Acura has released a teaser shot of their upcoming 2009 TSX, facelifted to give it Acura’s new corporate face, a new rear end, a better interior and some mechanical enhancements. Reserved for North-American markets only, the car is based on the European-market Honda Accord, which itself has received a similar makeover, and already unveiled.
So our modified Toyota Supra Twin Turbo is in the hands of a capable new owner now. Its duties as a benchmark sports car have now been taken over by our BMW M Roadster.
A full review for the Supra was in order, so we finally wrote about it, and we gave an account of what it’s like to own a really old and heavily modified car for very little money. But some of you might be wondering what a “benchmark” means.
The 2008 Chicago Auto Show played host to the American-market 2009 Acura RL, which is sold as the Honda Legend in the rest of the world. The anonymous-looking current Legend was released late in the GCC, and it looks like it will soon be replaced by this one.
The existing Mitsubishi Eclipse, sold only in North America, gets a facelift for the 2009 model year to make it look like the new Lancer Evolution. Except that the Evo remains the true sports car of the range.
The 2009 Hyundai Sonata will debut at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show, with a new front end, a small bump up in power, and a totally revised interior.
The late-entry V6 Galant may have just been released here, but the American market is already readying a facelifted replacement for the sleepy Mitsubishi midsizer, to be shown at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show next week. The front gets a minor facelift, but the rear is completely changed.
The 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit played host to the unveiling of the all-new 2009 Toyota Venza crossover. Toyota calls it a “crossover sedan” that will compete with the Murano and the Edge, but we are not sure Toyota needs yet another fake 4WD in its range alongside the RAV-4. We assume this “lifestyle” vehicle might come here too eventually.
The new 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart debuted at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Unlike the previous insult to the badge, the new Lancer Ralliart is like an entry-level version of the upcoming Evolution, with a turbocharged engine and all-wheel-drive.
Ratan Tata, boss of Indian conglomerate Tata, had vowed some time ago to release a “1-lakh” car, essentially a car that costs 100,000 Indian rupees, or US$2,500. That translates to Dhs 9,350 for a new car, and it has just been launched in India as I speak, as the Tata Nano.
The 2009 Hyundai Genesis has been officially unveiled for the American market. The full-size rear-wheel-drive car is designed to challange the likes of Lexus and Infiniti, if not also the Germans. But pricing is expected to be around US$30,000 in the States.