Spy Shots: 2011 Hyundai Accent caught testing near Disneyland

Filed under: Spy Photos, Budget, Sedan, Hyundai, South Korea

Typically when we show you spy shots, you’re seeing photographs taken by people not directly employed by Autoblog. Today, however, is different. Yours Truly and Drew Phillips were driving back from San Diego after the Aptera state-of-the-state address. We were getting off the phone with Senior Editor Damon Lavrinc when I said, “And Drew’s going to pull out his camera and look to his right.” Thar she blows, a fully dressed up prototype, about to exit the freeway in heavy, mid-day Irvine traffic.

We pull up next to the car at the bottom of the off ramp. “Don’t look at them!” Drew advised, wanting to wait until we had at least one clear shot until we alerted them of our true nature. Still, we were scrambling to figure out what was idling next to us. At first glance, I thought the compact, obvious B-segment car might be a Ford Fiesta sedan. But every Fiesta we’ve ever seen sports rear drums, not big discs like this camo’d car. Also, the side mirrors looked different. However, we could see the top of the center stack and it featured lots of sharp looking chrome bits, quite like the diminutive Ford. “It’s definitely a Fiesta” I said confidently to Drew. “Look at the interior.”

“Isn’t that a Hyundai “H” on the steering wheel?” Drew pointed out. And so it was. Then the light turned green. We got in their rear three-quarter blind spot, and Drew’s Nikon suddenly exploded in a volley of “Click-Click-Click-Click.” We tailed them until the next light and then Drew leaned across me and let ‘er rip. At this point, the Accent’s passenger (we had already determined that this must be the new Accent) had made us. Drew jumped in the back seat and slid his lens out the window and began firing. The jig was up – but the game was on. Click through to the jump to read the rest of what happened.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Spy Shots: 2011 Hyundai Accent caught testing near Disneyland

Spy Shots: 2011 Hyundai Accent caught testing near Disneyland originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupe, Electric

Aptera invited us down to the Palomar Airport in stunningly beautiful Carlsbad, CA to show off the latest iteration of their three-wheeled, high-mileage electric car, the 2010 2e. Before the fairly-close-to-production-ready car was driven into Hanger #11, CEO Paul Wilbur gave a state of the Aptera union address, explaining why the company has had its head down for the past several months. After all, a year ago you couldn’t causally glance at a magazine or newspaper without seeing the white three-wheeler. But lately? Not so much.

According to Wilbur, this has been intentional. The first reason is due to funding. “2009 was difficult,” Wilbur explained, especially for companies seeking start-up funding. The other reason is that Aptera has been, “Engineering.” Meaning that they wanted to have a more finished, production-ready vehicle to show off to the media and customers. “We have to get it right the first time,” Wilbur explained. Going further, he stressed the fact that Aptera doesn’t want to go down in history as the next Yugo, DeLorean or Tucker. The questions then are, does Aptera have the necessary funding and is the car they showed off today actually production ready? Well… make the jump to find out.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Aptera 2e moves forward, eyes set on X Prize

Aptera 2e moves forward, eyes set on X Prize originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Japan, Hatchback, Subaru, Australia

There are more iterations of the Subaru WRX than there are wallabies in the bush. At least it feels that way to Australians. As the name suggests, the WRX Club Spec 10 is the 10th special edition Rex that Subaru has seen fit to grace the land down unda. We don’t actually get special WRX editions here in the States (save one STI variant), but that’s okay as Subaru seems to completely redesign their hot little rally champ every 24 months. However, if we did live in the world’s most scenic former British penal colony, here’s what we’d get.

Starting up front you’d get the lip spoiler off the STI for enhanced aerodynamics that (supposedly) “improves stability and cornering.” Then there’s a “flexible” strut tower brace to improve stiffness steering. We think “flexible” is Australian for “adjustable” because there’s also a “flexible” lower bar (sway bar) as well as a front end chassis brace. All of this will help reduce front end floppiness and sharpen up the already famed WRX’s handling reflexes.

WRX Club Spec 10 owners also get slightly wider 17-inch STI wheels, leather seats, sunroof and sat nav. This isn’t the very greatest WRX kit we’ve ever encountered, but Subaru of Australia is limiting the total Club Spec 10 output to just 250 units. meaning that each one is assured to be collectible. How much? $49,990 Australian dollars, or just over $46,000 in our non antipodean currency.

[Source: Subaru]

Subaru introduces WRX Club Spec 10 for Australia originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Classics, Etc.

For the past 30 years Motorbooks has been hosting Wheels & Wings, an annual “show-what-ya-brung car/motorcycle/truck/tractor extravaganza.” Sounds like our kind of party, “From AMCs to Zagatos, Ariels to Zundapps, Allis to Zetors (well, maybe not a Zetor) our friends and customers share their rides with our guests.” But what if you and your AMC Matador Brougham can’t make it to Osceola, Wisconsin this September 11? Once you get over the shame, fear not!

Motorbooks is asking for your help in designing a 30th Anniversary Wheels & Wings logo. Should your chicken scratching the fruits of your $160,000 private art school education be selected as the winner, Motorbooks will let you blow $500 on stuff they publish. You might remember that Basem Wasef’s hugely awesome Legendary Race Cars is published by Motorbooks. But did you know that they also sell Cars of the Soviet Union (which gets out highest recommendation)? Want to enter? Just click right here. Don’t want to enter? Check out a couple previous Wheels & Wings logos in the gallery below.

Design a logo, win $500 in Motorbooks originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Convertible, Budget, Hybrid, Europe, Rumormill, Diesel

We know this is about as likely as a Clenet going for above reserve at auction, but it looks as if Reliant might just be making a come back. For those that don’t know, Reliant is a British marquee most famous for making the three-wheeled Robin. Er, let’s make that infamous, as in the UK the Robin plays the roll of the Yugo-i.e. the car-butt of jokes. It’s also the car James May and Richard Hammond tried to launch into space.

However, Reliant built more than just cheap, three-wheeled junk (sorry Robin fans). They also built the mighty Scimitar. Powered by a relatively potent 3.0-liter Ford Essex V6 (at least during the latter part of the 1970s), the shooting-brake Scimitar was something of a British Camaro. In other words, a muscle car for the average bloke. And both Reliants might just be making a comeback.

Turns out that MG (yes, that MG) is looking to revive the brand. For there part Reliant has been out of the new car making business since the last Robin rolled off the assembly line in 2001. MG’s plans include a Smart ForTwo, Scion iQ fighting city car that would get badged as Robin. Not only will it feature a single front-wheel, but the new Robin will be powered by a 1.1-liter three-cylinder biodiesel hybrid that will be able to schlep around town running off nothing but electricity and then switch over to burnt oil for highway cruising.

Perhaps more interesting (if not feasible) is the new Scimitar. The proposed new car will be built off the mid-engine, rear-wheel drive MG TF and should ship as a plastic-bodied soft top. A 1.4-liter motor will produce about 110 hp – not a ton of power, but the new Scimitar should be pretty light and only cost about £10,000. That’s very cheap, considering that a 1.4-liter Honda Civic Si sells for over £16K in Britain. As Dean Moriarty might have said, nothing beats cheap kicks, man. Finally, we have about as much chance of seeing either car on this side of the Atlantic as England does of rebuilding her empire.

[Source: pistonheads.com | Image: Flickr]

Rumormill: UK’s Reliant planning new Scimitar and Robin models? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: 2010 Hyundai Tucson GLS is a stylish all-rounder without sacrifice

Are style and substance mutually exclusive in the compact CUV set? We test Hyundai’s all-new Tucson to find out.

Spy Shots: Clearest look yet at BMW’s next 6 Series

The follow-up to the 6 Series is due to arrive next year, and our spies catch BMW’s newest coupe out in the open ahead of its debut in 2011.

BMW Art Car to compete in 24 Hours of LeMans

BMW’s Art Cars rarely tread on the road, but this June, BMW’s newest rolling masterpiece is set to compete at the 24 Hours of LeMans.

Also of interest:

• Video: Sign #5,328 You Have Too Much Free Time – Lego R/C Veyron with seven-speed gearbox
• Report: Last-ditch sale effort for Hummer post wind-down announcement fading
• Motionlite retractable wheel puts the spotlight on your dubs. Yes, really. [w/video]
• Aston Martin to field near-stock Rapide at Nürburgring 24
• Report: Ford to give Falcon XR8 and FPV supercharged Coyote V8 to celebrate 50 years

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 4.6.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Europe, BMW, Luxury

We’ve been seeing spy shots of the upcoming 6-Series Convertible for some time now (also, here), but this is the first time we’ve seen the hard topped version out in the streets. Well, halfway out in the street, as BMW has it all wrapped up for up for a psytrance after-party. We will tip our hats to BMW for this black and white disguise, however, as there’s a slight resemblance to the Maserati 4200 GT in front, while they taped off the C-pillar ape the Z32 300ZX. That said, they’re not fooling anyone.

First of all, the stuff they didn’t/can’t cover with camo-wheels, brakes and mirrors-all scream BMW. Especially the “Efficient Dynamics” brake kit that will charge the battery while you’re slowing down. Also, the trunk is still fairly Bangled, though less so than the current car.

The engines will be coming out of the 7 Series, though probably not the vaunted 760Li’s twin-turbo V12. Expect the double-scroll single turbo 3.0-liter straight six and the twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8, as well as few diesel mill we won’t be seeing in the States. As far as the next M6 goes, that’s up in the air. Early reports indicate that BMW will be selling some manner of R8-fighter based on the Efficient Dynamics Concept, though it will probably be stuffed with a 600+ horsepower version of the BMW 262 cubic inch twin-turbo V8.

Before you get salty tears in your coffee, our spies also inform us that a four door version of the new 6 Series is expected. Something along the lines of a 650i Gran Turismo, including a hatch/trunk lid similar to the one found in the 550i GT. A model needed (apparently) to combat the upcoming Audi A7 four-door coupe. Those wacky Germans…

Spy Shots: Clearest look yet at BMW’s next 6 Series originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Performance, Wagon, Europe, Saab, Luxury

As you may have guessed by now, we’re very excited over the prospect of a reinViggenated reinvigorated Saab. Our thinking is, now that Trollhattan is free of General Motors, it will get back to the business of making niche three- and five-door hatches coveted by post-grad Ivy League types with mega-potent turbos blowing into longitudinal, slanty I-4s spinning the front wheels. Even if our entire Saabian wish list isn’t fulfilled, a fully independent Saab can only result in better focused cars. For instance, the 9-7X SUV will stay dead and buried.

Of course, even if the 9-7X was something of an abomination, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t Saabophiles out there that seek the all-weatherness of all-wheel drive combined with a lot of cargo hauling capability. While we suggest those people first seek out a Volvo C303, Saab’s thinking different. Badly translated reports are fluttering that not only is Saab building a 9-5X (Saab chose to brand their AWD vehicles with XWD, or “Cross-Wheel Drive” – a fancy way of saying Haldex version 4.0) that will presumably be a performance variant, but they’re also apparently set to build a XWD-equipped 9-5X SportCombi (station wagon) that will do battle with up-armored station wagons like the Audi Allroad and Volvo XC70.

The 9-5X SportCombi will be separate from the apparently still forthcoming Saab 9-4X, an actual SUV-looking CUV built on the same platform as the Cadillac SRX. It looks as if the 9-4X will be the only new Saab product not built in Sweden. One more little tidbit: As Saab wrestles itself back to its former glory, they might just be dropping the hyphenated names. Meaning that the next 9-3 might actually be billed as the Saab 93, and that this whole time we’ve been talking about the new 95X. Time will tell.

[Source: Autoweek.nl]

Saab planning XWD-equipped 9-5X wagon? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hatchback, Saab

There are some Saab enthusiasts who feel very strongly that real Saabs have longitudinal engines mounted backwards with the clutch at the prow. Anything less, any power train layout where the crank is facing port or starboard and these people cry foul. We might even have one or two of these folks on staff here at Autoblog. One of whom might be in some sort of high-ranking editorial position. Another could even be typing the words you’re reading right now. Point is, the argument can be made that Saab – the real Saab – died with the 900. Of course if you go down that road, even harder core Saabophiles will claim that the last pure Saab was the 99. Hence the problem with orthodoxy.

At any rate, as we’ve known, there’s a new, post-GM Saab 9-3 in the works. We’ve long thought the new volume Saab would ride on some version of GM’s Epsilon II platform, the same set of components that underpins the Buick Regal, LaCrosse and Saab’s own 9-5. Instead, reports Motor Trend, the next 9-3 will be based on GM’s older Epsilon I architecture that makes up the Chevy Malibu and the 9-3 from 2003. However, Saab boss Victor Muller assured MT that, “It’s a heavily modified Epsilon I platform, but Saab now. So that’s the basis for the new 9-3. So we have no further restraints. So we don’t have to share it with anyone else. Which means we can knock ourselves out to make it the car we want it to be.”

Does that mean the engine will be flipped around backwards, slanted and hooked to the transmission via a chain? Most certainly no, but we do like the part about Saab being free to be Saab. Speaking of being Saab, it looks like modern version of the classic Saab 92 might be in the works. Mr. Muller showed MT’s Todd Lassa a rendering of the proposed 9-2 on the former’s Blackberry. Lassa comments:

The car is stunning. It’s retro-futurist, as J Mays would call it, an interpretation of early Saabs drawing obvious comparisons between Mays’ Volkswagen New Beetle, the new Minis and Fiat 500. In the best tradition of Saab, it’s a polarizing design – you will love it if you’re a Saabanista. Or you will hate it. There will be no middle ground.

Actually, come to think of it, “no middle ground” would make for a good Saab mission statement. Especially if we can get ‘em to put the parking brake back on the front wheels.

[Source: Motor Trend]

Report: Next Saab 9-3 still based on GM’s Epsilon I, plus more details on Victor Muller’s Saab 9-2 sketch originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Aftermarket, New York Auto Show, Coupe, Budget, Scion

Yesterday, Scion revealed their brand spankin’ new 2011 tC to the world’s automotive press here at the New York Auto Show. We happen to think the car looks just fine, but will admit that for a youth oriented brand such as Scion, a little bit more aggression might have been nice. Meet the Five Axis tuned Scion tC, a car that couldn’t get much more aggressive unless it was holding a gun. A really big one. \ If you don’t know, Five Axis is mostly known for their show car offerings.

The “Blood Shot Red” paint is slathered over a four-inch wide body kit. The lower grill is just plain nuts. Sadly the doors of this concept were locked, but we could see (but not really photograph) that the interior’s stuffed with all sorts of customized good stuff, with lots of what appears to be leather and suede. The suspension is made up of Tein adjustable coil-overs. The brakes are ginormous (especially for a 180-horsepower tC), measuring 14-inches in front and 13-inches in the rear. But the brakes aren’t the crazy part.

The crazy part consists of the wheels. Ready? The front wheels are so big they require 245/30/20 rubber. The rear? 295/30/20. That’s right, the rear wheels are 10.5-inches wide. Remember this car’s a front-wheel driver. Sort of gives new meaning to the phrase, “all show and no go,” eh?

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

New York 2010: Five Axis mods the 2011 Scion tC originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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