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Here at Inside Line we're no stranger to the Auto Show Models. Previously we've stepped beyond the "Do you come with the car?!" line and random photos when we sat down and talked with some SEMA show spokesmodels for a couple of days. It was tough.
CNN has taken that a step further and not only interviewed them, but followed them around to see what daily life is like during auto show season. No days off and you get to stand all day? Where do I get in line?
Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, who is currently second in the World Rally Championship, gave the Fiesta WRC a rather grand entrance to the Franfurt Auto Show earlier this week.
Unfortunately, he let his mom run the video camera. And ol' mom could use some video lessons. Still, this guy, it turns out, can drive. You'll get the point.
Lamborghini says its "most extreme Gallardo ever," the LP570-4 Super Trofeo Stadale, will be limited to 150 units based on the racecar that competes in the company's Blancpain Super Trofeo racing series.
Audi says its Urban Concept takes inspiration from the company's Auto Union racecars of the 1930s as well as from modern sailplanes. The lightweight (1,058-pound) two-seater is designed for urban mobility -- moving one or two people efficiently through a city.
There's an auto show going on in Seoul this week, and this roadster concept was General Motors' big debut there. The Chevrolet Mi-ray is meant take inspiration from cars like the '62 Monza and '63 Corvair Super Spyder (which are top of mind for Americans and Koreans alike, no?) while looking ahead to the future (Mi-ray is a translation of "future" in Korean).
Dimensionally, though, this rear-drive hybrid convertible concept smells a bit like the doomed Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky to us (it has nearly the same overall length at 157 inches and just a slightly shorter 93.5-inch wheelbase). And because the Mi-ray is a whimsical hybrid concept, designers could just give up altogether on trying to package a hard-to-fold top. But, really, we can't call the Mi-ray a hybrid Solstice, because it's said to have an aluminum chasis and body panels are carbon fiber and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic.
It's not even quite accurate to call the Mi-ray rear-drive, though its turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine does drive the rear wheels via a dual-clutch transmission. In city traffic, though, a pair of front-mounted, 15kW electric motors drive the front wheels. They're powered by a mid-mounted 1.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
Claimed fuel economy could be as much as 60 mpg in the city, 63 mpg on the highway.
And as jaded as we are about any convertible that looks remotely like the Solstice, we like the direction GM seems to be taking here -- fuel economy when you need it, and god-honest performance when you want it.
A refreshed 2012 Mazda 3 hatchback quietly debuted this past week in Toronto... well, maybe not quietly, but we Americans don't exactly have our finger on the pulse of current events in Canada. In any case, the car is subtly restyled, but still maniacally happy. The much, much bigger news is that the 3 will have Mazda's new direct-injected "Sky-G" 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder gasoline engine when it goes on sale this fall.
Said engine will make 158 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 151 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm while running on North American-grade 87 octane. That's with a 13:1 compression ratio. (On higher octane European fuel, the engine will run at 14:1 compression and make 163 hp and 155 lb-ft.)
This engine will initially be offered with the new Sky-activ six-speed automatic transmission that's lighter and more efficient than the current five-speed automatic. We'll see Mazda's new 6-speed manual transmission, too, but availability will be delayed in North America (where manual-gearbox take rates are low compared to Europe). Still, says Mazda spokesman Jeremy Barnes, "there is every intention that there's a manual coming though."
Engineering Editor Jay Kavanagh has already sampled both the Sky-G and the 2.2-liter Sky-D diesel engine (headed our way in early 2013) in Euro-spec Mazda 6 prototypes, so check out his driving impressions after the jump.
Rhys Millen Racing has taken a break from building bespoke hill climb cars and Accent-based rally cars to do up an Equus for Hyundai's booth at the 2010 SEMA show. The rendering above is little more than a painting, but once the big sedan is under SEMA's billion fluorescent lights, it will have a two-tone exterior with carbon fiber and BASF-sourced Red Bull Racing blue satin paint.
Performance upgrades are mild on the Rhys Millen Equus, as a different intake and exhaust take its 4.6-liter V8 from a stock 385 horsepower to a claimed 415 hp. Millen's team has also added a big brake kit (evidently featuring 14-inch front rotors) and 21-inch forged HRE P40 wheels (presumably a plus 2 upgrade over the stock 19s).
Inside the tuned flagship, restraint is not the word. The seats will be upholstered in a combination of ostrich leather hide and suede. We had no idea ostriches were even a source of leather.
The managing director of Fuji Heavy Industries' Australian arm reportedly told the Sydney Morning Herald that Subaru will unveil a "sporty SUV" at next month's Sydney auto show. The Herald says that Managing Director Nick Senior offered little information beyond that, but he did let it slip that the concept car would be a world debut.
Whether this SUV concept would be a hotter version of the Forester is of course complete speculation at this point. Still, now that the standard Impreza WRX makes 265 horsepower, it does seem logical that Subaru might choose to do something about the Forester XT, which makes just 224 hp and, in the U.S. anyway, is stuck with a four-speed automatic.
On the other hand, this concept could also be something completely different. It could, for instance, be something smaller than the Forester -- one of the so-called B-segment SUVs that automakers are keen to launch for the sake of mpg. Thanks for the tip, Bob.
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Turns out the sketches Infiniti released in May of the two cars it will unveil at the Pebble Beach, Calif., Concours d'Elegance festivities on August 13 and 14 will be additions to the automaker's best-selling compact G line. Currently, the line includes the G37 sedan, the 4-seat G37 coupe and the 4-seat G37 convertible.
That still seems to leave the door open for a 2-seat sportscar with styling cribbed from the Essence concept. The second vehicle (top) has a crossover-ish look so perhaps a tall, five-door G hatchback is in the works (hopefully with more utility than the EX crossover). Also, don't forget that Infiniti has said it will offer a smaller, normally-aspirated 2.5-liter V6 in a G25 model sometime in the 2011 model year.
Anyone into cars has probably heard of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. And if you've heard of it from personal attendees you've probably been told it's the greatest automotive event on the planet.
Well don't be fooled. It's not the greatest automotive event on the planet, but the greatest automotive event in the known universe. These people spreading the "planet" description are clearly jealous malcontents who can't give the Goodwood Festival of Speed its proper due. Losers.
But fear not. Inside Line's editors are here to give you the true lowdown on Lord March's personal speed fest. The history of Goodwood's Festival of Speed is pretty simple: wealthy British guy (and major automotive enthusiast) buys land steeped in British racing history, then invites friends over to race on what is essentially his driveway. Everyone has a blast and he expands the event beyond his personal friends. I may have left out a fact or two, but you've got the meat of it.
Anyway, it's been an annual event since 1993 and attracts everything from Formula One cars to NASCARs to rally cars. Actually, famous people are known to frequent the event, so The Cars (Rick Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, etc.) have probably shown up at some point, too. Motorcycles and airplanes also make an appearance, though the planes don't drive up the hill; they just do stunts several thousand feet above it.
I was fortunate enough to attend the event last weekend, and managed to snap a few shots without drooling (too much) on the exotic and vintage machinery. Check out the images after the jump.
And if you call yourself an automotive enthusiast, hear me now: Get ye to Goodwood!
In officially resetting the world land speed record for production cars that appears in the Guiness World Record book, Bugatti brought in the most potent version yet of the Bugatti Veyron. Behold the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. Actually, you can't behold it officially just yet, as the car's formal unveil comes at Pebble Beach next month.
The Super Sport's 8.0-liter W16 engine makes 1,183 horsepower (up from 1,001) and 1,106 pound-feet of torque (up from 922) courtesy of bigger turbos (all 4 of them) and bigger intercoolers. (The front intakes are larger, too, and NACA ducts have been cut into the roof.) With that kind of power, it would be ridiculous if the car didn't break some kind of record.
So on July 4, with Guiness staff on hand at the Ehra-Lessien proving ground near Wolfsburg, Germany, Bugatti test driver Pierre Henri Raphanel drove the Veyron Super Sport to a new land speed record of 267.86 mph (a two-way average). This crushed the old record of 256.18 set in 2007 by a comparative little guy, the Shelby SuperCars Ultimate Aero, which coincidentally also carried a 1,183-hp rating.
We're not sure why Bugatti hasn't released video of the record-setting run, but perhaps it will turn up.
Volvo and its STCC motorsports partner, Polestar, unveiled the Volvo C30 Polestar concept at the Gothenburg (Sweden) auto show over the weekend. This video gives you a nice tour of its many functional and aerodynamic upgrades.
To start, this car has a bigger turbocharger (KKK 26) and intercooler for its 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder engine -- along with upgraded connecting rods, pistons and intake camshafts. The result is 405 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. Getting all that torque to the ground is no problem, thanks to a Haldex all-wheel-drive system with Quaife mechanical limited-slip differentials in both the front and rear.
The obviously lightweight, black-painted wheels are 19-by-8.75-inch BBS F1s, and they're wrapped in Pirelli PZero tires, size 235/35ZR19. The Brembo brake system includes 15.0-inch, cross-drilled front rotors with 6-piston fixed calipers and 13.0-inch rears with 4-piston calipers. Springs and shocks are by Ohlins, and the steering ratio is quicker.
Volvo says the point of the C30 Polestar concept is merely to "explore what happens when racing engineers and designers get free hands to build a street car without any limitations set by a specific racing regulation." Of course, we hope there's some intent behind that to build some edgier Volvo production cars provided Geely gives its blessing.
Update: Video added after jump
The lines on the Hyundai Avante unveiled today at the Busan auto show in Korea are reminiscent of the midsize Sonata, but the compact sedan that we'll know as the 2012 Hyundai Elantra has a face all its own.
The Avante, as it's called in Korea, will go on sale there in the second half of 2010. Look for it to come to the U.S. in late 2010 or early 2011.
Hyundai released few specs on the sedan today, but did note that it has the new direct-injected, 1.6-liter engine shown last week in Beijing, along with a six-speed automatic transmission. That engine makes 138 horsepower, which is the same rating as the current Elantra's 2.0-liter four-cylinder.
However, there's less torque with the 1.6-liter (123 pound-feet vs. 136 lb-ft), so it's unlikely Hyundai would solely offer this engine on the U.S.-spec Elantra. Expect to see an updated version of the Theta 2.0-liter engine (possibly with direct injection) on our Elantra.
The Korean-spec car is available with the HID headlights, LED taillights and heated rear seats, but we doubt the U.S. model will get this stuff. There is hope, though, for the TFT LCD display in the gauge cluster. We'll update you with more details as we get them.
More photos after the jump.
Wealthy people in Beijing pay someone else to do the driving, so it's only sensible that Audi is unveiling the long-wheelbase version of its redesigned A8 at China's top auto show next week.
We Americans prefer the A8 L, too, but more for the extra legroom than the chauffeurability. Both the 2011 Audi A8 L and the regular-wheelbase A8 shown in Detroit go on sale in the U.S. this fall.
Like the normal-size A8, the L is built out of aluminum and thus far lighter than most other full-size luxury sedans. Its 122.9-inch wheelbase stretches 5 inches longer than the standard A8's, and the L stretches 207.4 inches from nose to tail (+ 5.2 inches). For reference, the 2011 A8 L is 3 inches longer than the old-gen A8 L with a 2-inch longer wheelbase.
Of course, Audi's direct-injected 4.2-liter V8 rated at 372 horsepower and 328 pound-feet of torque. Paired with an eight-speed automatic driving all four wheels through a Quattro all-wheel-drive system (with a 60/40 rearward bias), this engine is good enough, but come Spring 2011, there will be a more interesting alternative for U.S.-market A8s.
Audi's new 6.3-liter W12 FSI engine, also direct-injected, is the other major unveiling in Beijing. It's a bored-out version of the previous 6.0-liter W12 and makes a heady 500 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque -- up from 450 hp and 428 lb-ft. Squirting the fuel directly into the combustion chambers cools down the intake charge, so Audi was able to raise compression from 11.0:1 to 11.8.
That, and the adoption of the 8-speed automatic, results in a claimed 12-percent reduction in fuel consumption over the 2009 A8 L W12 (the W12 was discontinued for 2010). More crucially for a W12 buyer, this powertrain will reportedly haul the big sedan to 60 mph in the high-4-second range.
#NAIAS Apparently, getting dumped by a German company, gutted by a private equity firm and being given away to a foreign concern has a way of making strange bedfellows. Pictured here is the Ferrari 599XX/Dodge Challenger section of the Chrysler stand at Detroit. 
Incidentally, that 599XX is the only Ferrari at Detroit, where the company insists it has no presence. What you can't see is that behind this black Challenger is a Plum Crazy one with white stripes.
We saw our friendly local Ferrari PR guy relaxing in the nearby lounge. "Hey, how are you?" He said, "I am not really here."
OK.
Why? Because the good people of Dubai will buy up a great many 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGs (or rather their Abu Dhabi benefactors will) -- and because gold is evidently as popular in the Emirates as steel gray is in the United States.
And so for this week's Dubai Auto Show, Mercedes painted the reborn Gullwing in "AMG Desert Gold." And says Mercedes, "Given sufficient customer demand, this special gold paint finish could become available as an individual optional extra from the AMG Performance Studio."
Wonder if Matthew K. would fancy a golden Gullwing?
There were a bunch of us swarming around the 2011 Mazda 2 after the curtain had dropped down around it just moments before at its reveal during the Los Angeles auto show during press day. Mazda's new entry into a B-car segment pool already crowded with Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa was making its much-anticipated debut and I was among 22 people hand-selected by Mazda to check it out.
We moved awkwardly around the car unsteadily holding aloft our new freebie FlipVideo cams provided by Mazda and trying to capture the stationary car on its stand. "It's so cute!" "I like the wheels!" "Looks very fun to drive" -- we each spoke into the camera microphones trying to document this moment per the carmaker's request.
You see, I was invited by Mazda to come check out the reveal of the Mazda 2 not as an automotive blogger but as an everyday schmo. They had initially reached out to me because of my L.A.-centric lifestyle blog which does not have nearly the amount of traffic that Straightline does let alone have anything to do with cars. But they wanted me to take part in their new Mazda 22 Program, which is made up of 22 "influential bloggers" who would serve as a "blog advisory group" and help introduce the Mazda 2 to the North American market. We didn't need to be knowledgeable about cars or even interested in them. Mazda was just looking for bloggers of all different genres who would participate and share their opinions with their readers.
Jonathan Ward of Icon 4x4 is the Dr. Frankenstein of off-road vehicles, a guy who has made a nice life out of finding old Toyota FJs and Land Cruisers and then rebuilding them into something that you can not only drive off-road again but even drive every day as transportation. And now he has turned his attention to another legendary off-road vehicle, the Willys CJ3.
With the Icon CJ3B, Ward and his engineering team have attempted to create the world's most perfect CJ3. Few of the bits actually come from a CJ3, and yet the final product has the same purity of purpose that still makes people remember the flat-fender Willys with admiration.
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