Ford Steals An Eventful Detroit Auto Show

In a world where it is becoming next to impossible to keep a good secret, most brands have given up trying and often reveal their auto show gems as early as a month ahead of schedule. With that in mind the power of a true surprise has grown exponentially, especially if that surprise is a poster worthy supercar. The Acura NSX was supposed to be the supercar star of the NAIAS but then the Ford GT concept happened. There have been rumors of a GT resurgence and but nothing could quite prepare for a supercar more than worthy of an exotic badge. It's the Asterion that Lamborghini wished it could have debuted in Paris. The fact that the first shots of the GT came directly from the floor made this reveal that more exciting. Aside from the simple Lotus Evoraesque interior and a poor take on a racing steering wheel, the GT looks to challenge the very best much like the original GT40 did in the 1960s and a decade ago. Bucking most trends again Ford quotes as on sale date of 2016. The GT also gives credence that Chevy will finally make a mid engine "Corvette" after all those years. Following the no teaser route Ford rounded out its tremendous Monday with a worthy second generation Ford Raptor powered by a preview of the GT's EcoBoost and topped it all of with a track special Mustang GT350R complete with carbon fiber wheels from the factory. Likely a first for a car you can pronounce or hope to see. The only demerit was Ford's lack of actual horsepower numbers but others (Acura, Toyota) are just as guilty.

 

Best Non Exotic Exhaust Notes

You are walking down the street and all of a sudden someone turns the corner and gives it some gas and you hear a glorious sound that makes you turn around to see if you can guess correctly what it is. Every so often you turn around and see an exotic that surprises you but more often than not it's something a little more ordinary. Below are some of the best exhaust notes from cars that you can spot on a regular basis.

Mercedes-Benz C63

The AMG 6.2 liter V8 that powers 63 series AMG models is on its last legs as it is replaced by smaller turbocharged V8 engines. Lauded for its excellent power the naturally aspirated V8 is one of the best sounding engines this side of super cars and exotics. The AMG V8 has the perfect balance between a low rumble of an American V8 and that of a higher revving European V8 which makes it a hard combination to beat.




Mustang V8

The Mustang has always had a fantastic V8 sound even when the 4.6 liter V8 was barely stronger than some V6s at the time. Nevertheless, Mustang V8s almost always deliver a fantastic rumble that while not as high revving as the AMG V8 does rev a little higher than your traditional American V8 giving you more glorious sound through the rev range. While the latest 5.0 cammer sounds fantastic one of my favorites is the 2003-2004 SVT Cobra that is always one of the louder street legal cars that you will spot as most are usually modified.




Audi V8

The now nearly retired Audi 4.2 V8 is another fantastic sounding V8. Most often found in the last generation S4 and the pre face lift S5 the 4.2 also has some additional revs to play with as well for a throaty sound across the entire rev range. The 4.2 also sounds pretty good in the Q7 but is far too quite in the A6 and A8 versions. Much like the AMG V8 the naturally aspirated V8 is being replaced in all but its high power version by the smaller supercharged V6 that delivers more power but lacks the sound.




To balance out all of the amazing exhaust notes one can hear on a daily basis there is always one sound that drives me insane, the various versions of the Infiniti 3.7 V6. The VQ's pitch just doesn't sound right to me especially at lower RPM and the worst offender is the FX version that always produces a loud drone even when accelerating at an extremely pedestrian pace.

Observations from a non major autoshow

LA, Detroit, Chicago and New York comprise the major auto show circuit in the US that gets the coverage, but you can find an auto show in any major convention center. KWF set out to find out what kind of an automotive experience one can have at these other shows and see what we can observe. No world debuts to catch, no concept cars to see, is this even worthy of being called an auto show? While lacking all the flash and glamour of the big shows you still get an opportunity to see almost every make and model on the market today.  What follows are random observations after numerous hours of looking up and down from all angles, sitting in every back seat and stroking every dash.

September 2011 Sales Recap

Despite an uncertain economic outlook, September 2011 auto sales were about 10% better than a year ago and September turned out to be one of the best month of the year so far. As in previous months roughly two-thirds of the brands posted better sales than a year ago while Toyota and Honda continued to see their sales slide. Leading the pack was Maserati with an exceptional 46.3 percent improvement. In the mainstream category Chrysler and its truck division Ram posted improvements of 42 and 36% respectively. Powered by the debut of its much talked about American built Passat, Volkswagen was able to increase its sales by over 35% as well. Backing up its promise of great dealership availability Nissan posted a 28.2% sales increase, on the other hand its luxury division Infiniti only managed to better last year's results by 2.1%. Doing well in the luxury category Audi and BMW both posted 19.% sales improvements while Lexus continued to struggle with an 11.5% drop. Take a look at the chart below to see how all of your favorite automakers did in September.

As in previous months Nissan's LEAF outsold Chevy's Volt 1,031 to 723. While GM narrowed the gap in September the Nissan still enjoys a commendable 7,199 to 3,895 yearly sales lead which is easily confirmed on the street with the LEAF being a more common occurrence on the road than the Volt.

Looking at Luxury Brands Selling Prices

There is always a lot of talk about which luxury brand is the best, which luxury brand sells the most, and which brands even deserve to be called luxury altogether. To clear up some of these questions let's take a look at the average selling prices of the biggest eleven brands that claim to sell luxury cars in the United States. While the manufacturers do not release their average transaction prices in the way that they do with overall sales figures here is our best attempt to see who gets the most for their cars on average. At the top is Mercedes-Benz with an average asking price of around 55,000 per vehicle. Mercedes has by far the most models available for sale in the 75,000+ range. Second is BMW which is able to average a little over 50,000 per every vehicle sold. BMW falls behind Mercedes by offering fewer models over 100,000. Up third is Cadillac that benefits greatly by moving a significant amount of its pricey Escalades every month. Following Cadillac is Audi that sells its models for comparable prices as Mercedes and BMW but moves fewer A6 models compared to the competition. Up next is Infiniti that charges around 45,000 on average followed closely by Lexus that loses ground because of a significant amount of ES sales. Lincoln is able to average a little over 40,000 thanks to Town Car and Navigator sales. Right around the 40,000 dollar cutoff Acura suffers by not having a true flagship sedan or having a coupe or convertible version of the TSX. Opening up the premium category Volvo lacks serious firepower without a V8 in its lineup. Second to last Buick is a great example of selling vehicles at a premium but not luxury prices. Bringing up the rear is Chrysler with a majority of its sales comprised by the 200 and the Town&Country minivan.

*The data represented below is an attempt to find out the average selling prices of the luxury brands based on their product mix. The figures are averaged based on sales, thus a brand selling more flagship sedans versus entry level models has a higher average price than a brand selling mostly entry level models. Because of lack of sales figures BMW's M lineup and Mercedes's AMG models were not factored in, thus those brands likely have slightly higher transaction prices than indicated here.

Geneva Motorshow Concepts

We've taken a look at some of the upcoming Geneva production debuts and now it's time to look at some of the most exciting concepts at the show. Since you have already seen the sketches of the A3 Sedan Concept let's move on to two of Geneva's most anticiapted concepts: the Subaru and Toyota rearwheel drive coupe twins. Both Subaru and Toyota will show close-to-production concepts of their coupes. While Subaru and Toyota will show nearly prodcution looking concepts others will be more adventorous in style and reason. The BMW ConnectedDrive concept is a modern take on the classic roadster meant to showcase the upcoming possibilites of auto tech. Another concept to watch for is the Bertone B99. It's the Italian design house take on the much talked about upcoming 3-series/A4/C class size Jaguar. Infiniti will be presenting its Etherea conecpt which gives the Genevav audience a preview of how an upcoming compact Infiniti might look like. Nissan will also present an electric sports car featuring a mix of 370Z and GT-R styling cues and the Leaf's battery pack. And Geneva Motorshow would not be the Geneva Motorshow withous a Rinspeed concept. This year the Rinspee Bamboo is an electric powered retro-styled summer beach cruiser.

Click on the photo to start the Concept Gallery.

New BMW 5 series no match for A6 in C/D Comparo

Car and Driver rounded up three premier sport sedans for its August issue. The brand new BMW 535i was joined by an equally new Infiniti M37 and the Audi A6 3.0T that won the previous Car and Driver comparison in this category. Unfortunately for BMW, its latest 5 series finished in last place because it had the lowest rated steering in the hills. The electric power steering was so disappointing that the other redeeming qualities weren't enough to place the 5 series any higher. The Infiniti M37 placed second because of its unlinear brakes and somewhat unusual nature of its 4 wheel steering. Otherwise Car and Driver appreciated the Infiniti's exterior and interior styling. The A6 won on its strength of communicative steering, comfortable ride and torquey supercharged engine.

All three sport sedans had similar acceleration with 0-60 arving in around five and a half seconds with 14 second quarter miles and 100 mph trap speeds. The Audi and BMW both had 10% better fuel economy than the naturally aspirated Infiniti.

Is it time for BMW to go back to the drawing board with its electric steering given that the brand new 5 series finished last, and its closest rival won with a vehicle that's soon to be replaced?

Infiniti Teases Its New M Before Today's Debut

Infiniti will show its 2011 M sedan to the public today at Pebble Beach, but it has already released a teaser image showing the headlight and part of the grille. It looks like the production M will borrow a few design cues from the Essence concept car. The headlights and a concave bend to the hood are reminiscent of the well received concept. The rectangular grille is similar to the concept's, but looks to be an evolution of the one seen on the FX. Expect to see the entire M before the day is over.



The Live Webcast of the New M Presentation Will Be August 14th @ 6:30PT/9:30 ET Here

Car and Driver Comparison Test: Audi A6 3.0T quattro, BMW 535i, Infiniti M45, Jaguar XF, Mercedes E 350

Car and Driver recently compared this group of five mid size luxury sedans priced in the high 50 to low 60,000 dollar range. After doing several days of evaluating the cars they concluded that no one would be making a mistake buying any one of these cars. However, here are the results.

Mercedes-Benz E 350: 5th place.

The engine was the weakest of the bunch and a little coarse. Works better on the highway than the hills.

Jaguar XF: 4 th place.

The 300 horsepower V8 is no stronger than the competing V6s. Jaguar's fancy gear selector was problematic, and like the Mercedes it wasn't at home on the twisty roads. Not very spacious for the rear occupants.

Infinit M45: 3rd place.

Strong acceleration from the 325 horsepower V8. The sport package that comes with rear steering steering which didn't work too well. Car and Driver did find the Infiniti roomy and liked the transmission and the short breaking distances of the M45.

BMW 535i: 2nd place.

The only car with a manual in the test and the lightest of the group, the BMW was the quickest of the group. The BMW was also the most expensive of the group, almost reaching 64,000 dollars.

Audi A6 3.0T quattro: 1st place.

Car and Driver was impressed by the dynamics of the supercharged V6, best in test steering and good break feel. They also found the ride compliant and the automatic gearbox did what it was supposed to. On the negative side there was tire noise and a few weird controls.