{"id":17833,"date":"2016-01-15T16:19:59","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T20:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=17833"},"modified":"2016-01-15T16:19:59","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T20:19:59","slug":"hybrids-minivans-concepts-become-shows-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2016\/01\/hybrids-minivans-concepts-become-shows-highlights","title":{"rendered":"Hybrids, minivans, concepts become show\u2019s highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2016-0111-dg-auto0148\"After slogging through the January winter to Cobo Center for the 2016 Detroit auto show (slogan: \u201cWe wish we were holding this in September when the weather\u2019s perfect here\u201d), I recommend you make a beeline for the Ford lobby display at Cobo\u2019s north end. There sits the Le Mans-bound, 2016 Ford GT supercar and the Le Mans-winning, 1967 Ford GT Mark VI \u2014 bookends on 50 years of Ford ambition to grind Ferrari into the asphalt.<\/p>\n

If that doesn\u2019t warm you up, nothing will.<\/p>\n

Inside the hall you\u2019ll find fewer manufacturers \u2014 Mini, Jaguar, Land Rover, Bentley, Tesla all had other appointments \u2014 but you might not notice because you\u2019ll be too busy ogling the spectacular manufacturers\u2019 displays. I mean, this place has more neon and video screens than Times Square. Mind the short steps between displays because you\u2019ll be looking up with your mouth open most of the time. Dazzling, floor-to-ceiling screens playing non-stop video of cars hurtling across the landscape. Massive overhead light cones that look like the spaceship descending in \u201cClose Encounters of the Third Kind.\u201d Sweeping, Gehry-like architectural accents dressed in all colors of the rainbow. Cars? There are cars, too?<\/p>\n

The Chrysler display features video-screen-wrapped columns that are synchronized with the mega-screens. Ford\u2019s all-new space looks like the world\u2019s biggest Apple store with its rows of white table-top computer tablets. Or maybe it\u2019s a Toys-R-Us with Lego play tables and make-your-own-lapel-buttons, and a computer camera where you can take 3-D pictures of yourself. Where\u2019s the new Ford F-150 Raptor you ask? I swear it\u2019s in there somewhere.<\/p>\n

Other floor exhibitors will be new to show regulars. Suppliers like Denso and Brembo (\u201cNo, Johnny, that\u2019s not Captain America\u2019s\u2019 shield. That\u2019s a huge Corvette brake rotor\u201d) filled the gaps left by AWOL original equipment manufacturers. The smallest automaker, Bob Lutz\u2019s Auburn Hill-based VLF Automotive, is in the big hall after years in the lobby showing off its outrageous, $268,000, 745-horspower Force 1 (with champagne bottle holders, natch).<\/p>\n

But for all the glitz and glamour, this is a meat and potatoes expo showing key products aimed squarely at consumers\u2019 comfort zone: Chrysler\u2019s most significant minivan since it invented the segment four decades ago; the Lincoln Continental reborn to redefine the brand; Honda\u2019s Ridgeline pickup trying to catch up with the red-hot, midsize pickup segment.<\/p>\n

Grab the family. Treat them to the greatest show on earth. My highlights:<\/p>\n

Concept cars<\/strong><\/p>\n

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of concept cars have been exaggerated. Once the grande dame of the show, concepts lost favor in recent years. They were a waste of money, some said. But concepts have roared back this year. I credit two trends: Underdogs and global warming. Underdogs like Buick and Acura have been uninspiring for so long they are desperate to prove to the world that they can still stir emotions. Thus the passionate Buick Avista sports car and Acura Precision sedan. On the global warming front, California \u2014 which I think is the world\u2019s second largest economy \u2014 has decided to stop it by itself by mandating hydrogen and electric vehicles. Even though a handful of are asking for them. So Audi (the H-tron) and Lexus (LF-LC) showed hydrogen-powered cars and VW showed the Budd-e microbus and the Tiguan plugin. Okay, actually, VW just wants people to talk about anything but diesel.<\/p>\n

Tesla vs. Bolt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tesla isn\u2019t at the auto how perhaps out of embarrassment that it was beaten in the moon shot to the 200 mpg EV by … a Chevy? Yes, the Bolt, sequel to Chevy\u2019s battery-plugin Volt, is the first car to claim a 200-mile range on battery alone. The accomplishment is second only to GM defying marketers\u2019 predictions after last year\u2019s Bolt concept was shown that Chevy would never call it the \u201cBolt\u201d because it was too hard to differentiate from the \u201cVolt.\u201d What\u2019s next? The Jolt?<\/p>\n

Name games aside, the Bolt is a sharp-looking crossover that GM probably wishes the Volt had been (so tired are car sales in SUV-nation these days that only two sedans were unveiled at this year\u2019s show). But to catch on beyond the green crowd, it will have to prove it\u2019s more than a $37,500 Sonic.<\/p>\n

Horsepower arms race<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the other green. The color of money. Luxury sports cars are nearly as dazzling this year as the three-story video screens. There\u2019s a horsepower war on, haven\u2019t you heard? The 580-horse Porsche 911 Turbo S tops 200 mph for the first time. The Lexus LC500 weighs in at 468 ponies, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio at 505, and the Mercedes-AMG S65 Cabriolet at 621. All of which inspired the Three Musketeers of Gilbert Villarreal, \u201cMaxium Bob\u201d Lutz and Henrik Fisker to produce the 8.4-liter VLF Force 1 with 745 horsepower that gets from zero-60 in less time that it takes you to say \u201cGilbert Villarreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

My pick of the litter is the BMW M2 which has more horsepower \u2013 365 \u2013 than big brother M3 had just 10 years ago. That\u2019s half the horsepower of the VLF coupe but twice the number of seats. So I can share the thrill with my kids.<\/p>\n

Chrysler Pacifica<\/strong><\/p>\n

Horsepower-schmorsepower. Chrysler reinvented the minivan (and rehabilitates the crossover Pacifica name) to get my nod for Car of Show. This family hauler is a Swiss Army knife of versatility and it\u2019s gorgeous to boot. Speaking of boots, soccer moms can kick both the rear\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>side doors to automatically open when their arms are full of kids and bags. The Pacifica is a rolling living room with a console drawer for iPads, two TVs screen amidships and a vacuum cleaner in back.<\/p>\n

The chief engineer for this achievement deserves a medal. Just make sure you\u2019ve taken the egg cartons out of the middle row seat before you fold it into the floor.<\/p>\n

Minivans, concepts, and supercars, oh my. Win the Powerball and you can afford them all. See you at the show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After slogging through the January winter to Cobo Center for the 2016 Detroit auto show (slogan: \u201cWe wish we were holding this in September when the weather\u2019s perfect here\u201d), I recommend you make a beeline for the Ford lobby display at Cobo\u2019s north end. There sits the Le Mans-bound, 2016 Ford GT supercar and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17834,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17833\/revisions\/17834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}