In less than a week, Bob Lutz will be joined by a few automotive journalists and a handful of regular Joes at the Monticello Motor Club in New York to race some fast sedans around a fast track to see if anything with four doors can outrun a Cadillac CTS-V. Sounds like fun. But, after reading through the preliminary list of applicants The General has accepted, it's looking more and more like the cards are stacked heavily in GM's favor.
The three participating journalists include Jalopnik's Wes Siler, who will be racing Lutz in a Jaguar XFR; Jack Baruth representing The Truth About Cars and freelancer and New York Times contributor Lawrence Ulrich. We have no idea what the latter two journos will be piloting, but we do know that four private car owners will bring along their personal contenders: a BMW M3, a BMW M5, an Audi RS4 and finally, a, um, Cadillac CTS-V.
According to GM's Cadillac Notes Blog, there's room for a couple more contestants... and we're really hoping that someone (preferably someone with track experience) steps up to the plate with a Porsche Panamera and something with AMG written across the decklid to turn this into a proper sampling of potential spoilers.
Ford Racing is continuing to launch its assault on all forms of motorsport with the upcoming launch of the 2010 Boss 302R Mustang to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original Boss 302's 1970 Trans-Am championship. No photos of the car have been released quite yet, but we do have plenty of information thanks to a leaked letter to Ford dealers. Like the FR500S, FR500C, FR500CJ and other Mustangs available from the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog, the Boss 302R is for off-road use only and will be built in very limited quantities. Just 50 are planned for production at a starting cost of $79,000.
Two versions of the 302R will be available, with the base package designed to compete in various SCCA and NASA classes and the upgraded version built to Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series specifications. The base Boss 302R includes a 5.0-liter four-valve V8 pushing out an estimated 400 horsepower as well as a six-speed transmission, race-spec suspension, brakes and tires, and safety equipment including a roll cage and race seats with safety harnesses. The Grand-Am spec version also gets a sealed high-output race engine, seam-welded body, racing fuel cell, a data acquisition system and more for a cost of $129,000.
Ford Racing is currently taking orders, and judging by sales of their other competition Mustangs you will need to order immediately if you want to get your hands on one. Follow the jump for more information and detailed specifications of the 2010 Ford Racing Boss 302R.
For the past 30 years, Japan has declared a car of the year, an award given to newly released or redesigned vehicles released from November 1st of the previous year to October 1st of the current year. More than 60 jurors composed of Japanese journalists receive an allocation of votes, and the car with the most votes comes away with the crown.
This year the Toyota Prius narrowly edged out the Honda Insight, continuing the recent trend of environmentally-friendly winners. Other notable winners included the new Volkswagen Golf, which was named the Import Car of the Year, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which was declared to have the Most Advanced Technology. The Nissan Fairlady Z won the category of Most Fun, and finally the Subaru Legacy took top honors for Best Value.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the award, the Tokyo Motor Show also organized a display of past winners, starting with the Mazda Familia 3-door Hatch Back in 1980-1981 and finishing with last year's winner, the Toyota IQ.
The 2010 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty is ready to put some pressure on Ford and Chevrolet with new sheet metal and added capability, as well as lead the way as the first product under the new Ram brand banner. But the Ram team isn't content to compete on product alone, as Chrysler's horned division is also revealing some very competitive pricing today. The Dodge Ram's bread and butter work truck, the 2500 4X2 ST Regular Cab with the eight foot box, starts at $28,165 including $950 destination, which is $1,970 cheaper than the 2009 model. Dodge is also offering a Crew Cab configuration for the first time. Choose the 2500 crew cab SLT 4x4 and you pay $39,430 or $40 less than the 2009 Quad Cab.
If a three-quarter ton pickup isn't manly enough for you, the new 3500 can be had for a few more greenbacks. The 3500 4x2 Reg Cab ST with the eight-foot box retails for $35,630, but if you like to do your trucking in the lap of luxury you can also opt for the 3500 4x4 Crew Cab Laramie for (gulp) $51,095. The Ram brand has also seen fit to resurrect ye old Power Wagon moniker as an available trim level. Available only as a 2500 4x4 Crew Cab model with a 6-foot-4-inch box, the Power Wagon starts at $45,780 and features electric-locking front and rear differentials, an electronic disconnecting sway bar, Bilstein shocks, 32-inch BFGoodrich off-road tires, underbody skid plate protection, a 4.56 axle ratio for hill climbing and a custom-built Warn 12,000-pound winch. Aesthetically, the Power Wagon gets unique graphics and a lower two-tone paint scheme.
We've always thought that Infiniti's current M35M45 sedan deserved greater consideration from American consumers than it has typically received. With a strong VQ-series powerplant and entertaining rear-wheel drive handling, there has always been a lot to like from behind the wheel, but its restrained styling has seemingly always failed to convey the sort of emotion delivered by the driving experience. Thankfully, judging by its just-introduced Nissan Fuga twin here at the Tokyo Motor Show, anonymous styling figures to be less of an Achilles heel going forward.
Powered in the Japanese market by a pair of VQ-series V6 engines displacing 2.5-liters and 3.7-liters respectively (power figures have not been disclosed), the real emphasis for the next-gen model appears to be on advanced safety and creature comfort technology. We're hoping this focus doesn't result in compromised dynamics, but we are very curious to sample such bits of electronic wizardry as Nissan's "Forest AC" that includes a breeze setting and an aroma atomizer, to say nothing of "Intelligent Pedal," a new system that can actually make braking decisions based on data from the sat-nav unit. In our experience, bearing in mind how often the map data has been wrong in a given vehicle's GPS system, we hope that the system doesn't randomly lock up the binders for a phantom hairpin – especially with someone following a bit too closely behind.
Either way, when the Fuga comes to North America next year, we expect it to once again be powered by either the larger of the two VQ-series V6s or a V8 engine. A hybrid model will hit Japan next autumn, and we hear it's also coming Stateside.
Toyota has rolled out its new Sai hybrid here at the Tokyo Motor Show, and if it looks familiar, that's because you've probably seen something very similar wearing "Lexus" and "HS250h" badges.
The overall aesthetic of the Sai is very similar to that of its premium sibling, but it features different light fixtures front and rear, along with bespoke fascias on both ends as well as a unique hood and trunk lid.
The Nippon-market dedicated gas-electric model utilizes the same 2.4-liter gasoline engine tied to Toyota's latest Hybrid Synergy Drive system, and the luxury compact features things like plant-derived plastics and a radar-based pre-crash safety system.
According to Toyota, "Sai" means "talent" and "coloration" depending on how it is written in Japanese, and the name is meant to combine "advanced talent and multi-color sophistication." Obviously.
The automaker expects 36,000 customers to be wooed by the front-driver's colorful talents each year. No word yet on whether the sedan will cross the Pacific as a more affordable Toyota-badged version of the HS250h.
This appears to be the week of the Lexus LFA, with tons of new images (both live and press), videos, and details spilling out about Toyota's new supercar. While the car itself is on display at the Tokyo Motor Show, those who want to get up close and personal with the V10 wonder can do so today, at least virtually. Toyota just launched the configurator for the Lexus LFA and all we can say is, it's fabulous.
The configurator is fairly typical, with wheel and brake caliper selections, exterior 360 degree views, and several interior angles, but the thing that really caught our attention is the color palette Lexus has chosen for its new halo vehicle. The standard colors are fairly conservative, silver, gray, white, red, black, yellow, brown and blue, but the "special" color options take this Lexus in a whole new direction.
Oh my. A stock 2010 Chevy Camaro SS produces 426 horsepower from its 6.2-liter LS3 V8. A Corvette Z06 turns out 505 hp from its 7.0-liter LS7. The Blue Devil, aka Corvette ZR1, is the most powerful car ever produced by General Motors and churns out a ridiculous 638 hp from its supercharged 6.2-liter LS9 guts. Impressive, but what if you were to strap a supercharger onto the bigger displacement LS7 from the Z06? Why, you'd get more power than you do from the LS9, that's for sure.
Obviously, that's exactly what Lingenfelter has done with its new Camaro. Co-engineered with suspension experts Hotchkis, the 2010 Lingenfelter Camaro features a 750-hp supercharged 427 cubic inch (though really 428) V8. No official word on torque, but let's just assume bat guano levels of twist. For one thing, this Camaro motor is a bit more than simply a blower bolted to a big block. For one thing it has forged JE pistons. For another it has titanium intake valves and Iconel exhaust valves – we don't even know what Iconel is! Oh wait, thanks to the magic of the internet we learn that Iconel is an "austenitic nickel-chromium-based superalloy" that is "oxidation and corrosion resistant materials well suited for service in extreme environments." What on earth is austenitic?
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Without much fanfare (okay – zero fanfare), Nissan has rolled a tweaked version of its home-market GT-R onto the show floor here at the Tokyo Motor Show.
While you're not likely to notice any exterior differences, JDM buyers should appreciate that Nissan has fettled the suspension, fitted higher-flow cats to the exhaust system for improved low- and mid-range response (as if this were a problem before), and they've also added a next-generation hard-drive based navi system that includes iPod connectivity.
On the suspension end of things, the rear suspension radius rod bushings have come in for a stiffening, and the front shocks and springs have been tweaked for increased "accuracy" (no, we're not entirely sure what that means either).
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Mitsubishi has put its plug-in hybrid Concept PX-MiEV crossover concept on a pedestal here at the Tokyo Motor Show, touting the CUV's "environmental and on-road performance," as well as its serial and parallel modes and wireless charging capabilities.
The crossover's design language represents another refinement for Mitsubishi, and although it's markedly less provocative than the newly re-shnozzed 2010 Outlander, it presents a pleasing collection of shapes and could point the way for a future iteration of the softroader. Inside is typical concept car fare for "linking man and car interactively" – which means it's far too cool for us to actually get on the road – but hey, where else are you going to find a cocochi interior with a yoke-style steering wheel?
The real story here is arguably the drivetrain, where Mitsu has combined a 1.6-liter gas engine and a hybrid system with lithium-ion batteries.
