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| LATEST GENEVA AUTO SHOW STORIES...
Untitled Document
BMW has a habit of showing "concepts" that are so close to production you can almost smell that new car scent. This M3 Concept is no different. The production version will likely bow in Frankfurt in September of this year, with a U.S. on-sale date next spring. Don't expect the showroom version to be very different-probably just different wheels. Under the hood is a V8 engine, the first in a production M3. Essentially 8/10ths of the M5's V10, it will displace 4.0 liters and make around 415 horsepower. To do this it will rely on revolutions to make power, and will likely feature a redline around 8200 rpm. Expect torque in the 280 lb-ft range.
According to Toyota, to look at their new Hybrid X concept is to look at the future design direction of Toyota hybrids. It's no secret that part of the Prius' popularity is that its unique design makes its owners' environmental benevolence obvious by its conspicuity, so Toyota is wisely choosing to keep designing hybrid vehicles with bespoke bodywork. Toyota's press release mentions absolutely nothing about the drivetain of Hybrid X, choosing instead to paint a watercolor of description that wafts readers along in happy agreement. That is, until they're jolted back to reality when they read about the two core Toyota design disciplines known as "J-Factor and Vibrant Clarity", which to us sounds like some kind of powdered kitchen cleanser, but evidently the Hybrid X has both of them in spades. Honest.
Spyker Cars' motto is nulla tenaci invia est via, which translates to "For the tenacious, no road is impassable." Substitute "heinously wealthy" for "tenacious" and you might well be talking about the Spyker C12 Zagato, the product of a partnership between Dutch specialty car maker Spyker and Italian design consultancy Zagato. Made entirely of aluminum, the rear-drive C12 Zagato is powered by a Volkswagen-sourced 6.0L W12 engine, the 500 horsepower of which are sufficient enough to slingshot the C12 to 62mph in 3.8 seconds. The Spyker C12 Zagato will sell for USD$647,000.
The Renault Clio Grand Tourer is billed as being geared toward "leisure activities." The car itself is production Clio underneath, so its "catch" comes from its accessorization. The Grand Tourer comes standard with a 10-megapixel Samsung digital camera and a digital camcorder with 2GB of flash memory. The rear of the Clio houses a foldaway seat for and retractable storage drawers underneath the cargo mat, which designers say allow a photographer to sit in the back of the car and transfer pictures to a laptop computer, which can then be folded away into the wheel housing thanks to a origami-motioned, articulated arm. Why such functionality is important is beyond us, but we're reminded that, at one point, Nissan BodySonic seats also made sense.
Mazda has always used the Geneva Motor Show as a venue for important global premieres, and this year is no exception with the first showing anywhere (kindly ignore the pictures which leaked weeks ahead of schedule) of the all-new Mazda2. More than simply a model update, Mazda's new B-car has been redesigned from the ground up and is the first of Mazda's new-generation lineup to be evolved. Even more important, the Mazda2 may be the basis for Ford's upcoming subcompact to be sold in the U.S.
Like Structuralism and pantomine, there are some things that the Anglo-Saxon mind has problems with right from the get-go. To that list can be added the Citroën Cruiser Crosser Concept. Based on the Citroën C-Crosser, the Cruise Crosser has three axles and six driven wheels, although one axle is fully electric and is used as a hybrid drive assist. When not cruising around on electrics, the Cruise Crosser uses a conventional diesel engine, just like the C-Crosser.
Owners liked the original X-Trail. Nissan knew this. That's why the all-new X-Trail has a familiar look and similarly broad range of abilities - after all, changing a proven formula worked so well with Coke II. In addition to a new chassis and body design, new range of new diesel and gas engines, and an interior with enough storage cubby holes to satisfy even the most ardent of obsessive-compulsive packrats, X-Trail offers a new, shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive system with hill descent control. Yet the basic package - a compact SUV with off-road pretensions - remains unchanged. Like most Nissans, X-Trail won't win any awards for interior strokability. Like most Nissan owners, we couldn't care less.
Mercedes' C-class is not even a year old, and already the company have readied a race version for the upcoming DTM season. Development began in March 2006 and, ten months later, the new C-Class DTM car made its first circuits around the racetrack. Its four-liter, four-cam, four-valve engine produces 476 horsepower and 368 ft-lb of torque. The new C has quite a reputation to live up to - of the 106 DTM races that previous C-Classes have taken part in – in the mid-nineties and since 2004 – they have claimed 54 victories.
The Maserati Coupe GT always had some unendearing quality that was difficult to pin down, some known unknown that made the whole assembly look like it had been parts-bin engineered. Italian design house Pininfarina set out to design a new coupe which would never be mistaken for a Fiero-based kit, and the result is the swoopy GranTurismo. The new Maserati uses a 4.2-liter V8, similar to that in the existing Quattroporte, that delivers 405 horsepower, connected to the Quattroporte Automatica's six-speed hydromechanical automatic gearbox. The GranTurismo apes the Quattroporte's styling - both are Pininfarina designs, natch - and proves, like the Avanti before it, that swoopy coupe styling just flat-out looks better on coupes.
"BCD" is military parlance for thick-rimmed, government-issue glasses, also known as "Birth Control Devices". In that vein, Renault introduces its new Twingo, a car that parents worldwide want to buy for their teenage sons to keep them chaste. Powered by a 1.2-liter engine producing 75 horsepower and looking like a normal car shown on a television with the horizontal control on the fritz, the Twingo is both slow enough and has appropriate asethetics to prevent any kind of accident, in every way that word can be taken, from happening. Now available in right hand drive, the Twingo will take until September to go on sale, because it is evidently slow to arrive, as well.
Tired of being seen in the same old Drophead as your neighbors? Pick up a Bentley Brooklands, the automaker's latest venture into the realm of ultra-exclusive, über-lux coupes. Named after the Brooklands track where "the Bentley Boys" once raced, the big Bentley claims ownership to the most powerful V8 built by the Crewe engine works - a twin-turbocharged 6.75-liter unit that is rated at 530 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque. Mileage has yet to be announced, but let's face it: If you can afford this car, filling up isn't exactly going to put a dent in the piggy.
General Motors unveiled its new 2.9-liter turbodiesel V6, which will see its first installation in the European-market Cadillac CTS. The new engine can be installed in transverse or longitudinal applications and is expected to see use in other Cadillac vehicles such as the next SRX crossover. Production of the engine will be handled by VM Motori in Cento, Italy. Previously, VM Motori had worked with DaimlerChrysler to supply diesel engines for the US-market Jeep Liberty CRD.
Opel is shifting into top gear with the new Corsa OPC. Tuned on the Nürburgring, the top-line performance model of the Corsa lineup is powered by a 1.6-liter turbo engine with 192 hp and can sprint from 0 to 62mph in 7.2 seconds, with a top speed of 140mph. Inside, occupants are coddled in sport seats co-designed with Recaro, which can be trimmed in silver or blue. Once seated, drivers grab hold of a flat-bottomed steering wheel that is set against piano-black dash trim and aluminum pedals.
On its new Touareg Volkswagen is introducing one of the cleanest diesel engines in the world: The BlueTDI with SCR catalytic converter. This converter reduces nitrogen dioxide (NOx) emissions by up to 90 percent. Especially in the USA, economical turbo-diesels like the V6 BlueTDI can contribute, more than any other current powertrain technology, toward reducing oil consumption and the generation of climate-impacting greenhouse gases. Volkswagen will be offering the Touareg with SCR catalytic converter starting in 2008, initially in the USA, as part of the BlueTec Alliance started together with Audi and DaimlerChrysler at the end of last year.
SEAT's Altea Freetrack is "a preview of the styling and technological innovations of the Altea Freetrack that will soon be making its debut both on our roads and off them." Altea Freetrack borrows heavily from the Subaru Outback school of soft-roading, riding 185mm higher than the Altea XL on which it is based. Powered by a 240hp 2.0-liter turbocharged engine and driving a six-speed manual transmission, the Altea Freetrack claims to be "a high-performance vehicle" while offering enough capabilities for fording water and crossing unpaved paths during those perilous trips across the urban jungle.
Škoda Auto have introduced their new Fabia hatchback, sporting a shape that is said to be "very typical" of the Skoda brand, a statement which qualifies as one of the most backhandedly true in history. With power coming from an array of seven gas and diesel engines with outputs from 60 to 105 horsepower, the Fabia is certain to fit right into its target market, and will hopefully stay, mercifully, in the right lane of the unrestricted stretches of Autobahn.
For 45 years now, Volkswagens with extra-large cargo areas have been called – unless they are a van – "variant". To date, more than 6.1 million of them have been sold worldwide. Now there is a new one: The Golf Variant. Its market introduction is scheduled for this summer, initially in Europe. Here in the U.S., we'll see this exact vehicle offered as a 2008 Jetta SportWagon model that should arrive in dealers around September of this year.
Audi, renowned manufacturer of sedans, wagons and sport hatches, have discovered the joys of mating two doors to a trunk with the new A5 and S5 coupes. The pair of four-seaters are the first cars to be built on Audi's new B8 platform, which moves the drivetrain further back and pushes the front wheels further out to improve handling and help alleviate traditional Audi nose-heaviness. Motivation for the A5 comes from the familiar 265hp 3.2 V6 and 240hp 3.0 diesel V6, while the S5 uses a direct-injected version of Audi's 4.2-liter V8 that's good for 354hp.
Jaguar have introduced their latest sex kitten - the XKR Portfolio. Jaguar have always managed to make other cars look like schoolmarms, and the XKR is no exception. Every model is finished in black and rolls on 20" Cremona alloys, which sound more like a brand of funeral urn than an aluminum wheel, but we'll forgive Coventry for that since they cover massive 15.7" front and 13.8" rear brakes. Inside, the Portfolio has engine-spun aluminum trim and a new 525-watt sound system by the purveyor of seashell-shaped speakers, Bowers & Wilkins.
Proving that daft genius must be related to the intake of warm beer, boiled bread and towns with names like "Little Puking", Brit sports-car manufacturer Lotus have announced plans to build a road-legal version of the Exige GT3 race car. The GT3 road car concept, on display at Geneva, uses the same supercharged and intercooled 1.8-liter Toyota 2ZZ-GE VVTL-i engine as the GT3 racer, backed by the six-speed transmission used in the current Exige S. The Exige GT3 is expected to see production in limited markets and be on sale by late 2007, for an estimated £50,000 to £60,000, or USD$96,000 to $115,000.
The combination of the name "Lotus" and something as complex as a hybrid drive system would have been cause for worry decades ago, when cars like the Esprit were fitted with eletrics designed by Magneti-Marelli that worked every other Thursday, if they felt like it, and were heavily dependent on which phase the moon was in. However, modern-day Lotus Engineering have proven adept at working on the bleeding edge, as evinced by their EVE (efficient, viable, environmental) hybrid system. Developed for use in Proton cars and bound by price constraints of the Malaysian market, Lotus hopes that their system makes a global case for hybrid versions of high-volume production cars.
Opel have introduced the new GTC Concept at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show. Powered by a 2.8-liter turbocharged V6 mated to an all-wheel-drive system, the GTC is expected to take six seconds to hit 62mph. Styled by Bryan Nesbitt, the man responsible for the PT Cruiser and Chevy HHR, the GTC nevertheless exudes "sophisticated surface development" over its body, which signals the vector that the next generation of Opel design will follow. Patent-pending "Flex4" seating allows the rear seats to be motored flat and forward at a button-press, while the interior is designed to mimic the look of pricey home-audio equipment. This is as opposed to Alfa Romeo in the 1980s, whose interiors were designed to mimic the look - and user-friendliness - of Korean TV remotes.
Volvo owners have been clamoring for a new XC70 for a while, and today the maker of sexy Swedish bricks answered with a completely redesigned, third-generation of the venerable people-hauler. Equipped with a 3.2-liter inline six or a five-cylinder diesel, the new model touts a 15-percent stiffer body shell, a rump which apes the styling cues of the C30 and the usual complement of airbags and crash-prevention measures. New alphabet-soup technologies include BLIS, HBA, OHB, ACC, PCC, ABS, ESP, WHIPS, AWD, RSE and RTI, in addition to being down with OPP. The new XC70 is due in showrooms in the fall, at which time buyers can go back to nervous anticipation of other things, such as a busy signal on the L.L.Bean hotline.
BMW's MINI division have officially announced the John Cooper Works Tuning Kit for the new R56-chassis MINI Cooper S. The kit includes a less-restrictive exhaust system, higher-flowing intake tract, and re-mapped ECU software to churn 192 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque (199 lb-ft with overboost) from the MCS's turbocharged 1.6-liter engine. JCW have also brought out a line of performance parts and styling accessories for the car, including a sport suspension pack, body kit, alloy wheels, cross-drilled rotors, steering wheel and sport seats.
Audi have released the Q7 4.2 TDI, which they say is the most powerful diesel SUV on the world market. At 326 horsepower and 561 ft-lbs of torque, it is a whisker more powerful than its siblingdistant relative, the VW Touareg V10 TDI. From a standstill, the Q7 4.2 TDI will reach 62mph in 6.4 seconds and keep going to a top speed of 145 mph. All 4.2 TDI models have Audi's adjustable air suspension as well as a rear-biased 40/60-split all wheel drive system. That's the good news. The bad? It won't be coming to the U.S. when it goes on sale in the early summer.
Jaguars have been a considerably dim blip on the considerably narrow cone of the considerably small screen of buyers' mental radar for several years, but the folks at Coventry hope that they can keeep their big, aluminum XJ sedan relevant for a little while longer, until its replacement comes out in 2010. The changes don't immediately spring to mind, but careful glances will reveal a new front end with an air inlet syled after a largemouth bass, and redesigned fog lamps in a revised front bumper, as well as side air vents styled after those on last year's Super V8 Portfolio. Inside, smaller seat cushions free up some space in the XJ's admittedly cozy accomodations.
German engineering house EDAG - best known for its shooting-brake conversions of the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky on display at the NAIAS in Detroit - have tackled the seemingly impossible task of making the bourgeois Mercedes-Benz GL-class SUV resemble a proletariat Honda Ridgeline.
The LUV incorporates maritime design cues - we'll leave the boat jokes to someone else - such as a teak hood, which covers a Brabus-tuned, 6.1-liter V-8 good for 462 horsepower. Other unique features include a set of Brabus-designed 22-inch wheels which cover brakes with 12-piston calipers and multimedia PCs integrated into the front headrests.
EDAG says the name LUV means is German for “luff”, the windward side of a vessel, but neglected to discover that LUV also transates to "cheap pickup truck from the '70s which rusted while it was still sitting on the docks" in American English.
BMW's MINI division is set to introduce two redesigned models at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show - the entry-level MINI One, and the midline diesel-powered MINI Cooper D. The MINI One isn't much to get excited about, with a 95-horsepower 1.4-liter engine that is less powerful than an '88 Dodge Aries. The Cooper D, on the other hand, is. The oil-burning MINI has an aluminum, common-rail 1.6-liter turbocharged diesel engine that's good for 110 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque, while returning 54 miles per US gallon in mixed driving.
Short of taking a Sawzall to the roof Bam Margera-style, there are very few ways to remove 220 pounds from the Lamborghini Gallardo, and even fewer that won't make the warranty go up like flash paper. Lamborghini have stepped up to the task with the Gallardo Superleggera, which replaces the hood, side view mirrors, door panels, rear diffuser and engine tunnel shields with carbon fiber, certain windows with clear polycarbonate, and the seats with carbon-fiber monocoques. Available in two retinal-damaging shades of yellow and orange, as well as black and gray, the Superleggera also has unique wheels with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires and optional carbon-ceramic brakes. And, hey, the standard sports package "[includes] shock absorbers!" Rock on! Thanks to Lamborghini Boston for the information.
Mercedes-Benz introduces its first four-cylinder diesel that incorporates urea-injection BLUETEC technology. Urea, the byproduct of protein metabolism that thousands of vagrants hydrate urban parks with daily, is the secret ingredient that allows BLUETEC diesels to meet the strictest of emissions standards. The Vision C 220 BLUETEC incorporates this technology to showcase the future of Mercedes-Benz's clean diesels in America. In addition to the diesel C-Class, Benz promises that three other models - the R-Class, M-Class and GL-Class - will be available with diesel power as early as 2008.
Knowledge of Abarth cuts across generational lines. Either Abarth is a specialty maker of race cars that were driven by legendaries such as Hans Herrmann and Johann Abt, or it is the submodel of the Fiat Strada, best known as a car that would blow up every other Thursday, if it would actually start in the first place. Fiat S.p.A. will reintroduce the legendary brand at the Geneva Motor Show, along with the Grande Punto Abarth. The big Punto will have a 1.4-liter turbo engine producing 150 horsepower, with upgrades to 180 horepower available. Fiat will also introduce the 270-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Grande Punto Abarth S2000 rally car.
Jeremy Clarkson, the Brit auto journalist whose unique hairstyle has led to one reader referring to him as "a bird nest that has acquired the power of locomotion and speech", is well known for disliking most cars. Hundreds of thousands of people scour the Internet for his poison missives, watching old Clarkson videos with rapt attention. The Chrysler Sebring Cabrio may be the first car that we can imagine his review of before it even goes on sale. Already launched in the United States, Chrysler's droptop will be available in Europe as either right- or left-hand drive, with a variety of top options and a 140-horsepower turbo diesel engine or a 2.7-liter gasoline V6.
When the ex_cee'd concept cabrio debuts at Geneva on March 6th, it will be the first chance we get to see Kia styling under the direction of freshly minted Chief Design Officer Peter Schreyer. The ex_cee'd retains a fabric roof at a time when manuacturers are going towards foldable metal panels, partly for cost savings and partly because, to quote Schreyer, "the fabric roof is the quintessential element of a truly rewarding cabrio." While that's like saying that the truly rewarding part of owning a vintage MG is having to beat on the starter with a hammer, we'll forgive Peter for that since he's convinced that fabric roofs will have a "renaissance". Just like cable-operated chokes.
Austrian bike builder KTM will introduce their X-Bow sports car at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Sporting an Audi four-cylinder turbo engine strapped to a carbon-fiber monocoque, the €40,000 ($52,000) X-Bow makes diamonds look soft and Lotus' Elise look portly. You will appreciate that during the course of writing this summary, we have resited the urge to say X-Treme or X-Plosive or any other X-Cruciatingly bad puns which would make you want to X-Punge your breakfast.
With all the teaser pictures being released of crazy sheetmetal appearing at Geneva, Kia thought they'd get in on the action with the production version of the... cee'd Estate. A surprisingly handsome little wagon, the Slovakian-built cee'd will carry over drivetrains from the cee'd five-door hatchback, which propel the little Korean car to sixty in anywhere from ten-and-a-half to fourteen seconds. cee'd Estate owners can rest secure in the knowledge that they can blast away from pesky five-cylinder Eurovans and old Mercedes-Benz diesels, the owners of which pressed their pedals down in 1992, and are still waiting for the acceleration to happen.
Mini-MPVs have never taken off in the U.S. The most notable of the breed were the Mitsubishi Expo and Dodge Colt Vista, and those were only sold to liberal English teachers who wore rumpled tweed jackets - a demographic that, unfortunately for Mitsubishi, wasn't given to buying new cars often. Small people movers are hot in Europe, however, where Ford have debuted its redesigned C-MAX. When it goes on sale in April 2007, the mini-wagon will be available with three gas and three diesel engines, a host of transmission options, and interior colors called "Arizona" and... "biscuit".
Finally, a use for all those old BluBlocker lenses that were just waiting to be recycled. Rinspeed, the brainchild of Swiss designer Frank M. Rinderknecht, has teamed with German monolithic megacorporation Bayer - most famously known for aspirin - to mark his company's 30th anniversary with a completely transparent car which has a body and floor made of Makrolon®. It will be shown at the Geneva Motor Show, 40 years after Bayer presented the first "all-plastic car" at the K67 Plastics Fair in Germany in 1967. No word yet on whether ot not the plastic car will have the all-plastic engine, which MacGyver and the Phoenix Foundation helped develop.
You might have seen Daniel Craig driving one in Casino Royale, but now Ford's UK operations have released proper teaser photos of their Mondeo sedan and wagon before their official unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show. Pricing has yet to be announced for the cars, which have a smorgasboard of gas and diesel engines, as well as manual and automatic transmissions. If Ford is truly scouring the Web for ideas, as we reported earlier, then hear this now: We need the Mondeo.
Volkswagen annonces its debut of the Passat in the BlueMotion line at Geneva. The car's fuel consumption numbers are quite impressive. Volkswagen estimates that the average driver will only need to refuel eleven times a year.
The "anything but cute" Caliber was Dodge's first attempt to set the brand adrift from "Hi.", the industry's most enduringly saccharine tagline. Now Dieter's domestic performance brand is angling to bring roadsters out of the hair salon and into the tattoo parlor with the Demon, a 2.4-liter, rear-drive two-seater that debuts at Geneva. A production car is expected to be based on Demon, and we can only hope the advertising tagline is "Anything But Fantabulous!".
Peugeot are going the distance at Geneva, thrusting their new 207 GTi, 4007 SUV and 207 SW concept car into the limelight. With 175 horsepower and standard five-year, fifty-thousand mile ennui protection, will the new GTi have enough staying power to help the ailing automaker? Don't expect the new cars to arrive on our shores any time soon: "The Peugeot, she is more than you deserve," said an unnamed PSA employee who answered the phone, shortly before hanging up.
Most things the French can claim (Marcel Marceau, escargots, the Renault Fuego) have always been at odds with the Anglo-Saxon mindset, but the new Citroën C-Crosser is not one of them. Its styling has been scrubbed clean of the high weirdness of typical French cars, and the basic recipe - a five-passenger sport-utility with an afterthought third row - is lifted straight out of the U.S. market.
If you want to be a serious player in the European market where Diesel is 50% of the share, you need to have diesel. Noted by none other than Subaru, who's readying a turbo diesel version of their boxer engine design.
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