Ah, April Fools’ Day: Google is now Topeka, the excellent webcomic xkcd goes terminal, and my college announced that next year the campus will be dry (this was especially well-played because alcohol policy was in the process of being changed only yesterday). Among all these April 1st shenanigans, the 2010 New York International Auto Show pressed on, with its usual stock of interesting reveals (which I shall definitely be covering in the coming week). Toyota, however, decided that it would be the perfect day to launch two new video ad campaigns in order to increase attention for new models in its subsidiary brands. Oh, they got my attention alright…

BMW Lexus Films

Does anyone remember when BMW released that phenomenal set of eight short films in a series called The Hire from 2001 to 2002? If not, a brief synopsis is in order: Clive Owen played a wheelman known as “The Driver,” who takes on various risky driving-related missions. As well as being highly entertaining, these videos showcased BMW’s strong lineup at the time, including its M-model lineup. The series was an enormous viral success and helped boost BMW sales numbers that year. Today, nearly nine years later, Lexus announced a series of their own videos centered around the upcoming CT200h hatchback. And thus the first red flag was raised.

The CT200h?, I thought, That’s a luxo-economy car, isn’t it? It is. Powered by a 1.8L inline-4, the CT200h is expected to produce less than 200 horsepower. It’s also front wheel drive and has an eCVT transmission. What’s that you say? This powertrain configuration cannot possibly be fun? I agree, that’s what it sounds like to me, too. However, Lexus doesn’t think so. Watch this teaser to see what I mean:

Lexus’ new series, which apparently is set to launch on May 13th, 2010, is called Dark Ride. The name stinks of low-grade sci-fi, does it not? Anyway, this is what I’ve gathered from watching this: Lexus has made a BMW Films clone using a car that will be plagued by tremendous understeer and a 0-60 time that will be lucky if it sees the low 9-second range. As my friend accurately pointed out while watching this video, you never actually see the thing accelerate from a dig. I’m guessing that’s because no filmmaker could shoulder the impossible task of making Prius-like acceleration footage look action-packed. I don’t blame them.

Reinvent The Whiff

Swing and a massive miss, Toyota. In order to attempt to raise the hype of its new models, Scion’s advertising department has begun airing a series of episodes called Reinvent The Wheels on YouTube. A bastardly hybrid of MTV’s Pimp My Ride and the generic “contestant presents to a panel of judges” reality show model, Reinvent The Wheels pits a group of “design professionals” (the likes of which are pastry chefs, DJs, and special effect artists for independent films) against each other in a competition to see who can each best customize one car from Scion’s new, desperate line of vehicles. Of course, as you probably expected, the designs concepts shown in the first episode (all I needed to watch to get the point) are hilariously atrocious. Video literally speaks louder than text, though, so watch this:

It cannot possibly be anything but a lose-lose situation: either it’s acting so bad that it’s actually NOT funny, or these are real people. For the entire world’s sake, I’d really hope for the former.

The Real Joke

APRIL FOOLS! …I wish. But it’s no joke. There are no intentional lulz to be had here: Toyota’s marketing department is really, actually determined to use these campaigns to help their sales. In the case of the Lexus series, Dark Ride, it seems the goal is to capture a younger, more “sporty” demographic using some weird footage of a gilded economy car. With the Reinvent The Wheels campaign, Scion is trying to flout its apparent customizability to even more tasteless youths than before.

You know what the real joke is here? It’s probably going to work.

Alright, so I’ve looked at the SUVs shown at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, and now it’s time for… everything else. Represented here are examples of speed, sluggishness, beauty, and monstrosity. Lots on the menu here (almost too much?), so shall we begin?

So, What Do We Have Here?

I’m going straight into it with the little footnotes about each… there are quite a few as you will see…

	Hyundai Equus I don’t think there’s anything I’d like to see more than Hyundai unseating Lexus at the head of the flagship sedan table. The Equus is truly a fine piece of work. I hope it comes Stateside!
Bentley Continental Supersports You can run the Bentley W12 off of E85 Ethanol (read: corn) and hit 204 miles per hour? No more rear seating and more carbon fiber instead in the name of saving weight? Yes please.
	Porsche 911 GT3 Doesn’t look to interesting. Looks just like the old one to me. Good thing they bumped up the horses to 435 and the top speed to 194, then. It’s a real sleeper, this one.
Merecedes-Benz E63 AMG A new face, new horsepower figures, and a new top speed of 186 seem to be telling RS6 and M5 drivers to look cautiously into their rear-view mirrors… but by the time they do, this will already be ahead. Nice work, Mercedes.
	Nissan NISMO 370Z I love the 370Z’s design for being closer to the old 280Z than any other more modern Z yet, and this NISMO version keeps that beauty while adding necessary aerodynamic upgrades. Indeed one of my favorites at NYAIS.
Nissan 370Z Roadster Let’s just say I was liking the pictures of the NISMO far, far, far more. The convertible conversion destroys the 370′s beautiful curves and adds weight. Oh, and that color. Bleh.
	Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk VI While it should be called the Mk V.5 because it rides the same chassis and utilizes many of the same underpinnings as the previous GTI, the redesigned interior is cool and I’m curious to see whatever R-Line variant they’re cooking up.
Subaru Legacy One of the world’s most underrated sleepers gets slightly more aggressive. Still keeping with the Subaru tradition of AWD and the famous Boxer-4, this is sure to be a winner.
	Subaru Outback Well, at least we know the Subaru designers were working double-time on the new Legacy.
Mazdaspeed3 I’m beating a dead horse, but it’s still too happy, and the American version seems to get braces of some sort in that big ol’ mouth.
	Scion iQ As usual, Scion takes something (usually neutral or poor in my tastes because it comes from Toyota), and makes it astronomically worse. The paint color is named “radioactive,” which is funny, because when I saw this I realized I’d rather absorb a large quantity of radiation than be caught in the driver’s seat.
Kia Forte Koup Eh, a Kia, it’s going to be bor- wait… what’s this? An attractive design paired with a fun powertrain and a bang-to-buck ratio that outdoes its competition? Wow. Never saw that one coming. Very cool.

And there it is. As usual, some good, some bad, some… interesting.

With the American car industry up in flames (well, save Ford), the New York Auto Show has been really interesting this year. Foreign competitors are showing off some serious new concept and production cars, while the domestic manufacturers are putting in a last ditch effort to defend the homeland. Geneva had some weird stuff, but New York is all business. Make the jump to see what I mean.

Heavy Artillery

You’d think with the current economic situation, SUVs would be in the process of downfall, right? Nope. Day one of the New York Auto Show saw the debut of a bunch of new and interesting sport-utility vehicles from all around the globe. Let’s start with good old America.

Jeep. They’re really common around here, and they don’t stick out at all. Boring. But now, Jeep has done a much-needed full exterior and interior redesign on the Grand Cherokee. This version, due out for the 2011 model year, is built on the same chassis as the Mercedes-Benz ML SUV and features the “Quadra Lift” air suspension system which allows the vehicle to vary height from around 4 inches while parked to over 11 for off-roading fun. Another system, “Selec-Terrain” lets the driver choose traction settings based on the driving surface from five settings. Engine choices are a 3.6L V6 with 280HP or the 5.7L HEMI V8 with 360HP.

What about the styling? Wow. A more sporty profile with great edges and a mean front fascia are an epic improvement over the previous generations. And then there’s the interior. That’s a JEEP? I was skeptical of this thing from looking at those releases they made to the government during stimulus talks, but now I’m convinced that this thing has the potential for great success. It’s clearly the best thing Chrysler’s come up with since… I don’t know… the 300C? Regardless, this is cool, and I hope it isn’t too late.

However, the Europeans are here as well, and they’re well-armed. Here’s what I mean:

	BMW X6 M-Sport I’ve always been an admirer of the X6, and now it’s got the power to match. 555 HP is no joke, and nor is a sub-five second zero-to-sixty in this 5,300-pound “Sports Activity Vehicle.”
Mercedes-Benz ML450 Hybrid Retaining the horsepower of a V8 while upping fuel economy considerably is no easy task, but Mercedes has managed. A combined output of 335 horsepower paired with 24 mpg isn’t too shabby, though I’d still never buy this. Ever.
	Range Rover Sport The X6 M isn’t the only hotshot, insane SUV on the show floor. The new Range Rover Sport is packing 510 horses in the supercharged variant of the V8, and it doesn’t hurt that the thing’s a looker as well.

Close Enough

Acura. They’ve done some really great things with powertrains for this model year, and some even iffier things with styling. I know this post is supposed to be about SUVs, but I really can’t place this new concept by Acura… It seems to be a competitor for the X6, though. Crossover? I guess so. This new car, called the ZDX, is powered by a V6 (the specifications of which are currently unknown) and an apparently all-new six-speed automatic (likewise on the specs). It uses the same SH-AWD system that the new TL does, which is good news, and I’ll be excited to see how they adapt it to the weight of a heavier vehicle. In terms of styling, it’s pretty cool, but I want to see the final production version to make a real judgement.

These are the SUVs that have debuted thus far in New York, and expect a lot more to come relating to the NYIAS in the next few days.

Since 2001, the Toyota Prius has been an iconic car for the green revolution of automobiles. It’s easily recognizable to everyone, too. Look, there goes a hybrid! In Hollywood, there’s even a function that can be used amongst celebrities to determine how ‘green’ any of these ‘stars’ are: basically, (number of Prius owned) x (amount of times owning of said Prius is mentioned on the red carpet) = (apparent greenness). Jesting aside, I drove something yesterday that puts the Prius on notice. Who would of thought? Diesel power conquering the Hybrid-Drive? Well, Europe has known of this phenomenon for quite a while, but now is better than ever for the ‘States to catch up. This is my second Volkswagen post in a month, yes, and I realize I’m fanboying a little bit here, but bear with me me: the Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI is out for green blood.

A Diesel?

Yes, a diesel. You’d never know, though, if you didn’t see the TDI badge which sits on the lower rear of the wagon’s hatch. Maybe if you were really concentrating, listening for the slight grumble when you start the car or give it a little extra throttle on the highway. But where’s the smell? And the smoke? Well, maybe you should stop living in the past. Modern diesels are considered “clean diesels” for a reason. Meeting California’s tough (ridiculous?) emissions standards is no easy task for a diesel, but the Sportwagen TDI passes with flying colors. Lots of people seem to love this car. The government does: they’ll pay you $1500 for buying one. The Green Car Journal loves it too: enough, in fact, to give it the Green Car of the Year award for 2009. Last and definitely not least, you would: at more than 40 miles per gallon, average, you’ll be happy at the pumps (especially considering diesel prices are great right now). And does it deserve all of this love? Of course.

Efficient Fun

In the Prius, all the efficiency comes at a price: performance. Roughly translated? Fun. The Sportwagen TDI, though, provides an engaging and fun driving experience. Volkswagen have given the TDI the same DSG that sits in my R32, albeit with a slightly different set of governing software. I was excited to try this familiar gearbox with the 2.0L turbocharged diesel, and my excitement was rightfully placed: this torque-graced engine produces 236 foot-pounds of it, which is the same as my car. However, as it is a traditional high-torque, low-horsepower diesel, the horsepower takes a hit: there are only 140 horses in this engine. Zero to sixty is just under nine seconds, which seems fairly poor until you compare it to the rivals, such as the Prius, who come in at over eleven seconds. On the highway, this works quite well for overtaking. When you delve into the other performance categories aside from acceleration, you find out why the Sportwagen TDI really shines in comparison to its green competitors: handling. Like a typical Volkswagen front-drive car, the TDI is responsive, grips well enough, and is genuinely a pleasure to drive. The interior is exactly the same as all other Mark V-platform cars from VW, including mine, but with different colors and certain alternate trim materials, so the build quality is good and the ergonomics are excellent.

What Does This Mean?

A similarly-loaded Prius to this TDI I drove comes in at $27,000, in comparison to the TDI’s $25,000. For this, you don’t even get leather heated seats in the Prius, which are only available on the top-of-the-line package at almost $29,000. This deal is a no-brainer. What are you going to opt for? The expensive, slow, and smug Toyota or the well-engineered, practical, and genuinely fun Volkswagen? I know which I’d rather have. What does this mean for green technology, though? If I had to steer this technological development in any given direction, I’d have to say that companies should combine the technologies: all the perks of the diesel drivetrain on the highway with the efficiency of an electric motor at low speeds. The question is, who’s better prepared to do this? I’ll give that to Volkswagen with only a moment of thought, because I’m not sure Toyota even knows what diesel is.