RideLust

Hyundai's Veloster concept. Photo: Marcin Cie?lak

The full details on Hyundai’s much anticipated Veloster will be released at next month’s Detroit Auto Show, but Auto Express has learned a few things in advance. First, the car will use a unique “2+1” approach to doors. The driver’s side gets a single door, while the passenger side gets both front and rear doors. This makes rear seat access easier than in a coupe, but discourages rear seat passengers from moving the driver’s seat to get out. Personally, I hate when passengers change my seat back angle, since it takes me about six months to find the right position.

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Ford's upcoming Focus ST. Photo: Ford Motor Company

Ever since the Focus ST made it’s early debut at the Paris Motor Show, there have been all sorts of rumors that Ford was considering a three door hatchback version of the hot hatch. After all, the original Focus SVT was offered in both three door and five door flavors, so it seemed to make sense that Ford would offer the ST in a lighter, more nimble version. Even Ford’s head of design in Europe, Martin Smith, seemed to indicate that something new and “more exciting” would be coming to the 2011 Detroit Auto Show.

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CT&T, a car manufacturer coming out of Korea, debut their four-passenger Multi Amphibious Vehicle(MAV) at the Detroit Auto Show. This car is suitable to traverse on both land and water, and what’s this???? It’s electric. Sounds about as safe as taking a bath with a toaster or hair dryer. However this six wheeled machine is powered by the electric motor when on the road and that same motor powers the propellers when in water. The electri  motor can get the MAV up to speeds of 40 mph on land and a reported top speed of 10 mph in water. The performance from this vehicle can not be considered out of this world, or even James Bondish, but for a family vacation this might be the type of enterainment we are all looking for. What this vehicle does not have is a roof, something usefull on a rainy day, or high sides/doors to keep the younger part of the family in the vehicle. There hasn’t been a price tag put on the MAV yet, but one of its sister vehicles that was introduced at the same time, the C Square, an electric sports car, was priced at $50,000. Expect a similar price for the Multi Amphibious Vehicle.

Kia has just introduced their own “infotainment” system to rival Ford’s SYNC.  The Kia UVO (Your Voice) will be extremely similar to the SYNC system as they both run off of Windows software and share many of the same high-tech features, some of which include the voice commands and ipod compatability. The big difference? UVO uses Microsoft’s latest and greatest software available, which can decifer intricate speech patterns and words that, which with previous versions such as SYNC, proved to be an annoyance.  No more screaming at a voice recognition system that only gets more confused we scream louder. However UVO was not only developed for its convenience but also for its safety aspect. Drivers will have the ability to answer phone calls verbally through UVO, allowing them to keep their eyes on the road instead of being distracted by searching for their phone.

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Suzanne at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show

It’s on. And we’re here (see the pic for proof … no, it wasn’t photoshopped;-)

Stay tuned for daily updates with news and impressions from the 2010 Detroit Auto Show…

According to sources, Land Rover has confirmed that the Land Rover LRX Concept that debuted at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show in January has been approved for production as the 2011MY Range Rover. Built on the same platform as the Freelander, the Range Rover LRX would sit beneath the Range Rover Sport as the smallest, most compact model in the Range Rover family. Although the 2011 Ranger Rover LRX will feature 5 doors (as opposed to the Concept’s 2) and a slightly revised front bumper, the basic design elements of the LRX Concept will remain unchanged in the production version.

In keeping with the Range Rover’s smaller, less-obtrusive theme, Land Rover Managing Director Phil Popham claims the 2011 Range Rover will be Land Rover’s “greenest” vehicle to date. At launch, Popham says the new Range Rover will produce under 150 g/km of CO2 emissions, which in terms of fuel-efficiency roughly translates to about 50 mpg. As research and development continues, Popham also hinted that a hybrid Range Rover could debut as well, cutting emissions even further to 120 g/km and boosting fuel consumption to around 60 mpg. Read More…

In light of the financial crisis currently wracking the auto industry, Toyota has reportedly cancelled plans to revive the high-performance Supra/Celica line. Rumored to be hard at work on a production version of the FT-HS concept unveiled at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, Toyota has apparently abandoned any intention of releasing a new performance coupe in favor of focusing on more profitable endeavors (read: “Prius-palooza”). However, fanboys needn’t despair quite yet: Toyota’s newest announcement does not appear to apply to the Subaru/Toyota WRX/Celica mashup. Read More…

Earning a richly-deserved tip o’ the hat for their impressive showing, Audi of America was awarded top honors for superior design at the EyesOn Design Awards Ceremony at the 2009 North American International Auto Show. The EyesOn Design Awards bestows a total of four awards, two in each category, for exemplary design in both concept and production vehicles. Of those four coveted honors, Audi of America managed to snag two of them for both the Audi Sportback Concept and the Audi R8 V10. Read More…

On Tuesday, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) accepted the invitation extended by Michigan Attorney General, Mike Cox, to every member of the U.S. Senate, imploring Washington to observe Detroit’s feats of automotive engineering firsthand. The only Senator to take Cox up on his offer, Sen. Corker hit the floor of the 2009 North American International Auto Show on Tuesday with a decidedly chilly welcome. Fierce opponent of the auto industry bailout as proposed by the Democratic majority, although there weren’t any fistfights or broken noses to speak of, it was glaringly obvious that Sen. Corker was not one of the more celebrated attendees at the Detroit Auto Show this year. Despite the barrage of slightly hostile questions from various media members and comically enthusiastic greeting from the Attorney General, Sen. Corker remained good-natured, lauding Detroit with praise for the innovative vehicles on display.

View video footage of Sen. Corker at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show after the jump Read More…

We’re usually domestic auto fans at heart, but we’ll admit we’ve fallen utterly, unabashedly, head-over-heels in love with the Audi R8 V10. As a matter of fact, so in love are we with the R8 V10, if we had children, we would seriously consider dipping into their college fund to hire professional criminals to steal the ridiculous amount of money we’d need to buy one…but we digress.

Although Cupid’s arrow first struck our hearts in early December when 8″ x 10″ glossies of the new R8 V10 first dropped, we didn’t realize we’d found our supercharged soul-mate until we saw the Audi R8 V10 mount the stage for its official international debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. As its badge indicates, the Audi R8 V10 is powered by a massive 5.2 FSI 10-cylinder engine, capable of cranking out an undergarment-soiling 525-horsepower (386 kW) and 390.91lb-ft (530 Nm) of torque. Built using the performance-enhancing Audi Space Frame (ASF), the R8 V10′s muscular body was built to dominate the road (with the road giving total consent, of course) while still providing the sleek, aerodynamic architecture needed to ensure that all 500+ horses are allowed to run free. Now we’d like to continue praising the R8 V10, but unfortunately our recantation of the R8 V10′s incredibly prowess on the track has suddenly inspired within us an overwhelming urge to sing snippets of that “Colors of the Wind” song from Disney’s Pocahontas. In order to avoid totally obliterating our street cred, we’re going to toss you off to the image gallery and official Audi press release printed below. We apologize for the abrupt segue.

Full gallery and press release after the jump Read More…