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Out of all the new cars, concept and production, that have been released to the public at the NAIAS this year, which one is your favorite?
So far I'm really digging the Toyota FT-1. I know it'll probably never see production in that trim, even as a halo car, but just to lay some groundwork for future cars, looks promising. With Acura bringing back the NSX, Toyota really needs to bring back the Supra, and this could be the base for it. Also noting that Toyota execs said that it wouldn't have a hybrid drivetrain like the new NSX will be having will make it even more true to the Supra.
I really hope that they don't take as long to come out with a production version off this car like they did with the Toyobaru twins.
I'm a big fan of the Kia GT4 concept. By the time it makes it to production they should clean up the styling a bit (it looks great but I think a real set of traditionally placed headlights versus the LED would look better). If they can keep the weight at 2800lbs (its roughly the size of the FRS/BRZ) with 300hp this car should be a riot.
The Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge has my attention too. A 500hp+ Infiniti sounds great and the concept looked great minus the wheels. Makes the rather sedate base Q50 look rather wild in the right ways.
The new Hyundai Genesis Sedan is a winner all around, can’t wait to see them on the street.
The Mustang looks great as well, the Chrysler 200 is a big improvement although I'm not completely sold on it (it’s refreshing though to see a modern car without a huge grille).
The Toyota FT1 looks good but the I'm not digging its nose. I get the F1 reference but it doesn't look good IMO.
I'm a big fan of the Kia GT4 concept. By the time it makes it to production they should clean up the styling a bit (it looks great but I think a real set of traditionally placed headlights versus the LED would look better). If they can keep the weight at 2800lbs (its roughly the size of the FRS/BRZ) with 300hp this car should be a riot.
The Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge has my attention too. A 500hp+ Infiniti sounds great and the concept looked great minus the wheels. Makes the rather sedate base Q50 look rather wild in the right ways.
The new Hyundai Genesis Sedan is a winner all around, can’t wait to see them on the street.
The Mustang looks great as well, the Chrysler 200 is a big improvement although I'm not completely sold on it (it’s refreshing though to see a modern car without a huge grille).
The Toyota FT1 looks good but the I'm not digging its nose. I get the F1 reference but it doesn't look good IMO.
The Kia GT4 concept if kept in it's current form (save for body styling and the like) wouldn't be a FRS/BRZ fighter, it would be an FRS/BRS kickasser! Which, coming from me is a sad thing to say as I am fairly obsessed with the FRS. If I still lived in Michigan it would be a car I owned right now, although it would have a turbo on it, surpassing the 300 out of the Kia, but that's besides the point.
I'm really happy that more companies are making sports cars again. I don't have kids and won't for a while, so until then, I want to have some fun when I drive!
Also, the FT-1 nose, I don't think anyone likes, so as they are saying, this is just a base for Future Toyotas, I hope that the nose goes away because I couldn't see that on any functional road going car, especially with the fans being so open like that.
My personal favorites...Cadillac ATS Coupe, BMW M4, Corvette Z06, Nissan Freelow (not sure, but there is just something cool, different and innovative about it), Hyundai Genesis (the refined design is a big improvement), Porsche 911 Targa, Audi Allroad Shooting Brake, Kia GT4 (I like the concept overall more than the styling).
An honorable mention goes to the bevy of 300+ horsepower I4's in these cars. It wasn't too long ago, most V8's would have struggled to produce 300hp.
I liked the design of the FT-1, but I don't like concepts that are debuted without powertrains and are extremely obvious in the fact that they are concepts. I get that it is a design exercise, but Toyota has a habit of debuting concepts like that and letting them die. I'll get excited about the FT-1 when they start talking about powertrains, pricing, etc.
The Kia GT4 concept if kept in it's current form (save for body styling and the like) wouldn't be a FRS/BRZ fighter, it would be an FRS/BRS kickasser! Which, coming from me is a sad thing to say as I am fairly obsessed with the FRS. If I still lived in Michigan it would be a car I owned right now, although it would have a turbo on it, surpassing the 300 out of the Kia, but that's besides the point.
It depends on what you mean by "kickasser".
If you mean that it will kick the GT86 twins' 0-60 time, then yes. If you mean that it will have better styling, the maybe yes as well (depends on your aesthetic tastes).
But if you mean that it will have a better chassis and handling, then I doubt it. At least not for a few years, anyway. Pretty much all of the automotive magazines and journals still agree that while the Koreans have come a long way since the days of the Excel and Sephia, their chassis and steering dynamics still leave something to be desired. Much of this is due to how hard it is to perfect chassis and steering tuning, and many agree that the knowledge to competently tune these areas comes from testing and development in the racing world.
Luckily for Hyundai and Kia, they finally entered into the racing world formally. Namely, they've started a campaign to eventually win in the World Rally Championship with their new i20 WRC. Before that, their only racing pedigree that I recall of is whatever Rhys Millen has been doing over the past decade, and a small stint in the WRC with an Accent WRC about a decade ago (Hyundai wasn't really involved with development of the Accent WRC, but is involved with the development of the i20 WRC).
If you mean that it will kick the GT86 twins' 0-60 time, then yes. If you mean that it will have better styling, the maybe yes as well (depends on your aesthetic tastes).
But if you mean that it will have a better chassis and handling, then I doubt it. Pretty much all of the automotive magazines and journals still agree that while the Koreans have come a long way since the days of the Excel and Sephia, their chassis and steering dynamics still leave something to be desired. Much of this is due to how hard it is to perfect chassis and steering tuning, and many agree that the knowledge to competently tune these areas comes from the racing world.
Luckily for Hyundai and Kia, they finally entered into the racing world formally, namely the World Rally Championship with their new i20 WRC. Before that, their only racing pedigree that I recall of is whatever Rhys Millen has been doing over the past decade, and a small stint in the WRC with an Accent WRC about a decade ago (they weren't really involved with that car much).
I totally agree with you on the suspension part. I autocrossed one and even on the crappy prius tires, that thing handles like a dream. I don't think that for the cost, you'd be able to find a better handling car than the Toyobaru.
The styling aspect you can't compare. Everyone knows it won't look like that if/when it goes to production.
Unfortunately though, I think that to the consumer, and not to the enthusiast, they will see the HP number and a little bit tamer look than the Toyobaru and will be sold on the Kia. No one really cares about perfect weight distribution or anything like that, which is unfortunate.
I fall into the enthusiast category, so in the end, I'd still buy the Toyobaru and drop a turbo in it with some sticky tires and just have a ball!
If you mean that it will kick the GT86 twins' 0-60 time, then yes. If you mean that it will have better styling, the maybe yes as well (depends on your aesthetic tastes).
But if you mean that it will have a better chassis and handling, then I doubt it. Pretty much all of the automotive magazines and journals still agree that while the Koreans have come a long way since the days of the Excel and Sephia, their chassis and steering dynamics still leave something to be desired. Much of this is due to how hard it is to perfect chassis and steering tuning, and many agree that the knowledge to competently tune these areas comes from the racing world.
Luckily for Hyundai and Kia, they finally entered into the racing world formally. Namely, they've started a campaign to eventually win in the World Rally Championship with their new i20 WRC. Before that, their only racing pedigree that I recall of is whatever Rhys Millen has been doing over the past decade, and a small stint in the WRC with an Accent WRC about a decade ago (Hyundai wasn't really involved with development of the Accent WRC, but is involved with the development of the i20 WRC).
The one thing Hyundai has is money. When they wanted to improve their styling they went and hired Chris Chapman from BMW and Peter Scheyer from Audi. Suddenly Hyundai and Kia are building better looking cars. When they wanted to improve quality, they went and hired a bunch of former Toyota quality engineers and modified the "Toyota Way" to work within Hyundai. Hyundai has hired numerous chassis engineers from other companies including GM and BMW over the past few years.
Yes, many of their products aren't as "sharp" as others in terms of steering feel and handling, but the Genesis and Equus are pretty darn good. I have no doubt that they can put out a very competent sports car based on the GT4 concept. One that will give the FRS/BRZ a run for its money.
why is it called the north american international?
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