The Toyota NS4 is said to preview a future Prius – but not really. Although the family resemblance is there, and the NS4 is unequivocally a plug-in hybrid, the NS4 is the same size as a Prius, but is explicitly separate from the rest of the Prius range, according to Toyota corporate mouthpieces.

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Get this straight: with the exception of perpetual NSX foreplay, Honda doesn’t do “concepts”. Their concept cars are usually production vehicles with tinted windows. So it is with the new Accord Coupe “Concept”. The current Accord has come in for more criticism than any Accord in history… so what’s changed?

Edited to include more shots that show the evolutionary link between the current Coupe and the new one.

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We all ran by them this morning on the way to the Fusion introduction. Two signs. One sign said, “FORD PRESS EVENT”. The sign below it said “SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS”. The arrow pointed a different way. Who are “social media influencers”, anyway?

What was the “Volt Lounge”, and why were so many prominent auto-related Twitterati spending time there today instead of walking the NAIAS show floor?

The photo above is a plane that reportedly left Detroit tonight. Why did Audi reportedly feel the need to fly dozens of bloggers from NAIAS to CES, at their expense?

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Chrysler’s so sure their electric minivan has the power to stomp the competition, they had Ndamukong Suh sit in the thing.

No, I’m serious.

That’s Ndamukong Suh.

The minivan is the Chrysler 700C. What’s different about it, besides the Dustbuster-meets-Nissan-Quest looks?

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With spotty Internet coverage at Cobo, some of the photographs and stories created for TTAC’s readers during the day are just now making it our desk. So, here are some comments on the Veloster Turbo and Genesis Coupe from Speed:Sport:Life’s Byron Hurd:

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Scion debuted a “racing” version of its FR-S at Detroit today. The word “racing” appears in quotes because this vehicle will actually compete in Formula DRIFT, which is no more “racing” than it is “championship chess”. When a real racing FR-S appears — and it certainly will — it’s likely that the Grand-Am Continental Tire Series or Speed World Challenge will be its first port of call.

Race teams who want to make sure their FR-S arrives in time to participate in the 2012 season might want to take advantage of another bit of FR-S news… a “hand-raiser” opportunity to be one of the first eighty-six owners in the United States.

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“SL” traditionally stood for “Sport Leicht” or “Sport Light”, but the last SL to be truly worthy of that name was the original 300SL. With aluminum-intensive construction, the new SL is meant to be considerably lighter — 275 pounds, SL550 v. SL550 — than its remarkably chunky predecessor. “Light” is relative. With a 429-horsepower V-8, the SL550 will be quick. So “Sport”, too, after a fashion.

The hilarity came when Mercedes reps made a claim about the SL that is unlikely to ever be true…

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Our man Ronnie Schreiber was on the ground for the introduction of the Acura NSX concept. It’s supposed to be an Ohio-built, SH-AWD wondercar. Ronnie will have detailed notes for us later. Until then, check out Speed:Sport:Life for the best NSX photo gallery on the Web right now!

Rotating alone on a turntable: the Subaru BRZ. Looks good, if you ask me. Unfortunately we couldn’t touch the dashboard for all of you dash-touchers out there… more shots after the jump.

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Since its introduction, the Bentley Continental GT has been a fascinating lesson in how “luxury” operates. Fundamentally identical to the VW Phaeton, the Conti sold for twice as much — and did volumes between ten and thirty times what the uber-VW ever managed in the United States.

This platform is about to celebrate its tenth year in production. How do you revitalize it when there are plenty of $70,000 used Contis out there? Simple: you turn down the power.

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