2013 Chicago Auto Show Blog

We got a few thousand survey responses from online ticket buyers, and some of them are absolute gems. Here are a few suggestions we're "working on" for next year.

"I liked the balloon slide."
Not really a suggestion, but we're glad the cars made such an impression.

"My husband wants more beautiful women modelling next to the cars like at the Fiat 500 :-)"
Your husband has great taste, the Fiat 500 was a hit in Europe.

The 2010 Chicago Auto Show hosted five different awards presentations, distinctions given for everything from eco-friendliness to pet safety. Here’s a look back at the winners this year.

Bark Buckle UP Founder and Pet Safety Expert Christina Selter presented an astounding ten pet safe vehicle distincti

Hybrid dream-team Fisker Automotive announced today that they'll be showing off their much-anticipated Karma plug-in hybrid electric vehicle at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show. This will be the Karma's Chicago debut, just ahead of its release to the streets later this year.

The sculpted four-door Karma is a 403 horsepower green dream, capable of 125 mph and 0-60 in 6 seconds, all the while maintaining an impressive 100 mpg. Even better the first 50 miles of the PHEV's 300-mile range are electric only and produce no emissions. 

The Karma features 22-inch wheels, a 10.2 inch touch-screen control center, and space for two sets of golf clubs in the trunk, proving that the frisky hybrid is no poser. As versatile in the garage as on the road, the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery can be topped off from a standard 110v power outlet or charged in just 6 hours from a 220v outlet.

Two Chicagoland retail groups will carry the Fisker brand when the Karma hits showrooms later this year: the Fields Auto Group, and the Patrick Dealer Group. A new Karma will set you back at least $87,900, though there's a $7,500 federal tax credit plus up to $4,000 from the state--making the possible base price a much-more-palatable $76,400.

The striking and distinctive Fisker Karma is proof that sometimes concepts do come true. It's a must-see during your visit to the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

[Source: Fisker Automotive, Inc.]

Ford announced that the 2011 Mustang GT has been selected as the pace car for this year's Daytona 500. Not only will this be the first time Ford's pony car has paced Daytona, but the first time for any Ford since the Torino GT convertible in 1970.

The Daytona Pace Car edition adds a Ford Racing suspension, strut tower brace and mufflers, and a unique paint scheme with painted wheels, special interior treatment and specially branded lit sill plates to the already fearsome 5.0-liter, 412 horsepower V8 Race Red glass roof coupe. Like a stock Mustang GT, it will also have specially tuned Electric Power Assist Steering (EPAS), 11.5-inch front and 11.8-inch rear vented disc brakes, and a pretty decent 25 mpg highway.

To commemorate the occasion, Ford will build 50 2011 Mustang GT Daytona 500 Pace Cars, to be sold to the public. If you want the actual car that touched tires to the Daytona International Speedway, it will be at auction on January 23 at the annual Barrett-Jackson Car Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. All proceeds over MSRP will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. We probably won't see the pace car in Chicago (it'll be busy on the speedway,) but we promise that all you pony car fans will have plenty to love at the Chicago Auto Show.

Volvo announced that it would be bringing their prototype all-electric C30 Battery Electric Vehicle to the Chicago Auto Show this February. Volvo intends to put a plug-in hybrid on the market by 2012, and this prototype hints that there's a lot to look forward to on that front. 

This all-electric version of the lightweight C30 stores power in a lithium-ion battery that plugs into a run-of-the-mill electrical outlet, with a full eight-hour charge providing a 93 mile range. The C30 BEV accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in under 11 seconds and tops out at 80 mph, well suited for commuters and city drivers (not that Chicago highway driving gets much faster.)  Because the electric motor lives up front and the rest of the car is straight production C30, Volvo says that the electric handles exactly like the original.
 
Volvo still emphasizes the safety of the C30 BEV, as well. The vehicle is packed with the manufacturer's usual laundry list of safety features, but one of their most unusual priorities has been finding the best place to house the battery. Using a combination of virtual and real-life crash tests, Volvo is making sure their battery tech won't add insult to injury by zapping you after a collision. They've found that the safest place to put the battery is in the drive shaft tunnel, though putting it where the fuel tank would be is good too.
Because Volvo has stated that they’re focusing more on plug-in hybrids, this will be a prime opportunity to get a feel for the electric portion of the hybrid they’ll undoubtedly come up with next. This is one car you'll definitely want to check out in Chicago.

[Source]

We understand, December is a very taxing month. Between digging yourself out of a snowy driveway every morning and spending half an hour trying to park at the mall, you might start to lose it. Just count your lucky stars that you're not as far gone as these two drivers.

Unable to experience the joy of scrambling around hanging lights on an ice-slick roof, Texan Rachelle Brown decided to have her festive near-death experience in her Corolla. Decked out with a nativity scene, cotton snowballs and a few strands of lights plugged into an inverter, the snow globe car is as distracting as it is a fire hazard. Nicely done, Rachelle.

[Source - NewsNet5]

Kris Marshall's Christmas truck, on the other hand, is a 25-year-old tradition. The central Iowa truck salesman hauls around a generator to power the 3000 lights taped all over the vehicle. While most police officers are pretty understanding, the whole business is not at all street legal and Kris has been ticketed a few times. In any case, nobody will be able to say they didn't see him coming.

[Source - Jalopnik]

Merry Christmas to all of you, we'll catch back up next week.

Dodge is throwing this generation of the Viper one heck of a going-away party. Not content with the street-legal 2010 Viper SRT10 ACR's production lap records at Laguna Seca and Nurburgring, the special edition ACR-X goes track-only to rub it in.
 
Though it runs with the same 8.4-liter V10 as the ACR, the ACR-X ups the horsepower from 600 to 640 by adding a new set of headers and a low-restriction exhaust system. Combine that with an upgraded track-tuned suspension, factory roll-cage, fuel cell, race seat, and 160-pound diet, and you've got some serious competition cred. The Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR-X is priced at $110,000 (about $30,000 under the Viper Competition Coupe) and should be available by spring 2010.

Two other special editions have been announced as well. The Vooodoo Edition is a stock ACR painted black, striped silver down the driver's side, and limited to a ten unit production run. The 1:33 edition (of which only 33 will be manufactured) commemorates the car's record-breaking Laguna performance, featuring red and black detailing on the seats, console trim, and instrument cluster. Even more special editions are on the way, so expect a serious Viper showing by February's Chicago Auto Show.

[Chrysler]

We had the first snow of the season here in Chicago, which means everything on the road will soon be lightly crusted in salt. While salt is great at keeping the roads clear, the corrosive runoff tends to do a number on the steel in bridges, road supports, and your car. There are alternatives to using salt, like piping hot water under the pavement or introducing additives such as steel shavings that produce heat in the presence of a little electricity. However, those methods work too slowly or are far too costly to implement.
 
Fortunately, there's still hope for those who wish their driveways would just shovel themselves. Christiana Chang and her colleagues at the University of Houston used paper embedded with cone-shaped nanofibers to heat a 10cm thick chunk of garden-variety road concrete from -10 to 0 degrees Celsius in two hours. That’s just enough to prevent snow and ice from accumulating in the first place.
 
The nanofiber paper Chang and colleagues are using is already widely and cheaply used to make electronics, but it will still take a considerable amount of work to scale up to a full-size roadway. Still, the potential savings on salting, plowing, and maintenance could make self-heating roads cost-effective.

[Source: NewScientist via AutoBlog]

Audi took the wraps off of the 2011 A8 yesterday. From the looks of it, Audi designed the fourth incarnation of its flagship sedan to blur the line between sport and luxury.
 
Performance enthusiasts will appreciate the 372-hp V8, adaptive air suspension, 8-speed tiptronic automatic transmission, stability control, and AWD with optional sport differential. Luxury fans will appreciate the heated, cooled, massaging seats, serious noise and vibration dampening, copious interior accent lighting, and a 1400-watt, 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system.
 
Audi didn't skimp on the safety features, either. The 2011 A8 comes with any of four safety packages that utilize feedback from the ESP system. If the driver slams on the brakes or starts skidding, the A8 tightens the seat belts, closes the windows and sunroof, and triggers the hazard lights. Other safety packages alert the driver, tap the brakes as a warning, or adjust the seats and brake automatically when it's too late to avoid a collision--shedding up to 25 mph in the half-second before impact.
 
The kicker is the built-in gadgetry. Audi packed in full LED headlights (an industry first), touch screen navigation, handwriting recognition, and quite a few driver assistance systems such as radar-aided proximity control, built-in speed limit display and "lane assist" that resists changing lanes into another vehicle or without signaling.
 
For the full Audi press release (it's pretty darn long) head to the source at the bottom, or you can wait and see it yourself in February at the Chicago Auto Show.

[Source: Audi]

Providing an early Christmas present for autophiles, Cadillac has unwrapped the 2011 CTS Coupe. It's more or less unchanged since we last saw it at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show. That's a great thing, considering the sleek style and capable performance of this newest addition to the CTS line. Powered by a 304-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 with direct injection, the CTS Coupe will be offered with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic (with driver shift control and steering-wheel-mounted shift buttons).
 
Although it has the same wheelbase as the existing CTS, the Coupe is about two inches lower and two inches shorter. The windshield is set at a fast 62 degrees, and the backglass is unfathomably near to being horizontal. Cadillac also skipped the door handles on the CTS Coupe, opting for touch-pad entry in an effort to preserve the design’s minimalistic feel. Like it’s sedan sibling, the Coupe is packed with technology, including mp3 player and iPod compatibility, built in audio hard drive, Bluetooth connectivity, Bose 5.1 surround audio system, and pop-up navigation screen.
 
Cadillac expects to have the CTS Coupe (and a high-performance V-series version) in showrooms by spring 2010.

[Source]

Acura has released pricing and options for their all-new (and very slick) four-door sports coupe, the ZDX. The ZDX made a splash when it debuted during last year's auto show season, and we're looking forward to taking a closer look at the production version at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

All ZDX models have a 3.7-liter VTEC V-6 with 300 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque, Acura's "Super Handling All-Wheel Drive," and the world's longest panoramic glass roof. The Technology Package adds a navigation system with a full VGA display and voice recognition, real-time weather, radar maps and traffic with rerouting, a multi-view rear camera, an upgrade to a 415-watt audio system with a built in hard drive, climate control, and keyless entry with push button ignition. The Advance Package does one better, tacking on a new blind spot information system, adaptive cruise control, a collision mitigating braking system, IDS active damper system, heated and ventilated front seats, and some upgraded detailing.

MSRP on the ZDX is $45,495 ($49,995 with the Technology Package, $56,045 with the Advance Package) and it gets an EPA estimated 16/23 miles to the gallon. Look for it at Acura dealerships on December 15, or check it out at the Chicago Auto Show starting February 12.

[Source]

Mercedes-Benz and Hughes Telematics recently announced "mbrace," featuring applications for iPhone and Blackberry to connect drivers even more closely with their vehicles. The new service, which is replacing the German automaker's Tele Aid system, is accessible using smartphones, the Internet, or from inside the vehicle. Basic features include remote lock and unlock, collision and alarm notification, stolen vehicle location, emergency calling and roadside assistance, and vehicle finder. Mercedes-Benz is also offering a package with location-based weather and traffic, agent-assisted navigation, and "Mercedes-Benz Concierge" for top tier subscribers.

This isn't the first time we've seen smartphones take on remote security and entry. Aftermarket car alarm and remote entry manufacturer Viper debuted an iPhone application with remote start and lock/unlock in October, and before that, car-sharing service Zipcar's app let users lock, unlock, and honk the horn remotely. Even earlier, Chrysler showed off some of the same functions at the Chicago Auto Show Concept Car Drive this past February. Forget about concierge service, if more automakers make it possible for drivers to bump a few keys off of the key ring by using devices they already carry, this tech could really take off.