Archive for year: 2012

Everyone knows Detroit hosts the most important auto show in North America – and automakers don’t hold back when it comes to flaunting their newest cars to the thousands of journalists who pack the halls before the event goes public.

This year the hottest things in the mix have an eye toward efficiency and a glance back at heritage. Mercedes-Benz unveiled its 2013 SL roadster, the latest model in its 60-year-old gullwing-famous line. The $148,000 car is 250 pounds lighter than its predecessor with 40-percent improved efficiency–but also has 12 percent more horsepower and goes 0-60mph in 4.6 seconds with its 500 SL V8. Click here for full pictures and more specs.

Also new on the floor is Bentley’s 2013 Continental GT V8, a 500-horsepower variant with aggressive detailing and curved body lines that make it look ready to pounce. Plus a new red Bentley badge on front, new figure-eight tailpipes and a new “Dragon Red” paint job.

Red seemed to be a popular color on the floor this year (is it because it looks best with the black dresses on the models?). Porsche debuted its 911 Carrera cabriolet in a bright cherry hue–the car, though perhaps understated in its lines, uses a novel top with fewer visible supports that create a more natural arch across the car.

Audi also embraced the trend, showing its TT RS–complete with red-tinged rims–and Q3 Vail edition SUV in a searing rouge. It was a marked imrovement from last year’s chocolate brown R8 Spyder (PR reps continue to say buyers genuinely like the brown tones these days, though some may beg to differ…). This year the R8 Spyder on display was a subtler matte the color of the Detroit River on a good day (blue, that is).

Of course BMW’s electric i8 concept on display is famous for its cameo in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. And Cadillac’s 270-hp four-cylindar ATS caused quite a ripple when the automaker unveiled it Sunday night.

Tesla’s Model S sedan attracted a similarly excited contingent of Asian journalists fascinated by the in-house technology and unique unibody frame that characterize Elon Musk’s $49,900 electric sedan. (This is the car reputedly faster than an Aston Martin, safer than a Panamera and more efficient than a Volt–it Musk can pull it off, it’ll crown Tesla as the most forward-thinking brand of its time and change the auto industry nationwide).

It wasn’t always like this. Last year at the North American International Auto Show proved decidedly more dull: listless hallways, relatively empty cocktail hours. Most of the international press, if they attended at all, left halfway through the second official day of press previews–and that was a better showing than in 2009.

This year hotel rooms at prime spots sold out months in advance; even a month prior to the show the only decent rooms available were located in nearby Dearborn. What’s more, walkways between automaker booths yesterday during the media preview were crammed; press conferences on the large floor allowed standing room only.

And if cynical automotive journalists think there’s something worth seeing in Detroit, you know it’s going to be a good year. Click through the slideshow to see the hottest cars on the floor this year.

Falcon designed and produces the carbon-fiber two-chamber intake for the LS7 engine.VIN 001 runs a modified version of Chevrolet’s LS7 engine, upgraded with a custom carbon-fiber intake manifold that employs separate plenums for each cylinder bank and long intake runners. Along with a host of other improvements, the engine’s output jumps to 620 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque–plenty of oomph to motivate 2785 pounds of car. All that twist gets routed through a six-speed Ricardo transaxle like that of the late, great Ford GT. Like the Aventador parked nearby, all body panels are made of carbon-fiber. Unlike the Lambo, the frame is a hydroformed tube chassis and the body panels are made of pre-impregnated autoclaved sheet carbon fiber that only lends itself to very low volumes (the hope is to build 20 Falcon F7s per year, priced at $225,000). Most of the suspension is Corvette based.

Exposed aluminum elements from the monocoque give purposeful look to interior.The biggest visual change from last year is the interior, which gets a lot more supercar sparkle from the Spyker school of design. The gauges are in milled aluminum pods, mounted to aluminum arches that allow for adjustment of the gauge pods so as to be viewed through the steering wheel or over the top of the wheel (as shown here). The switchgear is also aircraft inspired, with toggle switches that include an ignition switch under a red protective flap. The Venzano leather interior is also of a much higher specification.

Elements of Ferrari design language are clearly present from behind.Company representative Jason Verbrugghe says the Falcon is an extreme car developed for serious drivers. Obviously a car this large weighing only 2785 pounds has little mass devoted to creature comforts and sound deadening. It’s all devoted to 6-piston calipers, big rotors, and that honking engine. We look forward to our first opportunity to test drive this mid-engine, Midwestern missile. For more info, www.FalconF7.com.

Headlamps are aftermarket units designed for the Dodge Avenger.