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Scion FR-S – Las Vegas Preview and Quick Drive

Adam Moore — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:41:32 +0000

2013 Scion FR-S Sport Coupe by txGarage

We don’t venture out of Texas that often to review a car. We normally like to drive the car here in Texas, on our normal everyday driving roads, so we get a real perspective of how the vehicle behaves for everyday driving. Obviously, we’ll make exceptions like we did with the Scion FR-S. We were invited to fly out to Las Vegas to be one of the first in Texas to get behind the wheel of the all-new sports car from Scion. To be more specific, this is a new sports car from Toyota and Subaru, and if you haven’t heard of it yet, then you’ll probably want to go read one of our reviews of the Toyota Prius because this car won’t be for you. On the other hand, if you’re a car enthusiast like us, you’ve probably heard and read a lot about this car already. This is our experience with the FR-S.

Like I mentioned, we’re in Vegas, but not on the strip. Toyota/Scion put us up in a hotel right on the west edge of Vegas. Looking out east from our hotel room, we saw all the lights and excitement of the “strip”. Looking west, there was nothing but desert and mountains. After hearing a lot of marketing and technical talk from the team at Scion, we finally headed out to the front of the hotel where we were greeted with our ride. Looking at the FR-S, you already know what this car is about. It’s small, shorter than a 370Z, and it becomes more apparent the closer you get to the car. The FR-S is also very low to the ground; you’re butt sits just over a foot off the ground. The styling of the body is made to exude sportiness, but also be functional with low drag and good visibility. The arches over the front wheels stick up above the hood, and are purposely larger so you really can see where your front wheels are hitting the road.

I sat down in the first car that was ready to go as most of the other journalists were still mingling and procrastinating; I was ready to hit the road! Sitting in the FR-S, the first thing you notice is the bolstering in the seat. They’re large, yet quite comfortable, and as we’re headed to the track, I immediately realize that they will really come in handy later in the day. Next, I started paying attention to the detail of work and materials used within this car. Jumping into a Scion usually means hard plastics and unpleasant fabric. To our delight, the FR-S has a great interior. There is only one place on the dash where they used hard plastic to break up the dash, but it’s really done well. The steering wheel is wrapped in leather and has a good width and grip points. Directly behind the wheel, I noticed paddle shifters. I took a second look at the gearshift, and sure enough this was a FR-S equipped with an automatic transmission. The shifter is a little deceiving as it looks like it would be a manual. No worries, it’s time to see how this thing drives!

I took another quick look at our designated route to the track and pulled out of the hotel. Heading west, you quickly lost all signs of being in Vegas and quickly began to climb in elevation. Our route took us through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation, which is only 15 minutes outside of Vegas. This was a big surprise and a great treat. I was ready for one long, endlessly straight road through the desert, but the road heading through Red Rock Canyon was windy and full of elevation changes. Yes, it’s time to play.

The FR-S has a few settings you can play with. The automatic gives you the option of Sport or Snow driving, which affects the shifting of the transmission; obviously, when you’re rowing your own gears, you don’t need this option. We put the transmission into manual mode and pushed the Sport setting. Your next set of options is for traction control and stability control. Push the traction off button once and you kill the traction control, but you still get stability control. Hold that button down again and it kills all systems. To the right of that button, you have one labeled VSC Sport. This is your stability control button. Push and hold that and it disables traction control and puts the stability into a more race focused setting, allowing you to have more sliding abilities without killing the systems completely. That’s the option we went with for these roads.

Now normally, I’d suggest that if you’re buying a sports car, you need a manual transmission. In this car though, with this transmission, I was having a hard time deciding which I liked best. The auto is a 6-speed with some of the best paddle-shifters I’ve used, and you get active rev-matching to make sure you have the right power to match your speed. Going through the twisties in the canyon with this transmission was a great experience. Put your foot down coming out of a corner and you scream up to the next; then downshift – hearing the backdraft in the exhaust and the rev’s pop up as the computer does the work to match them to your speed – hit the accelerator pedal a little too soon and too quickly and push out the rear, quickly countersteer to catch the rearend and straighten back up. Then repeat.

Driving this one-way, canyon road in this car is now on my list of great driving experiences. Enough fun and games though, it’s back to the job at hand as we shoot down the desert road heading toward Spring Mountain Motorsport Ranch.

About 40-minutes of driving later, we pulled into the entrance of Spring Mountain. We’ve spent a lot of time in Texas at Texas Motorsport Ranch, and it’s a nice facility, but wow, this place is nice! They had a 1.3-mile section of the track cutoff specifically for us, plus a coned off area for some autocross driving. First thing’s first. I parked the FR-S and headed into the clubhouse to sign an insurance waiver, went through a safety briefing, and waited for the rest of the group to catch up.

After the safety talk, we went back outside. Using the same group of cars we’d arrived in a few minutes before, we headed toward the track; only this time, I found one with a 6-speed manual transmission. We took 4 laps following the track instructors to help us get down the lines and braking points. This was good as the track had many late apex’s and a few hard braking turns.

It was now time to see how well rounded the FR-S really was. We already had a great time on normal road driving, but could this car go straight from the road to the track and really perform? I was in the FR-S with the manual transmission, so I reached down and pushed the traction control button twice to disable all driving aids. Now it’s just me, a steering wheel, clutch, shifter, and rear-wheel drive. Off the line, the 200 horsepower from the 2.0-liter boxer-4 wasn’t quite enough and didn’t feel very fast. Once you get into the higher rev’s, though, you never really feel a lack of power. You can feel the balance of the car, though. It has a very low center of gravity, only weighing 2,758 pounds, and has a weight distribution of 53% front and 47% rear. If you push hard into a corner, you’ll feel the understeer, but using your braking points correctly and turning tight into a corner, you can feel this car gripping, and if anything, it’s ready to give up the rear-end. When you do lose the rear end, which we did on occasion, purposefully of course, it’s easy to control and bring back into line. This car was designed for fun, sideways driving and it shows.

The controllable chassis gives you so much confidence; you’ll be running faster and faster lap times each run. We didn’t record lap times on the big track, but I could feel myself improving each run and it was all made easier by this well-balanced car.

Alas, it was time to move on to the autocross track. There was a fast slalom at the beginning of the course and lots of hard turning throughout the rest. The autocross was timed and we were anxious to see just how well we’d do up against some of the others out there. We were given a few passes to get the feel of the different traction setting, and then were up to post a time. Our first time was 33.8 seconds. The fastest of the day had been in the low 31-second range, so we had a ways to improve. I was a little wide on the slalom, so that was slowing me down. I was also sawing at the wheel too much around some of the back turns. Smooth everything out, get rid of any oversteer or understeer, and be quick but smooth; these are the lessons I’ll always keep with me for fast driving. After calming down and implementing what I knew about track and autocross driving, I was able to get my time down to 31.8 seconds. Given a few more laps, I probably could have gotten that time even lower, but my official time was in so I was ready to head back to the big track and see how much more I could wring out of this car.

After all our track driving, it was time to head back through the desert to the hotel. On the way, we were able to think about just how good this Scion/Toyota/Subaru really is, and just how easily it could have all gone wrong. If they had opted for a cheaper transmission, it wouldn’t have been as good. If they had put a cheaper suspension and a more forgiving frame, it wouldn’t be as good. All models of the FR-S come standard with a limited-slip differential, which is usually an option, if offered at all, on cars at this price. If they hadn’t done that, the car just wouldn’t be as good. For just under $25,000, you basically get a track ready car that is also good for a daily driver.

It’s hard to come up with a real good competitor to the FR-S. It seems that no one is making a truly, unapologetic sports car for this price. The Mazda MX-5 is the first obvious choice. They are both basically the same price, and both lightweight, but the FR-S seems to be more than the MX-5. It has more power and it’s a little bigger of a car. I can actually fit in the car with a helmet on with no problems. Your next choice is the Genesis Coupe, which you might know we like a lot, but the Genesis is actually a lot bigger in size and feel over the FR-S. Also with its new engine tuning for 2013 it has much more power than the FR-S. I think of the Genesis as more of a GT car over a track focused car. Really, one of the cars that comes to mind for me while driving this car was the Porsche Cayman. It’s light and focused and similarly sized. The engine in the FR-S is almost pushed back far enough to call it a front-mid engine layout. Yes, the FR-S is down over 100hp to the Cayman, but it’s also down almost $40,000 in price!

No matter what the proper comparison is, there’s no doubting that it’s a very good car for what it was built to be. If you’re looking for a small, focused sports car that is easy to drive daily and a ton of fun in the corners or out on the track, this is now the car for you.

Ford Makes NASCAR History as All-New Focus Electric Becomes First All-Electric Pace Car for the Richmond 400

Adam Moore — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:58:00 +0000

2012 Ford Focus Electric

The Sprint Car Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway will feature the first ever all electric pace car. NASCAR has selected the 2012 Ford Focus Electric to be the first-ever all-electric pace car for the Sprint Cup Richmond 400 on April 28th.

“Ford research shows the majority of Americans would consider buying an electrified vehicle but do not yet understand the different technologies,” said Mark Fields, president of The Americas. “Highlighting the Focus Electric as a pace car is a fun way to educate consumers about the kinds of benefits our electrified vehicles deliver and show people our commitment to provide Ford customers the power of choice for leading fuel economy in the vehicle that best meets their needs – from EcoBoost-powered gasoline vehicles and hybrids to plug-in hybrids and full electrics.”

“Our fans are customers,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing. “And just like in racing, they expect both fuel economy and performance from their daily drivers, and that’s what Ford is delivering.”

The all-new Fusion range, which includes EcoBoost, a hybrid and the Energi plug-in hybrid version, is the best example of how Ford is giving customers true power of choice for fuel-efficient vehicles.

This year, Ford will offer nine vehicles reaching an anticipated 40 mpg or more. Plus, the company is building six new electrified vehicles by the end of this year.

Ford will offer fuel-efficient EcoBoost engines in 11 vehicles in 2012, up from seven in 2011, tripling the production capacity of EcoBoost-equipped Ford vehicles. This expansion of fuel-efficient offerings will be led by the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine in the high-volume Escape compact utility vehicle and Fusion sedan.

Delivering up to 20 percent better fuel economy than conventional engines, EcoBoost uses smaller overall size combined with turbocharging and gasoline direct injection to bring customers the power they want and the fuel economy they need.

Ford was also first to use a hybrid to start a NASCAR event when the Fusion Hybrid served as pace car for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2008 making this yet another groundbreaking marketing campaign for Ford and NASCAR.

Update: New Images of the 2012 Ford Focus Electric Pace Car

Ford Focus Electric

[source: Ford]

Toyota Racing Introduces Scion FR-S Speedster

Adam Moore — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:51:27 +0000

Scion FR-S Speedster

If you guys have been reading my reviews for a while you might remember a few times where I went off talking about how I love speedster/roadster cars. I’m not so much convertibles but true speedsters like the old Porsche’s and the AC Cobra, I just love the design and heritage.

We’ve actually seen a lot of manufacturers and tuning shops looking back at those roots as well with cars like the Mercedes-Benz SLR Sterling Moss, the Callaway C16 Speedster, the Mazda MX-5 Speedster concept, and track day cars like the Arial Atom. You also have attempts like the Porsche Boxster Spyder that isn’t really a convertible; it’s made to be driven with no roof. I love all of these cars and would love to drive any one of them as much as the next.

When I see another manufacture showing off what they are toughing as a true speedster sports car, it perks my ears right up. The Scion FR-S hasn’t even hit showroom floors yet and we already have a one-off. Built in conjunction with Iacona Design and Cartel Customs, this Scion FR-S Speedster was made to embody Toyota’s years in Indy Car racing.

They will be showing this car at the 38th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. It will be on display in the Lifestyle Expo lobby and will only be driven as a parade vehicle. We might actually get an up-close and personal look at the FR-S Speedster in a few weeks as it’s supposed to be attending an event we’re attending. Getting seat time with this car is very unlikely though.

And that’s the big problem with a speedster/roadster. They are almost always one-offs or concept cars or they cost a ton of money. Also they can’t really be everyday cars. They are always going to be a gimmick car or a toy car for the person that has enough money to own a third or fourth car for the fun of it.

Let us know what you think about this car and Speedsters/Roadsters in general. Do you like the idea of manufacturers building these? Do you like them? Would you just rather have a coupe? Let us know in the comments below.

Scion FR-S Speedster Specifications

Length: 166.7 in.
Width: 69.9 in.
Height: 40.2 in.
Wheelbase: 101.2 in.

Powertrain:
Flat 2.0L boxer engine
6-speed transmission
Maximum output: 200hp @ 7,000 rpm
Maximum torque: 151 lb.-ft @ 6,600 rpm
TORCO Synthetic SR-5 Racing Oil
ACT Clutch
GReddy SP Elite Exhaust System

Chassis / Suspension:
KW Suspensions Clubsport Coilovers (independent rebound and compression adjustability)
Wilwood SUPERLITE 6-piston radial mount calipers in custom red on 13”
SRP drilled and slotted two-piece rotors & BP-10
Wilwood Smart Pads

Wheels & Tires:
Front: 18 x 8.0 Forge Line center lock wheels
Back: 18 x 9.5 Forge Line center lock wheels
Front: 225/40/18 TOYO Proxes R888
Back: 245/40/18 TOYO Proxes R888

Dallas Auto Show Roundup by txGarage

Adam Moore — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:22:47 +0000

Dallas Auto Show TAWA meeting

The Dallas Auto Show isn’t a big show in the auto show season, but manufacturers recognize that the DFW market is a large and growing market, and as such, the Dallas Auto Show is growing every year.

There was only a few things at the Dallas Auto Show this year that were really newsworthy.

Be sure to follow us on our social network sites to get up to date info when we hit up local auto shows! Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook!

Also check out our Quick Drive review of the 2013 Buick Regal GS we drove after the Dallas Auto Show.

2012 Ram 1500 Lone Star “Texas-big” 10th Anniversary

One newsworthy event was the reveal of the 2012 Ram 1500 Lone Star “Texas-big” 10th Anniversary edition. That’s right, the Lone Star Ram was started back in 2002 because the people at Ram knew how special the Texas market was for Trucks. The Lone Star Ram was so popular that it was expanded across the U.S. It’s the top selling Ram in Texas and we see why with great interior and exterior addons. This 10th anniversary Lone Star has special commemorative logos and badging to let it stand out.

Our first look at the 2013 Buick Encore:

The Buick Encore was released at the Detroit Auto Show, and of course we don’t go that far north so we didn’t get a chance to see it in the flesh. Well, the team at Buick was nice enough to bring it along to the Dallas Auto Show where we got our first real look at the 2013 Buick Encore.

The Encore is a small crossover that integrates Buick’s signature style. They are really excited to be the first to the American market with this type of vehicle. Buick is looking at the European BMW X1 and Audi Q3 as competitors which have yet to make their mark in the U.S. You’ll be looking at a 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine matched up to a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Expect pretty good fuel economy numbers and a great interior which is standard in Buicks today.

We’re excited to see the technology in this small SUV and see how well it does for the Buick brand. Also, expect to see a Chevrolet version within a few years.

Checking out the all new Chevrolet Spark:

We posted our full review of the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic a few months ago, be sure to check that out, but this Spark is even smaller than the Sonic. The Spark is an A-segment car which competes with cars like the Fiat 500, Smart fortwo, and the Scion iQ. We weren’t able to check out the interior of the car, but we’re expecting it to be youthful and cheap, but packed with technology. Chevrolet was quick to show off the plethora of unique color options offered on the Spark. You can have your Spark in Salsa, Jalapeno, Denim, Lemonade, or Techno Pink. They will also offer a Grey Area, Black Granite, Silver Ice and Summit White. All to appeal to the all important youth market.

Powering the Spark will be a 1.2-liter 4-cylinder engine and 5-speed manual transmission straight out of Europe. This shouldn’t make the Spark that fun and sporty to drive, but will give you very competitive fuel economy.

The production version of the Scion FR-S:

We saw the FR-S at the Houston Auto Show, but it was still a pre-production version with a 5-axis body kit. It really looked good, but we were still anticipating our first look at the true production FR-S. Well here it is!

Seeing the Scion FR-S in the flesh didn’t take anything away from the hype. We’re still excited to drive this thing – and that review will be coming soon enough – but we already noticed a few things. The FR-S at the Dallas Auto Show was equipped with an automatic transmission. We know they’ll have to sell them, but it didn’t even have paddle shifters on the steering wheel. My opinion, if you have an auto in your sports car, it better have paddle shifters, otherwise just give me a manual. Second, this is a small car. I drive a Genesis Coupe and this is much smaller than that. This means the back seat is basically a shelf. It would be incredibly uncomfortable to have more than 2 people in this car.

You already know all the stats on this car, I’m sure, but the other thing I noticed was how nice the engine is laid out. It’s really low in the engine bay and pushed behind the front axles. This is going to make its center of gravity really great and it seems there’s plenty of room for…say a turbo?

The Abarth 500 brought by Fiat:

Fiat showed off its Abarth 500 and I’m actually really excited to drive one of these as well. The team at Abarth did a lot to make this not just look really cool, but go really well. This should be a true track-day fun car. Drive it normal and get great gas mileage during the week and able to hoon it on the track during the weekend. Look for a 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo engine, Abarth-tuned suspension and brake system, and race-inspired design.

We checked out a lot more cars than just these, but these were some of the bigger ones we haven’t seen yet. Check out all or our photos below!

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop Expands To Texas Motor Speedway

Adam Moore — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:50:33 +0000

Fuzzy's EPS Logo White

Fort Worth-based Fuzzy’s Taco Shop has grown from a one restaurant operation near Texas Christian University on Berry Street to one of the fastest-growing restaurants in the country and in April it will open its newest and perhaps most unique location in Texas’ largest sports venue. Fuzzy’s will serve as the official sponsor of the infield café at Texas Motor Speedway and bring its fresh, hand-made, Baja-style Mexican food to fans throughout the NASCAR and IZOD IndyCar Series race weekends.

Fuzzy’s will transform the look of the infield café – formerly known as Hot Rod’s Café – with the chain’s traditional décor, complete with its signature 14-foot sailfish that is featured at all its locations. Fuzzy’s President Chuck Bush, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage and members of “The Great American Sweethearts!” unveiled the giant sailfish as part of the special announcement during media day.

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop at Texas Motor Speedway – which will debut during the March 16-18 Goodguys car show – will feature a specialized menu complete with its usual favorites that include breakfast tacos, Baja tacos, jumbo burritos and chips sprinkled with its signature Fuzzy dust.

“We see racing as a continually emerging sport, much like Fuzzy’s is a growing restaurant concept,” Bush said. “We are thrilled to be a sponsor of Texas Motor Speedway and to serve the dedicated fans that come out to the exciting events here.”

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop’s infield café location is part of the restaurant’s rapid growth that now boasts 52 stores in 11 states. The operation also has more than 100 additional restaurants on the books to open across the country in the coming year.

[ Author:TMS Media Relations]

Dallas Cars and Coffee March 2012 Roundup

Adam Moore — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:14:04 +0000

We love attending the Cars and Coffee events out in Plano at Classic BMW. We always meet great Texas car enthusiasts out there. March 2012 was no exception.

Check out these pics taken from our new friend and check out his photobucket account HERE.

Our 2012 Detroit Auto Show Roundup #NAIAS

Adam Moore — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:20:35 +0000

txGarage 2012 Detroit Auto Show Roundup NAIAS

We didn’t make it to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last week, but we can still jump on the bandwagon and tell you what we thought. There were lots of cars revealed in Detroit, and even if we could post about all of them, you would never read it all. So we are narrowing it down to what we thought were the biggest surprises, biggest successes, what we’re most looking forward to driving, and maybe throw in some fails.

Check out our next 4 posts that outline our thoughts on the NAIAS.

2012 NAIAS Biggest Surprises

Adam Moore — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:18:40 +0000

2013 Ford Fusion at the Detroit Auto Show - NAIAS

Coming into the NAIAS, like most people, we were not expecting too much, and for sure not too much that we haven’t already seen spy shots of on the interwebs. That was true for most cars, but there were a few really good surprises.

2013 Ford Fusion:
I did hear that Ford would be bringing the new Fusion to the Detroit Auto Show, and was looking forward to a boring redesign that added accent lines and changed the headlight and taillight design a little. The Fusion is a decent car and last year was one of the best selling years for the Fusion, so why would they bother to change it that much?

Oh, how naive I am. The new Fusion is a complete redesign that merges their European design language into the family sedan. I personally think it looks great for a non-premium mid-sized sedan. It has an Audi-ish profile, a European Ford Mondeo rear, and an almost Aston Martin like front fascia.

It’s not just the looks, but this new Fusion will be offered in many models. Ford will let you chose from a plug-in hybrid, an eco-model achieving 47-mpg, and the standard. The standard car will offer a choice of powertrains starting with the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder pushing 170 hp and 170 ft-lbs of torque. You can also choose from 2 different EcoBoost engines including the 1.6 EcoBoost with 179 hp and 172 ft-lbs of torque and the 2.0-liter EcoBoost with 237 hp and 250 ft-bls of torque. No word on manual or auto transmissions as of yet, but I can say I’m really looking forward to testing out this new ride!

[Gallery not found]

The Chevrolet Code 130R and Tru 140S Concepts:

Chevrolet introduced two concept coupes at the 2012 North American International Auto Show aimed at inspiring next-generation buyers to take the wheel and suggest ideas for a car they can co-create.

These two concepts have been talked about a lot this past week after the reveal at NAIAS, but we had no hit of these before hand. Chevrolet knows they need to focus on the youth market, and what’s more youthful than small and sporty coupes?

The Code 130R, which is a name that confuses us all, is a rear-wheel-drive, small coupe that could take on the likes of the new Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ. The styling is a little quirky, but you can see the Chevrolet heritage bulging out and it’s even sporting some Corvette “cross-flag” emblems on the fenders. Under the hood look for a turbo’d 1.4 liter engine pushing 150 hp and 148 ft-lbs of torque matched up to either a 6-speed auto or 6-speed manual transmission.

Personally, I think GM needs this car. Not just Chevrolet, but even as a sleek Buick. I hope they continue to develop on this platform, but take more styling cues from the Tru 140S.

So what is the Tru 140S? Another confusing name fore sure. Unlike the 130R, the 140S is a front-wheel-drive coupe design. It’s said to have the same engine and transmission setup as the 130R. I’ve heard this design being compared to an Eclipse and I think that fits well, but I’d really like to see this in a RWD platform. The design is really stunning and would make some waves for sure in the compact coupe market.

[Gallery not found]

2012 NAIAS Biggest Successes

Adam Moore — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:17:45 +0000

2012 NAIAS - Acura NSX Concept

There has been a lot said about the new Acura NSX concept and although I still have some reservation, which I’ll get to, I’m going to label it a success. First of all, I think that the design looks really good. I’m not one of these people that say it needs to carryover lots of elements and design from the old NSX. I think a fresh start and fresh design is exactly what Acura needed.

The second reason I’m labeling this a success is because it has a mid-engine layout. I liked the last NSX concept that used a front/mid setup, but it never felt right to me. You can mess with the design but you can’t mess with the layout, if that makes sense. I’m not as bothered as most about the fact that the new NSX will be pushing a “hybrid” platform. Look at the Porsche 918 for justification.

Lastly, I’ll label it a success because they are bothering to show it at all. Acura needs this halo car. My biggest gripe is that they are still saying that a production version won’t be coming for another 3 years at least. I’m ready for this thing to be out now!

[Gallery not found]

All-new 2013 Dodge Dart

The Dodge Dart is another car that you can easily call a success. We saw plenty of leaked photos and spy shots ahead of time and knew that the reveal was coming, but it was still exciting to see exactly what was what. This all new Dart takes over for the retiring Dodge Caliber and is based off the Alfa Romeo Giuletta. The new looks are aggressive and bold and are exactly what Dodge needs for a new compact car. We had a chance to talk to Kathy Graham, a Chrysler Product PR Manager, during last Wednesday’s nights Motorama chat on twitter where she answered a few key questions about the new Dart.

The Dart has been criticized for using the throwback name, but Kathy pointed out that this new Dart isn’t trying to be a modern version of the old one, like the Charger and Challenger. They brought back the name because the original Dart was Dodge’s first car marketed to the youth. It was a fun and affordable compact car and that’s what they are going for with the new Dart.

Under the hood of the base Dart, you get a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter pushing 160 hp and 148 ft-lbs of torque. You also have a 2.4-liter (184 hp 171 ft-lbs) and a 1.4 turbo (160 hp 184 ft-lbs) with 6-speed manual or autos to fit them all. This should be a very competitive car in its market and it’s aimed right for the likes of the Focus, Civic, and Elantra. Also expect to see a SRT variant coming with this car. Although they haven’t officially announced it, Dodge and Chrysler would be crazy not to make one.

[Gallery not found]

2012 NAIAS What we’re looking forward to:

Adam Moore — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:17:01 +0000

2012 BMW 3 Series

Obviously, all the cars listed in our surprises and successes posts are cars we’re looking forward to driving, but there are a few others.

Scion showed off, for the first time on American soil, the FR-S Drifter. We like the drifter with it’s 600 hp, but we’re really excited to get the chance to take the FR-S out on the streets and maybe even to Texas Motorsport Ranch for a little track fun.

The new BMW 3-Series wasn’t a big surprise at the NAIAS, but it is still a car that we can’t wait to get our hands on sooner than later. Even though it’s as big as an old 5 Series, the 3 Series will always be the benchmark, and I just love what they’ve done with the new design.

The Hyundai Veloster Turbo is something we knew was coming as well and after test driving the Veloster a few months back, I really can’t wait to get in one with more power! On the same note, the 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe was unveiled at the show and this is one I’m really excited for, for a few reasons. One, I own the current Genesis Coupe 3.8 and love it. Two, after a few weeks of hating on the new design, it’s really grown on me and I actually really like it. Can’t wait to get my hands on both these great cars!

I’m reviewing the Chevrolet Sonic 1.4 turbo at the time I’m writing this post and I’m really enjoying it. Chevrolet showed off the Sonic RS at the Detroit Auto Show and like anything else, more power couldn’t hurt.

Stepping up to a little more luxury, we’re also excited to check out the new Cadillac ATS. We loved the CTS-V, but we were always just luke-warm over the base CTS. Will the ATS bring about the same results? The style looks good with it’s toned down lines, but will it really be able to compete with the BMW 3 Series like Cadillac keeps claiming? We’ll just have to drive it and find out!