couldn’t identify which of the switches really were sourced from the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, as there weren’t many to be seen.

With a claimed 0 to 60 run in "under three seconds," we’ll be looking forward to seeing what more develops from Vector founder Jerry Wiegart’s latest creation. Until then, it looks like this one’s got more than a little bit;of development ahead of it before it is really able to target the Bugatti Veyron, one of the supercars it has set in its sights.

Subaru prices 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI at $34,995

Subaru has announced pricing and final specifications for its North American version of the 2008 Impreza WRX STI — its flagship performance model. The rally-derived STI will start at $34,995 plus a $645 destination fee in the U.S. with 305 horsepower and 290 lb-ft of torque being churned out of its 2.5-liter horizontally-opposed four-banger. Subaru claims its all-wheel-drive road rocket will make the 0-to-60 mph sprint in just 4.9 seconds. A six-speed manual transmission is the only available option.

Stateside Subie fans have been eagerly awaiting the specifics on the new WRX STI following the Japan debut of the global 2.0-liter variant, which produces 10 fewer horses, but nine more lb-ft of torque than our version does. Still, it seems that the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X will have a fair fight on its hands when both cars make their upcoming retail launches for the new year. The 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI will hit showrooms in January.

LA Auto Show Day 1: The Sky Is Falling, but at Least Its Green

 Two recurring themes were rolling off the lips of seemingly every auto exec during Day One of the 2008 L.A. auto show: the bleak state of global auto industry, along with a steady stream of commitments to building greener cars.

Carlos Ghosn, Nissan/Renault CEO got the ball rolling with his version of the day’s bad-news/green-news approach during his breakfast address to us journalists. In it, Ghosn touched on the Nissan’s position the global economic crisis. To paraphrase, it sounded something like “yes the economy sucks right now, but people will always drive cars, so in the meantime we’ll continue to build cool ones like the new Z, Cube, and GT-R.”

As for the green news, Ghosn talked up Nissan’s alternative fuel strategy and announced a new electric vehicle partnership with the state of Oregon. The lack of detail provided suggests this might be more hand waving than sky clearing, but we’ll see.

But one thing he was pretty clear about, however, was this tidbit about the future of the automobile: “The end-game is zero emissions.”

More substantial treats were left to the Nissan press conference immediately following Ghosn’s remarks. There, Nissan’s global-design chief Shiro Nakamura introduced the funky Cube.

There were humorous bits in the presentation — comparing the Cube to a “bulldog in sunglasses” and descriptions of the Scion fighter as “witty, fun, yet totally square,” but overall I had a distinct feeling of deja vu.; It was a page right out of Scion’s playbook, which isn’t surprising given the market Nissan’s targeting.