Crave

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This car is not as boring as it looks.

As we have written about at length, ethanol fuel is gaining momentum as a possible alternative to gas.

The Saab BioPower E100 concept vehicle, which is at the New York Auto Show, runs on E100 (100 percent bioethanol fuel). The BioPower E100 would be a turbocharged 2.0 liter engine that offers 300 horsepower and runs on bioethanal.

While the BioPower E100, which debuted at the Geneva Auto Show, is only a concept, Saab does sell the Saab 9-5 BioPower, which runs on E85.

The Saab 9-5 BioPower, which is sold in Europe, is part of Saab's flex-fuel lineup.

Flex-fuel vehicles, are just what they sound like: vehicles that are flexible regarding the kind of fuels they can use, so you can still fill up on ordinary gas if you find yourself in a place where ethanol is not an option.

Find Ferraris just a little too pretentious? How about a Maserati with a Ferrari engine whose interior looks like it stepped right out of the Saville Row for cars?

The 2008 Maserati GranTurismo had its North American debut at the New York Auto Show on Thursday. While Maserati will say otherwise, this car is more about speeding in style than those into down and dirty performance.

(Credit: Maserati)

The car takes 5.1 seconds to go 0 to 60 and has a maximum speed of 177 mph (notably not 185). The car has a 405-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 engine mounted in a front-mid-engine layout (low and behind the front axle) as on the Quattroporte (four door), so its weight is more evenly distributed in a 49 percent to 51 percent split front to back, according to Maserati. The transmission is a 6-speed automatic with optional paddle shifter mounted on the steering column.

The car was styled by design company Pininfarina and it shows.

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With Ferragamo luggage designed specifically to fit in the trunk and a Poltrona Frau leather interior, sitting in the Maserati GranTurismo is like sitting in a finely appointed fashion showroom.

If only I could find an Italian tailor as good as the Italian upholsterer that did this interior.

A Maserati representative said that the company expects the car to be available in the fourth quarter of this year. Of course, 20 have already been ordered and the company plans to limit production to far fewer than the Quattroporte.

And yes, don't know if you can see it in the picture, but the car show models did sport tattoos of Neptune's trident, the Maserati logo, on their shoulders. Pretty cool.

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Given Callaway Cars' close proximity to New York City in Old Lyme, Conn., this week's auto show was the logical locale for a debut.

Arguably the best work from Callaway Cars designer Paul Deutschman, the C16 cabriolet was introduced to the public at the 2007 New York International Auto Show on Thursday. Company founder Reeves Callaway introduced the car.

Callaway unveils the C16 cabriolet

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Callaway C16 coupe

(Credit: Callaway Cars)

The cabriolet incorporates the same bulging bodylines and race inspired "form follows function" design of the C16 coupe, which was based originally on the Corvette C6. The loss of a top, however, has resulted (thankfully) in the loss of those less-than-inspiring rear pillars that broke up the side and rear profile of the C16 coupe.

Deutchman's design is unmarred by door handles. The C16 has an antenna buried in its body that responds to the owner passing her hand over an area of the door, as long as the keychain is in her pocket.

Callaway C16 cabriolet

(Credit: Callaway Cars)

Of course, many will say that the C16 is not about looking good. The base 560 horsepower engine (upgradeable to a 616 horsepower behemoth) will get you to the inevitable traffic jam on the Merritt Parkway faster than you can say, "I told you to take 95!"

The car does a top speed of 206 mph, goes from zero to 60 in 3.4 seconds and does the quarter-mile in 10 seconds--all the while maintaining a 100,000 warranty. The carbon magnesium hybrid wheels weigh only 17.2 pounds each, compared with the usual 28 pounds from an aluminum one.

And the interior ain't bad either.

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The car is emissions-compliant in all 50 states and gets about 18 miles per gallon in the city and 30 on the highway, according to Callaway.

All this for roughly the price of two regular C6 Corvette convertibles. The C16 cabriolet starts at $128,000.

Update: The original post incorrectly stated the speed of the C16. It does the quarter-mile in 11 seconds and has a top speed of 206 mph.

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No matter how well you arrange the lighting and polish up the fenders, you just can't control everything. This was a lesson that Mercedes-Benz learned here at the 2007 New York auto show when the roof sprang a leak directly above its 2008 350 sedan, making its North American debut in front of thousands of journalists on the show's press preview days. Staff from the convention center did their best to clean up the unexpected interior downpour, but not before the car got a good dousing. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the Mercedes press release on the new 2008 C-Class that suggests it has rain-sensing wipers. Perhaps next year, Mercedes can use XM Satellite Radio's WX weather service to avoid the exhibition-floor trouble spots.

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Here at the 2007 New York auto show, we just got a demo of the next in-car offering from XM Satellite Radio: XM WX real-time weather service. As we reported last year, XM is planning to bring the WX service (originally designed for nautical and aviation use) to aftermarket devices this summer with the release of the Bushnell ONIX 400 handheld GPS device. According to XM reps, the same technology is about a year away from being integrated into in-car navigation systems in much the same way as XM's NavTraffic real-time traffic service.

XM WX makes use of a data feed from Weatherworks, a company that provides TV stations with the info they need for their own weather forecasts. The weather information, which is overlaid onto GPS maps in 7-kilometer grids, is updated every 30 seconds. As well as information on real-time weather conditions, XM WX can be used to call up weather forecasts for up to a week ahead. The service will be offered for a price similar to that of XM NavTraffic, which means an approximate $4 monthly premium on the standard XM Satellite Radio subscription fee of $12.95 per month.

While Audi lost the World Car of the Year award to the self-parking Lexus, there are other areas in which the German company made its mark this year.

Audi TT

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Audi took the 2007 World Car Design of the Year Award for the Audi TT and the 2007 World Car Performance Award for the Audi RS4.

Audi RS4

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"There is a segment of the public for whom performance overrides all else, said Dan Carney, director of the award committee and an automotive journalist for Edmunds Inside Line, MSNBC and other publications.

Mercedes-Benz took the 2007 World Green Car Award for its E320 Bluetec. While this may look like a dunce cap of sorts, it is actually one of the honors bestowed upon the winning car.

Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec

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Two digits instead of three on the back of a modern Mercedes Benz mean only one thing: enhanced performance courtesy of AMG, Mercedes' in-house tuning arm. To celebrate 40 years of souping up cars (first as a standalone company, then as a part of Mercedes-Benz), AMG is building a super-limited-edition version of the Mercedes CL dubbed the CL65 AMG 40th Edition. The car, which makes its debut here at the 2007 New York auto show and which will have a production run of just 40 units, boasts a hand-built 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 engine that produces 604 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, capable of catapulting the four-door coupe from standing to 60mph in 4.2 seconds.

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The CL65 AMG has a whole host of exclusive design elements, including a "liquid metal" paint job: according to Mercedes, the paint used to coat its body has significantly smaller pigment particles, which show off the car's lines better than conventional paint. Inside, the car features Nappa leather seats and an ocean of carbon-fiber trim, onto which is emblazoned numerous reminders that this is a very limited edition model, including a badge that announces it is "one out of 40". For perhaps your only chance to see some more shots of the CL65 AMG, check out our roundup of all the new models in New York.

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If it's not broke, don't fix it: this is the maxim that Honda has applied to its popular S2000 roadster for the past 6 years, making minimal modifications to the high-revving two seater.

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Here at the 2007 New York auto show, however, Honda has finally given the S2000 a new "Club Racer" trim level, designed for those drivers looking for a little more juice out of their weekend convertible.

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With a drive train unchanged from that in the regular S2000, the biggest structural modification to the S2000 CR is the replacement of the S2000's cloth roof with an as-standard removable aluminum hard top; with the top off, the new car is 90 pounds lighter. The S2000CR also boasts an ostentatious rear spoiler, a new stability bar, race-tuned suspension, and a unique interior trim. Honda estimates that, with its new modifications, the S2000CR will knock 2 seconds off the standard S2000's lap time. Check our slide show to get the full scoop with images on the 2008 Honda 2000CR.

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Infiniti is one of our favorite automakers when it comes to in-cabin gadgetry, as evidenced in our recent reviews of the 2007 M35 Sport and 2007 FX45. And here at the 2007 New York International Auto Show, the Infiniti lab coats are strutting their stuff again with the unveiling of the Infiniti EX concept. Similar in design to the space-age FX crossover, the EX concept is the forerunner to a production version due out next year. The EX concept features an arsenal of tech features that we haven't seen anywhere before.

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Perhaps the most impressive is the Around View Monitor (AVM), which uses four-range video cameras situated around the car's body to provide a real-time 360-degree view of the area around the car, which is shown on an in-dash LCD screen. Infiniti designers told us that the AVM will be offered on the production version of the EX. Another unique technology that will make it to production is the EX's Lane Departure Prevention system. Like the Lane Departure Warning system that we saw in the FX, the LDP uses cameras to monitor when the car drifts out of its lane on the freeway. The LDP system goes one better by using the car's stability control system to apply braking to the opposite side wheels when drift is detected.

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The final innovative technology on the EX--that won't see production any time soon--is the car's electronically dimming roof. Using a secondary touch screen in the center console, drivers can adjust the level of transparency of the roof's liquid crystal glass panels. Now that's some blue-sky thinking.