Jim Kenzie's The Driver's Seat

Tidbits from the Auto Show

One of the automotive blogs appears to own the 'SkyWalk', the pedestrian bridge that connects Union Station and the Subway to the South Building of the MTCC.

Among the many ads they have hanging here is this one.

OO-OO!!

Leaked drawings of the new Corvette!!

Let's rush right home and look those up!

Or maybe we can work the browser on our smart phone and see them right now!

That's the thing about blogs - you get your information so fast!

No, wait - we can go downstairs and see the actual car...

Or, we could have been following www.wheels.ca on January 13, over a month ago, and watched the world premier unveiling of the car live via video...

Two Hot British Models

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two doors.

Four wheels.

Famed British brand with a massive motorsport history.

And exactly 616 force-inducted horsepower.

Those details aside, it's hard to imagine two more-different cars than the Bentley Continental Speed GT (above left, as if I had to point that out) and the McLaren 12C Spider (the red one).

Hardtop / convertible.

Four seats / two seats.

Front-engine / mid-engine.

Four-wheel drive / rear-wheel drive.

Turbocharged W12 / supercharged V6.

Oh yeah, another similarity - they're both really, really fast.

I drove these two cars more-or-less back-to-back - well, same week, in different countries in Europe, a while ago.

I confess, I've been a bit slow getting the details to you.

But that is being resolved as we type - we'll have full reports on each in the coming week or so.

I'm not really giving too much away when I say you should be looking forward to both.

 

Ben the Antipodean Navigator

The Mazda6 I'm driving this week has a SatNav system based on the TomTom architecture, a brand better known (at least to me) for its aftermarket units.

The Mazda comes with a variety of computer voices you can choose from, in a variety of languages. Want to get your directions in German or Portuguese? You're in luck.

Apparently, you can also download other voices from the Internet, including Darth Vader or Bart Simpson.

Not sure I want to get driving directions from either of those guys.

But the voice that's in there now is apparently 'Ben from New Zealand', although he sounded more Australian to me. Click on the link below to hear how 'Ben' tells you that you have reached your destination:

Download TomTom_message_2013-02-17-151139

In case you're unfamiliar with Aussie (or, presumably, Kiwi) slang, 'sunnies 'are sunglasses...

I'm too cheap to go near a toll road, but I've been told that if you approach a toll booth, Ben will helpfully suggest, "Hope you've got some coinage!"

I find this all terribly funny.

But I can also see that you might get tired of it eventually.

In which case, you could always go with Darth or Bart.

 

Ford's Forehead-Slapper Fuel Filler System

Have you driven a Ford lately?

No, I'm not thinking back to their old marketing slogan.

But have you driven one since they introduced this fuel filler cap-less system back in 2008?

Makes you want to slap your forehead and say, "Geez; why didn't I think of that?"

The one in this photo is on a Raptor F-Series pick-up, but it has become a feature on most if not all new Fords.

A few other non-Fords have added it too, including the (Oshawa-built!) Cadillac XTS, the Chrysler 300C, and the new Acura RLX.

Certainly at first blush, this seems like a terrific idea. No more gas cap to worry about - or forget, if the tether strap (a forehead-slapper in its own day) is broken.

And your hands don't have to come in contact with that dirty old cap.

Women apparently are particularly receptive to this device, for among other reasons, a concern that whoever fuelled the car last might have wrenched the cap on so tight they can't remove it.

According to Ford, a stick or an improper nozzle won't release the valve, so it's more-or-less tamper-proof.

What if you want to put in some sort of gasoline additive? Or maybe fuel from a portable gas can when you run out?

Ford's got that covered; the tool kit on thus-equipped Fords contains a specially-designed funnel that opens the valve and allows input of whatever you want.

Concerned that someone might use such a funnel to put dirt or whatever in your tank? (What, are you paranoid? Or do you really travel in such a neighbourhood?)

Either way, that's no more of a problem than with any fuel filler system. Yes, you'd be better off in either case if your fuel filler door has a remote release inside the car; not all capless Fords do.

But if you want to protect against that, you can buy a locking plug from Ford, although it removes a lot of the handiness of the system.

Not earth-shaking maybe.

But I think it's pretty cool.

 

Watch Lamborghini's Chief Designer draw the Aventador Roadster

I used to draw cars as a kid.

Who amongst us didn't?

They didn't look like this one. In fact, I couldn't - still can't - draw a straight line with a ruler. I had to find some other way of expressing my interest in the subject. Whatever you may think of my writing or photography, they beat the heck out of my drawing.

So when I see someone who CAN draw, it just impresses the hell out of me.

This video below is long by the standards of today's video clips - about 8 minutes.

It shows Filippo Perini, Chief Designer for Lamborghini, sketching the Aventador Roadster freehand at the recent press preview for the car in Miami.

If you have any interest whatsoever in this car, or in drawing cars, I think you'll find it a worthwhile investment of your time.

The sketch is a bit - well, sketchy - from paper to overhead projector to my camera to YouTube to your monitor, you lose some resolution.

You may have to squint; it gets clearer as he progresses.

And Perini's voice is a little muted - crank up your speakers, and please enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Lamborghini Races a Jet Plane

At Homestead in Miami helping to achieve the long-term objective of all professional automotive journalists - pushing forward the advent of hydrogen as a fuel by burning up petroleum as fast as we can.

The Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster is a willing and able assistant. More details soon on wheels.ca and in Wheels.

To see a video of the public reveal video of the car in Miami, click here.

If it doesn't work as a hot link, cut-and-paste the following URL into your browser:

 

http://www.thenewsmarket.com/lamborghini-aventador-lp-700-4-roadster-high-speed-demonstration-on-closed-miami-international-airport-runway/s/48b54b59-aafa-42a2-8b25-ccc0a69d259d#

 

Click on the little video camera icon with (1) beside it, then on the little red arrow just above the HD logo. This will give you a demo of this video.

Assuming you have seen it and have come back here, think about it: who in their right mind would even think about asking an American airport for permission to use a runway for a car unveiling?

They are so paranoid - perhaps justifiably - about security down here.

And we're not talking good ol' Amurrican cars like Corvette or Mustang here; we're talking an Italian super-car company.

Turns out Lamborghini's PR folks had spoken with the city of Miami about how they could use this 'lifestyle' city to show off their car, and give Miami some coverage too.

The parade through the city - and the closed freeways - were arranged.

Lamborghini then asked the airport if it would be possible to have a separate customs inspection line for the media and other VIPs.

Turns out that was not on.

But the airport authorities suggested that maybe Lamborghini might like to use the runway for a photo shoot of some sort? Turns out there's a local reality TV show based on the Miami airport, and it would also provide fodder for that.

Um, sure...

They could only spare 20 minutes, and if an airplane had to land in an emergency or whatever, the FAA would insist on it being scrubbed.

No worries - it was an opportunity too good to pass up.

American Airlines tossed in the Boeing Triple 7, and the rest you can see for yourself.

 

Motoring TV's Car of the Year Show

Do we need another Car of the Year?

Sure, why not?

Well, its not really 'another' Car of the Year.

It's been a feature of TSN's Motoring televsion - if not from the very beginning, way back in 1988, then from a long way back.

I always kid host Brad Diamond and road tester Graeme Fletcher that they almost always pick the wrong car - while I am a commentator on the show, I don't participate in this choice.

Motoring's 2013 Car of the Year will be announced on a one-hour special episode of the show, debuting Saturday Jan. 25, at noon EST.

On TSN, of course.

Because I was part of the taping of this show, I know whether they got it right this year.

But am I gonna tell you now?

Of course not.

So, take a few minutes off from wheels.ca and tune in!

You can also check out the Motoring web site at www.motoringtv.com .

Another MASSIVE Failure of Democracy

I've been involved in the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) Car of the Year evaluation process from the very beginning.

And while I haven't always - often haven't, in fact - agreed with all of the selections, I still believed it was the most thorough, most objective process of any such program anywhere in the world.

But today, I am really shaking my head.

The finalists for the Canadian Car of the Year were announced this morning at the Montreal Auto Show.

They are:

Honda Accord

Hyundai Elantra GT

Porsche Boxster

Worthy cars all.

But where is the Cadillac ATS?

This is the obvious overall Car of the Year, and has already been chosen (and in some cases announced) as such by several other competitions, some of which have some significance (the North American Car of the Year; others to come), others which don't (I won't dignify them with a mention).

But even the latter have got it right.

We have got it horribly wrong.

I'm not completely alone here; even some of GM's competitors expressed surprise that the ATS didn't make the Top Three.

The way it works in the AJAC competition is that to be eligible for the Overall title, a car has to win its category at the AJAC Test Fest, which took place last October. The ATS did (beating among others the BMW 3 Series, the perennial benchmark in the global sport sedan segment). Of course, Accord, Elantra GT and Boxster won their respective categories too.

Then the voting AJAC members cast another ballot ranking the category winners. It is weighted thus: Merit (40%); Value (20%); Environment (10%), Safety (10%); Market Significance (10%); Emotional Appeal (10%).

Given that all the cars have 'merit' - they wouldn't have got this far if they didn't - it's hard to see how there could have been much of a swing there.

Likewise value. Now, the Accord and Hyundai obviously cost less than the Cadillac, but the Boxster costs more - a lot more. And has two seats versus four or five, etc.

Environment? As I have said many times before, the modern automobile simply isn't an issue when it comes to the environment. But even so, there can't be that much difference among these cars on this count either.

Likewise safety. All cars must pass the same crash tests, and the Cadillac offers some unique and significant safety advances the other don't, such as the ''crash warning seat" (which as a member of the AJAC Best New Technology panel, I figured would be the overall winner but my colleagues on this panel didn't even vote for it to make the Top Ten cut...).

So, how could there have been much of a swing on safety?

The remaining two categories are where I figured the Caddy would have a strong showing.

Accord has 'market significance' because it sells in big numbers, in a big segment.

But a 'Car of the Year' should not be chosen based solely on sales. That'd be like the Oscar going to Texas Chain Saw Massacre XVII simply because it sold the most tickets.

A Car of the Year should somehow 'move the marketing goalposts', make some sort of a statement. And for a domestic manufacturer to take on the best of the foreign competition in the compact sports sedan segment and do so well (cf beating BMW 3 Series in the AJAC event), surely that is an amazing feat.

The Boxster was already among the top sports cars in its class, and sells in pretty small numbers overall. So how could it have scored that well here?

The Elantra? A hatchback version of the car that won last year's overall title?

Hardly significant at all.

True, the Boxster would score highly in Emotional Appeal. But so should have the Cadillac.

Accord and Elantra? Emotional Appeal?

Come on.

So it is a complete mystery.

And so I guess it shall remain because the ballots and vote tallies are kept secret.

Maybe that's how it should be, to save some of the individual electors from even greater embarrassment.

BTW, the finalists for Utility Vehicle of the Year are Ford Escape and Hyundai Santa Fe. No arguments from me there.

 

Best Detroit Auto Show Coverage Anywhere!

I honestly don't fully understand all this FaceTube/Tweedle Social Media stuff.

I thought a hash tag was something hippies stuck on their doobies so they'd know which was whose.

So while we have supposedly linked our Twitter and Facebook accounts to our Detroit Auto Show coverage, I don't know for sure if you can get from one to the other.

Just to cover all my bases, let me say here that if you want to follow the most popular Detroit Auto Show coverage available** bounce on over to wheels.ca.

 

** How do we know this? I'm not sure how this is measured, but according to whoever does measure it, the only site that got more Google hits on the Detroit Show yesterday - the main press day - was the Auto Show site itself. We not only blew every other Canadian media site out of the water (most of them weren't even IN the water...) but we hammered all the Amurrican and furrin' sites too.

Yay us.

 

2013 Toyota RAV4 at Los Angeles Auto Show

While unveiling the fourth-generation Toyota RAV4, Bill Fay, group vice-president of Toyota's US sales arm, said the original RAV4 was the 'first crossover SUV'.

How soon the forget the American Motors Eagle...

The new RAV4 has sleeker styling - Fay called it 'more emotional - more room inside, and perhaps most important, a higher-quality interior, which the RAV sorely needed.

As before, RAV4 will be offered in front- and four-wheel drive models. The 4x4 gets something Toyota calls 'Dynamic Torque Control', whereby it operates generally in front-drive, and transfers power to the rear axle if conditions require, so you get traction when you need it, better fuel consumption the rest of the time.

Toyota says system this is a first for the company, but isn't it pretty much what Honda CR-V (among others) has had for ever?

The system also has a 'lock' mode; below 40 km/h, you can engage all four wheels for those really tough cottage roads or deep snow.

Two other departures for the new RAV4:

- the spare tire has been moved off the rear side-hinged door to under the floor, enabling a lift-up tailgate which is more convenient for most customers and most loads;

- no V6 option any more. This segment is fuel-economy-conscious, and those who want V6 power can move up to the Highlander, said Fay.

The RAV's 2.5 litre four cylinder now produces 176 horsepower, which is actually three less than Toyota Canada's web site says the current model has. But the extra two ratios in the six-speed automatic (over the previous model), and now with manual override shifting, Sport or ECO modes, actually improve both performance and fuel economy.

A higher level of equipment - SatNav is available on all but the base trim level and power tailgate on the range-topping Limited - keeps RAV4 competitive.

Pricing won't be released until closer to the January 2013 intro date, but given the competitive nature of this segment, it can't be much different than the current model, which starts at $24,865.

As before, the new RAV4 will be built in Toyota's Woodstock Ontario plant.

 

- 30 -