Lexus RC-F Unveiled Prior to 2014 Detroit Auto Show Debut

From the same division that birthed the Lexus IS-F and LFA comes the RC-F Coupe, which will turn up next week during the 2014 Detroit Auto Show to punch both BMW and Mercedes-AMG in the face.

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Volvo XC Coupe Concept Unveiled Prior to 2014 Detroit Auto Show Debut
2015 Corvette Z06 to Debut Massive Horsepower, Torque at 2014 Detroit Auto Show
2015 Mercedes-AMG GLA45 to Bow at 2014 Detroit Auto Show

Aimed at the same younger audience the CLA was designed to attract, Mercedes-AMG will debut their GLA45 at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.

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Acura's TL, TSX Out, TLX Coming Next Summer
Toyota to Debut Supra Concept at 2014 Detroit Auto Show

The last time Toyota debuted a concept thought to be the return of the Supra — the FT-HS, to be exact — the end result was a three-pack of boxer-powered, rear-driven madness with a low price point. Could Toyota’s latest upcoming concept for the 2014 Detroit Auto Show finally be the one?

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Tesla To Debut Model E at 2015 Detroit Auto Show

For admirers of Tesla’s latest and greatest who would love to own a piece of the action if only the price of admission were low enough, the word on the street is such a vehicle will debut in January 2015 during the Detroit Auto Show.

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BMW 2 Series to Debut in 2014

Yesterday, we brought to you a few leaked shots of the high-performance BMW M235i. Today, we have a plethora of official photos, plus more information about the 2 Series set to make its debut during the 2014 North American International Auto Show prior to going on sale in the first quarter of the new year.

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North American International Auto Show Wrap-Up

The North American International Auto Show press days have come and gone. That means journalists no longer need to get dressed every morning, and can return to clipping their toenails while blogging in their bathrobes. OEM staffers get to return home – unless, of course, home is Detroit. Then they’re counting down the days until New York.

For those who missed the show, never fear: I’ve rounded up everything important and summarized it in one highly useful story. It’s almost like you ate the food yourself.

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Another Car Show, Another Mini

It’s a new tradition at the storied Mini brand: Each car show gets its own dedicated Mini. Swatch tried it with the Swatch car, but could not pull it off. Now, BMW’s Mini is doing it with great success: At the inside, the same movement. At the outside, ever changing designs. Collect all colors!. Of course, Mini won’t break tradition at the Detroit Auto Show, and it will bring you: The John Cooper Works Paceman.

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A TTAC Reader Reports From "The Gallery"

TTAC readers, like TTAC writers, go everywhere. On Day One of the Detroit Auto Show, I happened to run into one such fellow, accompanied by his lovely wife. This reader had been invited to attend “The Gallery” and had also received passes to the media days at the “regular” show. I asked him to write up his impressions and share them with all of you… so without further ado, let’s hear what he has to say.

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A Dozen NAIAS Takeaways From Michael Karesh

With all of the leaks, it’s not so easy to be surprised at NAIAS. But I managed to learn a thing or two by attending. My top dozen takeaways:

1. Compared to a Lamborghini, a Ferrari seems…normal. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

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We've Outsourced Our 2012 NAIAS Photo Gallery

TTAC may have the most outstanding writers around, but we can’t make the same claim when it comes to photography. Even though the infamous Vodka McBigbra pitched in to take a few shots of the Prius c, in general we didn’t have time or manpower to get the shots we wanted.

Luckily for us, Zerin Dube of SpeedSportLife was there to take his usual meticulously color-corrected set of photographs from the show, and he’s agreed to share them with TTAC readers who have an eye for that sort of thing.

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Make Way for the King's Men

Photo Credit: United States Department of Transportation

There’s a bit of a brouhaha brewing about Ford bringing about 150 “social media influencers” to Detroit and then Las Vegas for the big North American International Auto Show and the Consumer Electronics Show. While there may be some ethical issues concerning transparency and disclosure, I doubt that anyone begrudges Ford the ability to spend Ford stockholders’ money promoting Ford Motor Company and its products. Ford is acting in the fiduciary interests of those stockholders. Whether or not cabinet members and other Washington officials are acting in the fiduciary interest of taxpayers by flying to car shows is another question.

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A Rising Star In Journalism Stands Up To Applaud The Encore

Jamie LaReau is the journalist about whom everyone is talking nowadays. It all started when international taste-maker and notorious recluse Michael Banovsky alerted his following to a fascinating August, 2011 article entitled A Porsche From The Passenger Seat Is Still A Porsche. Banovsky is a known talent-spotter, and this time he had spotted someone whose Hemingway-esque economy of words genuinely stood out:

The Porsche I rode in was a 1999 model. I don’t recall which style, but let’s just say it was one of the good ones. (As if there are any bad ones.)

Indeed. I happened to see Ms. LaReau examining the new Buick Encore with considerable interest after the press conference, but before I could untether my Droid from my laptop and talk to her, she disappeared. Now, it appears that she has applied her unique style to a strong defense of the Encore. Let’s check it out.

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NAIAS Tidbits: Mazda MX-5 Spyder

Here’s another SEMA refugee: the Mazda MX-5 “Spyder”. The current Miata’s choice of normal fabric roof or what-the-f***-are-you-thinking power retractable hardtop is neatly avoided in favor of the kind of stretchy, do-it-yourself job that ensures Porsche 911 “Speedster” owners never actually drive their cars anywhere.

We’ve seen a better Miata Spyder, though… click the jump for a blast into the wacky kit-car past.

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NAIAS Tidbits: Roushcharged Focus, Grabber Green Boss 302

The Roush RS3 Focus debuted at SEMA, but unfortunately TTAC was unable to obtain press passes for said SEMA due to an inability to find any photos of our staffers wearing super-cool sideways baseball caps. We are, therefore, seeing it here for the first time. We also saw a Mustang that just might have to be your humble author’s next ride, assuming my attempt at becoming one of the first 86 Scion FR-S owners fails…

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NAIAS: Maserati Kubang

The most ridiculous, but oddly exciting, exercise in brand extension since Jennie Garth’s “Body In Progress” video made a public debut today. Zerin and Byron from Speed:Sport:Life were there to shoot and talk trucks upscale activity vehicles.

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NAIAS: Lincoln MKZ Concept

TTAC is lately to the party with the MKZ, and it’s my fault; I was delayed looking for parking outside Cobo this morning. Luckily, the Speed:Sport:Life crew was there to make up the gap. Zerin Dube took the photos, and the snark is courtesy of Byron Hurd:

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NAIAS: The Little Limousine Deserves An Encore

TTAC readers asked us, “How small is the Encore?” This six-foot-two talking head should offer some scale. It’s a very small vehicle. For more on-floor photos, and a few tidbits from the press conference, click the jump.

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NAIAS: Toyota NS4 Concept

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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NAIAS: Accord Coupe Concept

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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Babysitting Bloggers: How GM, Ford, Audi and Others Are Twisting The Coverage You're Reading

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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NAIAS: Chrysler 700C

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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NAIAS 2012: Hyundai Veloster Turbo And Genesis Coupe

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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NAIAS: Scion "Race" FR-S and "First 86" Program

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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NAIAS: 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550

“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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NAIAS: Acura NSX Concept
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 w…
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NAIAS Tidbit: Subaru BRZ On The Ground, Er, Platform

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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NAIAS: Bentley Continental GT V8

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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NAIAS: Audi Q3 And Facelifts

You’re looking at the Q3 Vail. Named in honor of a place where the self-important meet for a little apres-ski, the “Vail” features a butched-up body kit and all sorts of technical details that, let’s face it, have nothing to do with the Q3 your mom will end up asking you about leasing in six months. More photos from Zerin Dube of Speed:Sport:Life after the jump.

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NAIAS: Lexus LF-LC

“You know,” Mark Templin of Lexus told the press, “the first time I saw this car, I was speechless.” I know I have that quote correct, because it was in the copy of the speech handed out after the press event.

Speeches about speechlessness aside, however, this is the new styling direction of Lexus. That much is obvious from the pinched grille. What else can we learn about it?

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NAIAS: Porsche 911 Cabriolet
What you see before you will be the best-selling Porsche 911. It is sad but true: in the watercooled era, the convertible has generally outsold the coupe. Fo…
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NAIAS: 2013 Dodge Dart

What don’t you know about the Dart? I will tell you something: it is spacious inside. The rear seat is no-kidding suitable for full-sized adults In fact, it’s quite nice to sit in, front and back. Click the jump for some comments from Speed:Sport:Life’s Byron Hurd:

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NAIAS: Chevrolet Concept Coupes

Our Chevrolet event coverage comes to us courtesy of Byron Hurd and Speed:Sport:Life. Take it away…

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NAIAS: Here's The New Fusion….

There’s been no shortage of Fusion coverage this week, but now we have the car itself. The verdict? In the metal, it almost looks more like a four-door Aston than the Rapide. And let’s not forget the October Surprise of a plug-in hybrid, which Ford sources at the show told me will be on dealer floors in 2012…

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NAIAS Preview: Hyundai Veloster Turbo

Despite constant denials during the press event attended by Ed and I (“If you want a Veloster Turbo,” Hyundai’s John Krafcik said, “go buy a Genesis Coupe,”) Hyundai will debut a turbocharged version of their Veloster coupe at the Detroit Auto Show.

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The One Percent Get Their Own Detroit Show

Sherman’s father had always taken the subway to Wall Street… It was a matter of principle. The more grim the subways became, the more graffiti those people scrawled on the cars… the more determined was John Campbell McCoy that they weren’t going to drive him off the New York City subways. But to the new breed, the young breed, the masterful breed, Sherman’s breed, there was no such principle. Insulation! That was the ticket. That was the term Rawlie Thorpe used. ”If you want to live in New York,” he once told Sherman, ”you’ve got to insulate, insulate, insulate,” meaning insulate yourself from those people. The cynicism and smugness of the idea struck Sherman as very au courant.

— Tom Wolfe, “Bonfire Of The Vanities”

As the United States slouches towards Rio to be reborn as a place where one can only live in the one-percenter heaven or unemployed, lower-class hell, insulation has become a concept with validity far outside Manhattan. The latest manifestation of this sans hoi polloi attitude: “The Gallery”, where “high-net-worth” individuals can meet their next status symbols without the offensive presence of regular people.

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NAIAS Preview: Cadillac ATS

The Cadillac ATS was revealed this morning amid a torrent of lewd headlines and premature requests for an ATS-V wagon. Visually identical to the CTS, the ATS is supposed to be a competitor to the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4, with the biggest question being what the hell is going to be done with the CTS?

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TTAC Is Covering The Romance (And The Finance) Of NAIAS Like Never Before

Nobody stays the same forever. It seems impossible to believe that I used to attend the NAIAS every year at the Charity Preview, spending $800 so I could eagerly discuss my next $100,000 German ooober-mobile purchase with a variety of vacant-eyed, soulless salesmen. No more. Nowadays I travel on foot and by foot it’s a slow climb, but I’m good at being uncomfortable so I can’t stop changing all the time.

TTAC is changing as well. For the first time, we are going to bring you the Detroit show as it happens. We will have a representative at each and every press conference, including — ooh! the scandal! — a well-known autojournalist from another firm publishing under a nom de plume. We will be reporting on the outrageous journo parties and perks. If there’s enough Ketel One in my system at the time, we may try a brute-force Panther invasion of Porsche’s “summer bar-be-que” media handjob in Greektown Monday night.

I’m excited. We are excited. It’s our goal to bring you the best coverage yet. If you are so inclined, click the jump to read a few reasons why it’s difficult for even the most jaded among us to be truly cynical about the stationary trainwreck known as the North American International Auto Show.

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Detroit Preview: 2013 Dodge Dart Breaks Cover

Somebody broke an embargo somewhere. It wasn’t TTAC: everybody knows better than to send us this stuff. So here’s the Dart, and the initial details are reasonably encouraging for Mopar fans. Did somebody say Turbo? Did somebody say manual transmission with all three engines?

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NAIAS: Audi A6
Audi’s A6 was one of the bigger single-model unveilings at this year’s NAIAS, and was rewarded with the “Eyes on Design” award for be…
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NAIAS: Chevrolet Sonic

One of the most pervasive memes that seemed to unite the independent thinkers covering the North American International Auto Show was that this year’s Detroit extravaganza offered “no surprises.” The lesson of this “Detroit Consensus”: clearly the motoring press doesn’t spend much time in the current, unloved Chevy Aveo.

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NAIAS: 2012 Honda Civic "Concept"

Having earned its place in the American market by launching focused products at its biggest segments, Honda’s 2010 sales performance proved the danger of chasing niches. In his remarks at the North American International Auto Show, Honda’s John Mendel insisted that

sales of the sporty and stylish CR-Z are also exceeding our expectations with sales of more than 5-thousand vehicles in the first four months. It’s great to see our customers embrace this vehicle … and our effort to push hybrid technology in a sporty direction

but besides proving that expectations for the CR-Z were extremely low, it’s hard to see what he meant. Expectations for the 2012 Honda Civic, on the other hand, are considerably higher.

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Introducing A Car With Stadium Seating

Want a small electric car that looks like a movie theater or even a stadium inside? Johnson Controls shows the ie.3 concept car at NAIAS. Sure, it has a battery. But it also has spring loaded flip-up seats, just like at the movies. Or at he ballpark.

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Nice Family: The Prius Procreates

“Prius has become to hybrids what Kleenex is to tissues and Levis are to jeans.” So said Bob Carter, group VP and general manager of Toyota U.S.A. With so much brand power, it would be a waste to have only one Prius. From now on, Toyota has three. The Prius received a bigger and a smaller sibling, with the idea towards creating “a modern family with a Prius for everyone.”

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NAIAS: Hyundai Unveils Veloster
Direct injection. Dual-clutch transmission. 40 MPG highway. Three doors. 2,580 lbs. A $17k-ish price point. That might just be one of the most unconventional…
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NAIAS: Ford's (Un)Common Compacts

Rather than host its event at a booth-side stage, Ford booked the Cobo Arena for its highly-produced (yet not without its stumbles) presentation. It began with the usual corporate propaganda, centering around the “One Ford” theme and highlighting the Blue Oval’s global operations. Then Alan Mulally zoomed into the middle of the arena in a 2012 Focus ST and, to gales of spontaneous sycophantic applause, began introducing the K-Car-like range of future products based on Ford’s Global Compact platform.

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NAIAS 2011: Porsche 918 RSR
How’s this for a way to kick off a car show? The Porsche 918 RSR looks tastier than the complimentary breakfast that preceded its launch this morning,…
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On Monday, Volkswagen Strikes Back. But Will It Be A Hit?

On Monday, the wraps will come off Volkswagen’s secretive NMS (New Midsize Sedan). Readers of Autobild in Germany already had first visual impressions of the car, we’ll know Monday whether Autobild was, well, given the right pictures. The car will be a bit longer than the Passat. It will be made especially for American tastes and wallets.

Wallets: The car will cost around $20,000, that’s $7,000 less than an entry model Passat. Tastes: “Inside, much cheaper plastic that in European vehicles will be used,” says Autobild. On Monday, we’ll also know what the car will be called, that’s the only thing that remained a secret so far. Some think it might be called Passat.

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No More Chinese Week-End

Now that TTAC’s crew has landed in force at NYIAS, Chinese Week-end is no longer in effect. Regular rules apply. We clear the stage with a look back at the human side of last year’s Shanghai Auto Show. There are two reasons for it:

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What's Wrong With This Picture: Where The Wind Hits Heavy On The Ridgeline Edition
Pickuptrucks.com‘s Mike Levine snapped this shot of Honda’s NAIAS booth, indicating that the Motor Company might not be quite as proud of its un…
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Dr. Z Hospitalized
On the ski slopes in Austria, a female snowboarder had crashed into Daimlers's Zetsche. Left shoulder fractured.
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BYD Wants To Be World's Biggest Car Maker

So they say, if you want to be a successful car manufacturer, you must have steel in your DNA, gasoline in your blood, a history reaching back generations, and an annual output of at least 5m to stay profitable. And even then it’s not a slam dunk, as we are painfully aware.

Wang Chuanfu proves them all wrong.

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Volt Birth Watch 181: Lutz Finally Comes Clean On EV Range; His Volt Gets 28 Miles Instead Of 40 Miles

It had to happen eventually: Bob Lutz, the father of the Volt, admits his last but not least automotive child is not going to reliably meet his lofty expectations. ABC reports that in an interview at the NIAS, Lutz let the air out of the Volt’s 40 mile EV range that has been predicted to be as reliable as the sun rising on a new day, and perpetuated by GM even more religiously than the 230 mpg claim: Sounding as if he had just read our recent post on EV range, ABC quotes Mr. Volt:

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Honda CR-Z Design Inspiration Discovered
Why The Honda CR-Z Is So Ugly And Should Never Have Been Built

Ok, it’s not exactly a new phenomena: car company shows a low and slick concept, and the final product looks like an obese baby seal. We took GM to task with its Volt bait-and-switch routine. And now we take on Honda, although probably not quite so ferociously; given that the gap between the CR-Z concept and production version is a tad bit narrower than the Volt Grand (Lie) Canyon. But the Volt was always intended to be a four-seater; not the CR-Z. Therein lies the Honda lie: it’s ok to just chop off the back of a sedan and call it…not good.

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Ultimate Web Troll Alert: Weird French Hybrid Anti-Global-Warming Baby Prius

Is the Toyota FT-CH the first car deliberately designed to be a troll? It combines all the trigger elements that have kept servers warm since teh interwebs tubes were first hooked up: French, Low-CO, anti-Global Warming, Hybrid, Prius, Toyota, and Questionable Styling. Did I miss something?

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New Hybrid Honda CR-Z Equals Cobalt's EPA Mileage; Set To Stumble Like The Insight?

One might quite reasonably have expected a smaller, lighter two-passenger variant of the Insight to achieve higher EPA numbers than its bigger brother. Say, like it did in 1989, when the CRX HF pulled a 41/50, compared to the ’89 Civic sedan’s 27/33. But reasonable expectations have been dashed by Honda more often than not lately, as in the Insight’s various shortcomings. But a 31/37/33 mpg combined rating for the new 2011 CRX manual, when the Insight is rated at a 41 combined? Does Honda have a death wish? That highway mileage is the same as the Chevy Cobalt XF, which doesn’t need any stinking battery and seats four. And even the combined mileage is only three mpg better. What gives?

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Chrysler Keeping It Quiet For Detroit Auto Show
Chrysler have seen the Detroit Auto Show as a venue for excessively extroverted stunts. Previous years saw a Jeep dropping from the ceiling, leaping minivans…
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  • Varezhka Of all the countries to complain about WTO rules violation, especially that related to battery business…
  • Carson D At 1:24 AM, the voyage data recorder (VDR) stopped recording the vessel’s system data, but it was able to continue taping audio. At 1:26 AM, the VDR resumed recording vessel system data. Three minutes later, the Dali collided with the bridge. Nothing suspicious at all. Let's go get some booster shots!
  • Darren Mertz Where's the heater control? Where's the Radio control? Where the bloody speedometer?? In a menu I suppose. How safe is that??? Volvo....
  • Lorenzo Are they calling it a K4? That's a mountain in the Himalayas! Stick with names!
  • MaintenanceCosts It's going to have to go downmarket a bit not to step on the Land Cruiser's toes.