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Video: 2010 Lexus RX450h
The 2010 Lexus RX450h has a revised power train and a slick new iDrive killer called "remote touch." We check it out at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.
New models
Video: 2009 Porsche Boxster and Cayman
At the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, Porsche subtlety redesigned the Boxster and the Cayman, but made sure that the two cars stayed true to their roots.
Video: 2009 Nissan 370Z
Finally, the Z stops looking like a beetle that ate too many Oreos. We take a look at the 2009 Nissan 370Z on the floor of the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.
94: LA Auto Show, highlights and doom!
LA Auto Show a mix of highlights and doom, Green Car of the Year, your cell phone becomes a traffic probe, Chrysler offers a "Web Edition".
Listen now: Download today's podcast SHOW NOTES• Nissan 370Z has rev-matching manual gearbox
• Billion dollar deal to create places for EV's to plug in?
Photos: Luxury cars over 200 grand
There are luxury brands--Mercedes-Benz and Lexus come to mind--then there are luxury brands, cars with the leather from a herd of cows and wood from a whole forest. Spyker, Ferrari, and Bentley all showed off hand-crafted cars at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. These cars feature beautiful and unique styling, high-performance engines and driving gear, advanced cabin tech, and prestigious brand names. The prices they command put them in the realm of sheiks and movie stars.
Photos: 2009 Nissan Cube
Nissan unveiled the Cube for the US market at the 2008 LA Auto Show. Though it's been available in Japan for some time now, we'll know soon enough whether American buyers are ready for the Cube when it hits showrooms as a 2009 model.
Not to be overshadowed by the 370Z, the Cube is the most unconventional designs to come out of Nissan in some time. The Cube features a squared-circle theme punctuated by a radical wrap-around asymmetrical rear window. Inside, the Cube is surprisingly spacious with a relaxing aesthetic with a concentric circle theme that's repeated … Read more
Photos: Audi Q5 and VW Touareg TDI
Volkswagen got a lot of mileage out of its 3-liter turbocharged V-6 diesel engine at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. It appeared in the Touareg TDI and the Audi Q5 TDI, signaling Volkswagen's launch of diesel SUVs in the U.S. This engine uses a complex emissions system that lets Volkswagen and Audi sell the vehicles in all 50 states. A particulate filter gets rid of the bigger stuff, while a solution called AdBlue breaks down nitrogen oxide emissions. Also on hand was the much more powerful TDI-powered Volkswagen Baja 1000 competitor.
See photos of the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q5 TDIs. … Read more
Smart announces fortwo Brabus
Smart has revealed a new version of its fortwo at the 2008 LA Auto Show, the fortwo Brabus. Brabus being the German tuning house most famous for their close ties with Mercedes-Benz. If the idea of a performance variant of the superthrifty fortwo seems a bit odd, you're not alone. We're looking at with a bit of skepticism as well.
Particularly because the fortwo Brabus features no more power than the standard 71 horsepower fortwo, choosing to boost performance in the suspension and aesthetic departments instead.
The fortwo Brabus will be released in limited quantities and made available … Read more
Photos: Ford offers a Fusion Hybrid
The Fusion, Ford's bread-and-butter mid-size sedan, gets a significant update for 2010, complete with new body work, new cabin tech options, and an all new hybrid model. Ford built on the hybrid powertrain technology it already uses in the Ford Escape Hybrid, but significantly retunes it for the Fusion, giving it a top electric speed of about 47 mph. Gas mileage is estimated to be around 38mpg city and 35mpg highway. Along with its high-tech powertrain, the Fusion Hybrid gets an innovative instrument cluster with a variety of gauges to monitor economy and powertrain operation. Putting it over the … Read more
Chrysler unveils 'Web Edition' cars
Our eyes eventually glaze over at all of the car industry's "limited editions," "value editions," and "sport editions." But Chrysler has just announced a "Web edition." OK, now we're awake.
It's not so much a car but an option package comprising a bunch of tech toys all tied to the Net by an Autonet Mobile router branded as Chrysler uConnect Web. The gear includes a Dell Mini 9 Netbook, an 8GB iPod Touch, a Sony PSP, and a digital camera with an Eye-Fi Wi-Fi SD card. All in, $1,… Read more
