Mazda has worked hard on keeping their Furai super car concept under raps while honing its shape and its drive-train. The slipped a little rear-snippet out early as they announced that they would be making a super car debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January, but now we have more than just a snippet to enjoy. Photos of the completed car running what appear to be test laps have found their way across the internet (whether planned by Mazda or not) and interest in the odd-shaped Furai is growing. Ofcourse that may not be a buying publics interest that is growing, but curiosity fed interest is interest none-the-less.

The Mazda Furai is to be powered by a 450-hp 3-rotor rotary engine. Part of its shape comes from the 2005 Courage C65 racing chassis that it is built upon.

One thing you can say about Toyota in the past year is they have really stepped out there with the concepts they have introduced. With the new A-Bat compact truck concept that Toyota is bringing to the Big Show in Detroit in a couple weeks some may be saying Toyota has stepped a bit too far out there. Toyota says that the side profile of the A-Bat is based off the lines of the Prius, but some obvious gene sampling may have taken place from the Honda Ridgeline and the Chevy Avalanche to birth this compact truck concept. The A-Bat is so… something that it is almost difficult to talk about it.

 The A-Bat is designed to be powered by one of Toyota’s hybrid engines to keep both the fuel consumption and emissions low. This is Toyota’s way of appealing to the work computer who wants to ride in from the suburbs in style(?), yet still wants to be able to pick up a load of plywood on his way back home.

Never content to just ride and report on cars the fellas at Top Gear literally put their cars through the ringer and never hold back with their thoughts and opinion. That is what makes it one of the most popular and entertaining Auto Shows on the boob-tube. In one of their recent episodes they wrangled up a new 2008 BMW M3 and matched up its 414-hp 4.0 Liter V8 against the Mercedes C 63 AMG with its larger 6.2 Liter V8 pumping out 451-hp and pitted them both against (3 hosts,  you need 3 cars) the Audi RS4 with its 4.2 Liter V8 Quattro at 420-hp.

Let’s see what the boys from Top Gear can do with these sport luxury vehicles.

Honda lets slip out its intention of building a new NSX for the year 2010, but this does not fall long after expectations were raised with a similar indication for 2008-2009. However, even false promises will not keep most NSX fans from feeding their own excitement with such news. The original NSX is still one of the most respected sports cars on the road and due to its rarity in many areas still turns heads to this day.

Acura displayed what it was calling the Advanced Sports Car Concept this year and some speculated that it would be the framework for the next NSX, but Acura has since announced that they were pulling back their concept for a redesign. And thus hope wained again.

While Honda has not provided us with any sketches or etches or paintings or concepts over which to drool and further speculate

The Nissan Forum Concept Design Team are not merely looking to challenge the mindset of the Mini-Van clans, but to remind everyone that “getting there” should be part of the fun. With plush aniline leather seats, a plethora of electronics and even a microwave such a transport may cause families to opt for the long way to any destination. The outside layers of the Forum Concept also strikes a bold pose with its striking front end, expansive views via the glass paneled cieling, and its railless sliding rear doors. There seems to be a lot more here to catch the here in the Nissan Forum than one would expect in the usual Mini-Van. And that is exactly what Nissan is hoping for when they showcase their Forum Concept in January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit. For more photos and the Specs for the Nissan Forum click Read More.

 After years of success in the World Rally Ford Europe is ready to give the new Ford Focus a rally inspired makeover to make the Focus RS a 2009 street beast. With months of work already under the belt the Ford Team RS under the direction of Jost Capito will spend the next year getting the Focus RS ready for production.

Ford and Capito are remaining mum on the specs of the Focus RS at this point but turbo-charging the Focus ST 5-cylinder and reaching upwards of 280-hp could easily be speculated. Maybe when the car is shown some time in mid-2008, possibly at the London Auto Show, Ford will share more of the secrets that will give the High Performance Focus RS its sizzle.

Ofcourse, those of us in North America will just have a continuation of these teasers as Ford Europe is not big on sharing with us. But to read more about the design and design team setting forth on the Focus RS task you can check out the Ford Press Release below.

BMW has finally come clean on their X6 Concept vehicle and are ready to stake their claim on introducing the auto industry to the first Sports Activity Coupe. Based off the technologies of the BMX X5 and X3, the X6 may be the most technologically advanced Coupe on the market with the additions of BMW’s Dynamic Performance Control System and Active Steering. Ofcourse what will strike most observers of the X6 will be its head-turning appearance. Whether that head-turn will result in a smile or a wrinkled and confused eye-brow we will leave up to you. Either way the X6 and its two available motors will be getting a good bit of attention when it is debuted at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show in January.

The two engine variants for the X6 also provide a bit of excitement for the Sports Activity Coupe’s release. You can either go with the 3.0 Liter straight-six and its 300 horses or you can muscle up to 4.4 Liter V8 and its 440 horses.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has released their fuel-economy ratings for the new GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe vehicles for 2008 that will be utilizing GM’s new 2-Mode Hybrid System. Through GM’s own research it was determined that the dual-electric motor system within their large SUV’s reached a 40% increase in fuel-savings compared to their gasoline powered counterparts. Well the EPA’s rating system has verified that claim granting the Yukon and Tahoe 2WD Hybrid a 21-mpg rating and the 4WD Hybrid a 20-mpg rating.

These government ratings and hybrid advancement confirmation should bode well for GM and its efforts to sell their new 2-Mode Hybrid vehicles. Other GM vehicles that will or already are sharing in the new technology are the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra Crew Cab (both full size pick-ups).

It seems the brain-trust at NBC has worked out the deal with Ford to use the 2008 Shelby GT500KR as the new car for the rebirth of the Knight Rider TV series in the coming year. The revival of the Knight Rider series has been in talks for a little while now, but the speculation on the car was always left lingering. So for all of those complaining that there are already too many Specialty Mustangs on the market you may have just received the empirical evidence you needed that Ford has gone too far and that NBC has just alienated a partial fanbase. But maybe we are being too negative here?

We will post the official NBC Press Release below for those interested in learning more about the stars and the plot for the 2-hour TV Premier movie that will set the show off. Most of us here though are more curious about the car choice and the adornments that have cluttered the skin of of the GT500KR.

There seems to be plenty of Specialty Mustangs and Mustang Customizers out on the market these days, and the word coming down from Ford is that the demand is still there for more. But one Auto Customizer just raised the bar for themselves and the rest of the market. With their car 95% completed Ronaele finds the Turkey Rod Auto Show in Daytona Beach to be a great location to debut their Monoceros 700 R Mustang. What started out as one man’s wish-list based off a stock Mustang GT has turned into one mean street machine that is eager to see its time in the sun.

Monoceros was told to us to be an Indian word that stood for something mythological and unattainable; such as a Unicorn or Dragon. In the case of Ronaele’s Monoceros 700R Mustang and for the rest of us that just may be the case. And do not let that 700 R moniker fool you into thinking this is all about the badging. The Monoceros earns its 700 marking as she is dyno’d at 700-hp at the rear-wheels; because 699-hp would just not suffice.
(To learn more and to see a plethora of photos click now)