CarForums.com: Car and Automotive News

It might not be 2007 yet but you wouldn’t know it in Los Angeles. This year the 2007 auto show season kicked off in early December with the Los Angeles Auto Show opening its doors December 1st. As the first major auto show of the year the LA Auto Show debuted over 30 near-future production or concept cars to the public. In total there were over 1000 cars, trucks, and SUV’s being shown including every new model from each major manufacturer. The non sales environment allowed for a very insightful look into “what is” today and “what will be” tomorrow.

Visiting each manufacturer’s floor space we were generally impressed by the fact that they were able to give us a fairly good look into the next one to two years of their production timeline. The concepts on show, including Ford’s Mustang by Giugiaro, certainly spawned a degree of excitement as well.

Walking around the show we also found a few interesting exhibits that had more than just normal cars on display. A great example was this years Subaru exhibit. On display was a Subaru Rally car which at first glance was quite impressive. Looking closer the car had even more to reveal — the week before the event the car had been in a fairly large accident while racing and while some parts had been repaired the car was still a bit rough around the edges. Clearly Subaru spent a bit of time on the setup and careful lighting hid most of the damage but if you looked closely the windshield was still cracked along with some body damage on the left side. If you ask me this was something that they should not have tried to hide! This was an actual winning Rally car. If I had seen a pristine car with not even a scratch I would probably think it was only a mock up. To me at least the rough edges seemed to really define what a Subaru Rally car is supposed to be and the punishment it can take (and give) on the road.

Other manufacturers also had some surprises to show us as well. Honda revealed for the first time in North America its new Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle called the Honda FCX. This sleek concept car is moving closer to production with some notable changes. The FCX comes equipped with a newly developed V Flow fuel-cell platform that has a fuel-cell stack placed in a center-tunnel layout. The new stack is 20-percent smaller and 30-percent lighter than the previous FCX fuel cell stack, giving it greater performance power and improved energy efficiency. As an extra power source, the FCX has a compact, lithium-ion battery. These changes give an approximate 30 percent increase in the travel range than the current hatchback FCX. Honda expects to begin limited production of the FCX in 2008 in both Japan and the United States.

This year Volkswagen revealed to us the 2007 Volkswagen Tiguan which is a compact SUV competing head to head with both the Honda CRV and Toyota Rav4. Based on the Rabbit platform, the Tiguan is between the Rabbit and Jetta in length. It holds five passengers and the rear seat can be folded down asymmetrically to accommodate cargo measuring up to 98 inches. The Tiguan is marketed as an off-roader and will have all-wheel drive available in most versions. Conscious of the environment the Tiguan is powered by a turbo diesel engine called “Clean TDI,” which uses a modular concept of three different systems to reduce emissions. Overall Volkswagon’s new offering seems like it will certainly capture market share and win over a growing market for compact SUV buyers.

Nissan, not to be left behind, has decided in 2007 to release for the first time an Altima Coupe which will join in the summer of 2007 a completely redesigned fourth-generation Altima sedan. Although sharing mechanical lineage, the coupe wheelbase has been shortened by four inches and the overall length reduced by 7.1 inches, versus the sedan. Further, the coupe is 2.5 inches shorter than the sedan. The coupe engine will come in two transmission choices as well. The base configuration is a 175-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. The step-up option is a 270-hp, 3.5-liter V6. Both engines can be had with either a six-speed manual or continually variable transmission. The result is a sleek two-door with clear Nissan styling cues, and perhaps a hint of Infiniti design influence.

Overall this year we are pretty impressed at what the LA Car Show has shown us. Innovation in the “green” environmentally friendly cars was clear at the show with many manufacturers showing their latest offerings. Foreign manufacturers showed well this year and even the American Manufacturers were able to demonstrate innovation in both design and engineering in upcoming models. Based on what we saw our prediction is that in 2007 and 2008 we will see a paradigm shift in the way American Manufacturers design cars versus traditional thinking. Only time will tell and the competition is not slowing down for anyone.

For more photos from the 2007 LA Auto Show visit the CarForums.com LA Auto Show Gallery.

Ford’s Mustang by Giugiaro

Subaru Rally Car on Display

Honda FCX Concept

Volkswagon Tiguan

Nissan Altima Coupe