If Motor Mavens legitimately got a call from a well-placed friend and truly snuck in to fiddle with a $400,000 car that's ostensibly in trustworthy care, we apologize, but it smells really staged from here. It doesn't matter, though, the LFA looks fantastic in this video, and the LCD gauges are cool to watch in action. That's the real value of this video, watching the interior come alive like the bridge of some kind of spaceship.

Damon talked about the way the gauges animate to display different information, but watching the display slide around makes us want to be the guy sitting in the driver's seat, twiddling all the buttons with meaty, indiscriminate paws. The entirety of the car is as worthy of "dude, check this out" as you'd expect from a supercar-class vehicle. Check it out after the jump, and let us know if we're being too suspicious.

We're just having trouble with details like interested-looking parties reflected in the window of the opening shot, and the fact that it's supposed to be poor quality, but looks pretty decent and apparently, when you drop everything and run out of the house, you take the time to call a cameraman. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to go line our winter hats with tinfoil. Thanks for the tip, Michael!



Photos copyright ©2009 Damon Lavrinc / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Motor Mavens]

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With the LA Auto Show near at hand, Chris, Dan, and Editor Extraordinaire Paukert sat down and talked over some of the latest for Episode #155 of the Autoblog Podcast. First up is the surprisingly thorough re-rework of the Mustang, before we move on to talk about the early release of U.S.-spec Ford Fiesta pictures. Gazing at photos brings us to the Chevrolet Cruze, which has also been lensed in North American garb. The Chinese-market Buick Excelle is rumored as a possibility for our market, and we scratch our heads about that for a while. Toyota's handling of its gas pedal recall and Nissan's low-priced and well-integrated navigation unit wraps it up before we move on to some of your questions. Right before signing off, we jump back to talk briefly about the newly unveiled Audi A8 and Saab's sad fortunes. At one hour, 50 minutes, it's an epic. We blame Paukert.

If you get bored once the new Autoblog Podcast bliss has worn off, check out our colleagues at Joystiq and Engadget. Let us know what you think by dropping us an email at Podcast at Autoblog dot com, reviewing the show in iTunes, filling out our survey, or even leaving us a voicemail on our Google Voice line 734-288-8POD (734-288-8763). Thanks for listening, we'll see you next week!

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It was bound to happen. Think back to when Volkswagen Beetles infested the roads of the globe; there was no shortage of customized Bugs. Tata aims to put the world on wheels with its low-priced Nano, offering mobility to India's massive population for what many Americans just dropped on Black Friday. To stave off an impending swarm of same-same vehicles, and cash in with buyers looking to stand out, New Delhi-based Carnation Auto (not to be confused with North America's Car Nation) has teamed up with Dilip Chhabria's DC Design to offer prefab-custom options for the Nano.

The endeavor has been given the tagline, "The Artist Meets the Enabler," and it began with tarted-up offerings for the Toyota Innova, creating a car called the Innov8. If the reworked MPV is any indication, we can expect the DC Design Nano to have an interior that apes a Gulfstream, while we can all plainly see what's been done to the exterior. The Nano kit is not yet available, but Carnation says it will be ready to join the already-available Innova, Honda City, and Suzuki Swift kits in 2010. We're sure opinions abound over this visually-charged Nano, so feel free to express yourselves in the comments. Press release posted after the jump.



[Source: CarnationDC.com via Indian Auto Talk]

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As Hyundai continues to pull itself up by its bootstraps, the company is moving decisively and picking up share around the globe. However, one key market continues to be so problematic for the brand that they've decided to abandon it altogether: Japan. Rather than dodder around and wait for its disappointing performance to improve, Hyundai is tying off the bleeder that is the company's Japanese market presence. The cars themselves, either under Hyundai badging or as Kias, have become contenders in terms of styling and quality, two key indicators of the company's commitment. And the move into Japan was part of Hyundai's worldwide plan for expansion. For all its efforts, though, the famously insular market has deflected this outsider. In the eight years Hyundai has been selling vehicles in Japan, it has only managed to shift 15,000 units.

For all its efforts, 1,875 cars per year just isn't worth it to Hyundai, though it will still try to sell commercial vehicles to Japan. According to the South Korean daily, Chosun Iibo, tariffs are slapped on outsiders selling cars in Japan, and the size of some models Hyundai's been trying to market there doesn't match up with typical Japanese garages and parking spaces. Buyers who have the space for larger cars aren't the ones Hyundai's trying to nab, either. Those purchasers typically pursue higher-end metal.

Interestingly, rival Toyota might see Hyundai's move as a sort of victory. Toyota itself established a beachhead in the more-welcoming South Korean market in 2000, and has been selling thousands of vehicles there under its Lexus and Toyota nameplates. While Hyundai is giving up on Japan, Toyota's looking to move more cars than ever in South Korea.

[Sources: CNBC. Chosun]

The string of interesting and offbeat Volkswagens from the firm's Brazilian division is enough to fill a coffee-table book. The SP2, for example, is one of the prettiest variations ever laid atop Type III mechanicals, one that many die-hard Volks-fans in the United States have never heard of. The rest of the world probably knows better what VW do Brasil has wrought; forty-something years of cars we'd dearly love to roll here in The States, but which never came north. Eventually, a Brazilian VeeDub did head for os Estados Unidos.

Instead of Brasilias or Karmann Ghia TCs, we got the Fox. Known in Brazil as the Gol, which rode on its own BX platform, itself a derivate of the B1 platform that underpinned other VW and Audi products. Our Foxes were all sedans or wagons, but a recent troll of old car ads on Flickr turned up this masterpiece. Look carefully - we always thought the Fox transaxle looked a lot like the naughty bits of a Beetle. And there it is, a doghouse-shrouded 1300cc bit of air-cooled muscle mounted in the FRONT. Hot diggety, this thing has it all, 3-door hatch bodywork, a flat-four, and no pesky coolant to boil over in tropical climes. The closest you can come to something like this now is an Impreza hatch, which is an exponentially better car. That doesn't stop us from thinking about bolting that spare 1600DP into a Polo-Edition Fox and warping everyone's minds at the next Spring Dust-Off.

[Source: Flickr/Hugo90 - CC2.0]

Episode #154 of the Autoblog Podcast is here for your tryptophan-addled pleasure. Chris, Sam, and Dan kick it, starting with the BMW 5 Series, then move on to such appetite supressants as the Lexus GX, Acura ZDX and its pricing, and Infiniti's re-style of the massive QX56 rig. Before we become an emetic, we move on to the pretty new Infiniti M, the ongoing anticipation for a US-bound Chevrolet Spark, and Hyundai's new 2.4 liter direct-injection 4 cylinder for the next Sonata. We hit some questions, and wrap it up in time for pie.

If you're looking to bulk up on podcast excellence over the Thanksgiving holiday, check out our colleagues at Joystiq and Engadget. Let us know what you think by dropping us an email at Podcast at Autoblog dot com, reviewing the show in iTunes, filling out our survey, or even leaving us a voicemail on our Google Voice line 734-288-8POD (734-288-8763). Thanks for listening, we'll see you next week!

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"Being close" matters with horseshoes, hand grenades and misguided arithmetic. In past years, the Infiniti G sedan has been close, but compared to the Kaiser of the Klasse, BMW's 3 Series, the G35 was near the stake, but not a ringer. "Almost as good," we'd all nod, "but its biggest strength is that it's a bargain."

When the G37 arrived, our initial thought was it was simply an amplified G35, a car that's delighted our socks off in the past. But same car, bigger engine isn't the whole of the story. Just as gourmet chefs tinker with recipes, Infiniti has made adjustments. Embracing the spirit of Kaizen, Infiniti refuses to leave well enough alone, and the G37XS doesn't need to trade as heavily on its value proposition anymore. The G line has always driven well, but there's always been compromise, too. Cheap interiors, choppy ride – a history of "not quite." Has the G improved to the point of full greatness? And what happens when you add all-wheel drive to the mix? We hit the road to find out.



Photos copyright ©2009 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.

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The 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour hasn't won too many fans amongst the automotive press, and while we're sure it fills the Accord Wagon space in Honda's lineup, the way the Crosstour has a foot both in the wagon and CUV realms still has us scratching our heads. Taking a peek at what's being cross-shopped against Honda's latest offering proves potential customers are in the same boat.

Fitting every car into a neat categorical box is a fool's errand, but the Crosstour is apparently making everyone wonder just where it belongs. According to early Edmunds' data, buyers seem to think the Crosstour competes most closely with the Toyota Venza, with ToMoCo's wagon-on-stilts being cross-shopping against the Crosstour more than any other vehicle. Other Honda models are also heavily considered against the Crosstour, according to Edmunds Auto Observer, as are a panoply of other cars. Luxury rides like the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series wind up in the comparison column, as do more traditional crossovers like the Chevrolet Equinox and Toyota RAV-4.

While the Crosstour has been called lots of unflattering things, it's clear that figuring out whether it's neatly described as fish or fowl is more of a thorny chestnut. That said, none of this is exactly important if the car is generating showroom traffic and moving units.



Photos copyright ©2009 Chris Paukert / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Edmunds Auto Observer]

Not satisfied with cars that manage crash forces well enough to avoid spilling your drink, and engines that run so clean they'll barely asphyxiate ants, a new crash test is reportedly coming in the works from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Along with the test will come new dummies and new testing equipment, all of which means it's likely to have a big impact on future car designs. The side-impact pole test will simulate side collisions with objects like trees or telephone poles, a type of accident that current side-impact tests don't accurately simulate.

According to The New York Times, the new test will use a 10-inch round pole that will collide with the car at speeds of up to 20 mph. A 75-degree angle will be used, and the point of impact will be just aft of the A-pillar. Naturally, automakers won't have to pass the test all at once, the standard will be phased in. For 2011, 20 percent of an automaker's fleet will have to meet the standard and by 2014, the pole crash standard will be at 100 percent – all new cars will have to comply.

It's a change that could potentially change the face of auto design, the same way pedestrian impact standards in Europe have led to some peculiar front sheetmetal. Materials changes may also be employed to meet the regulation, with additional high-strength steel being substituted. The more conventional metals currently used are easier to form, while stronger metals require all sorts of hot pressing and tempering to be put into shape. Manufacturing cost will go up, which means prices will probably also increase, or profit will decrease while prices hold steady. Safe cars are a laudable goal, but how safe is safe enough? Follow the jump to see a video of how Ford's 2010 Mustang GT convertible and coupe models fare, then let us know what you think by leaving a comment.

[Source: The New York Times]

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Long-serving automotive journalist Phil Berg joins regulars Chris, Sam, and Dan to chew over some recent items. Starting us off, the car we all want in our driveways, the Cadillac CTS-V Sportwagon continues to be grist for the rumormill. Staying with GM, we move on to the debut of the Buick Regal and its potential use of GM's latest mild hybrid system. We next hit up the coming Impala, which will not be a version of the stillborn Pontiac G8, before we comment briefly about third quarter reports and the fervor surrounding GM's financials. The final two items before we hit questions are the delay of BMW's new X3, and a possible wagon or SUV version of the Toyota Prius.

Let us know what you think by dropping us an email at Podcast at Autoblog dot com, reviewing the show in iTunes, filling out our survey, or even leaving us a voicemail on our Google Voice line 734-288-8POD (734-288-8763). Thanks for listening, we'll see you next week!

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