LA Auto Show

Mitsubishi will unveil the North American version of its i-MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) at the Los Angeles Auto Show (LAAS) this week. This version of the i-MiEV will boast an enlarged body, new front and rear bumpers, airbags that detect passengers, a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and Active Stability Control (ASC) as standard.  Read More

For the past six years, the Los Angeles Auto Show has invited automobile designers to participate in its Design Challenges. The challenge for this year’s show was to come up with a design for “a 1,000lb [453.6kg], four-passenger vehicle that is both comfortable and safe, while delivering satisfactory driving performance without sacrificing the styling consumers’ demand.” Entries are being judged not only for meeting the weight constraint (no more than 1,500 pounds/680 kg with passengers), but also for artistic beauty, comfort, uniqueness of design, roadworthiness, sustainability, performance and user-friendliness. The winner will be announced at the show, on Nov. 18. Here’s a look at some of the higher-profile entries...  Read More

The Nissan V2G concept was has taken out the Los Angeles Auto Show's 2009 Design Challenge. Entitled "Youthmobile 2030", this year's Challenge asked designers to encapsulate what tech-savvy young Gen Z drivers will be looking to take to the freeway 21 years from now. The result was six fascinating design concepts from the Californian studios of major companies, with the Nissan entry given the nod for its "holistic approach in answering the future's design questions."  Read More

Capstone Turbine Corporation has shown off its high performance hybrid electric car, the CMT-380, at the LA Auto Show. The car features a 30kW microturbine that extends the range of its traditional EV batteries, and which the company likens to having an ultra-clean and quiet jet engine under the hood. Capstone adds that the supercar, still in its test phase, reaches 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds, has a top speed of 150mph, and a range of up to 500 miles on a single tank of fuel - all with ultra-low exhaust emissions that rival any hybrid on the market today.  Read More

With the variety of different engine technologies emerging to replace the traditional internal combustion engine, Honda has taken a very smart approach with its Personal-Neo Urban Transport (P-NUT) ultra-compact vehicle. The concept car features a modular rear engine bay designed to accommodate a wide variety of potential powertrain technologies including a conventional small internal combustion engine, a hybrid system, or a battery-electric drivetrain.  Read More

When the promoters of the HH2 Hydrogen Generator Clean Air Combustion System made an appearance at last year’s LA Auto Show they attracted their fair share of skepticism. Hardly surprising given their claims of boosting the horsepower, performance, and mileage of existing vehicles through the addition of an aftermarket device that mixes hydrogen and oxygen extracted from water with existing fuel. But the naysayers haven’t discouraged the system’s developers as they are fronting up to the LA Auto Show again this year with even loftier claims thanks to improvements to their system.  Read More

Each year as part of the Design Los Angeles Conference held at the LA Auto Show, creative types from major car companies get to stare into their crystal balls and let their imaginations run wild in designing the car of the future. In 2007 the theme was the car 50 years from today, last year the challenge was to envision how motor-racing will look in 2025 and this time around, the brief is to look at what young people will be driving in the year 2030.  Read More

Porsche will roll out a new incarnation of the Boxter Spyder at the Los Angeles auto show next month. The flagship mid-engined model is the lightest sporstcar in the company's range at 1,275kg and more powerful than the Boxster S, topping 235kW from its direct-injection 3.4-liter flat six-cylinder powerplant. All this adds up a hair-piece destroying top speed of 166mph (267kmh) with the roof open, making it Porsche's fastest Roadster.  Read More

Lexus debuted the replacement for both the current RX 400h hybrid and the RX 350 petrol engine models at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show. The new RX 450h will replace both models in the UK to produce an all-hybrid RX range, while in North America a non-hybrid RX 350 will also be offered. Both the RX 350 and RX 450h are propelled by a 3.5-liter 6-cylinder petrol engine which provides 205kW (275hp) with the 450h’s augmented by an electric motor to provide a combined output of 220kW (295hp).  Read More