Ford without question was a huge winner at the show. The crowds were constantly huge at this booth throughout the day. There was a ton of positive buzz surrounding the new 2012 Focus which consumers seemed genuinely impressed with. Ford also had not one, but two 2012 Mustang Boss 302s sitting on the show floor, though both were locked. Surprisingly, a Mustang GT seemed to be receiving more attention. I’m not sure if people simply didn’t know what the Boss 302 was or if it was simply because the Boss 302s were locked, and the GT model wasn’t. Of course Ford had the very cool Mustang pool table on display and I overheard many people ask Ford representatives how they could purchase one. I did see a gentleman look at the Taurus SHO and he seemed impressed, until he saw the sticker price. It was clear he was shocked. All in all Ford might not only be a winner at this show, but the largest winner.

The Hyundai booth was another major winner. I was surprised how many people seemed interested in the Equus, though from I hear what sales are already exceeding expectations. The new Genesis R-Spec 5.0 was on display looking just gorgeous. I did overhear someone say how they actually liked the colored wheels on the Veloster, which I am personally mixed on. Many people seemed enamored with the Sonata, especially the Sonata Turbo. Though with 274-horsepower and a 34 MPG rating on the highway, it’s hard not to be impressed.

Buick had a LaCrosse with eAssist dashboard buck with front seats in its display. This gave consumers the opportunity to “sit in” the new LaCrosse eAssist and play with the dashboard controls. Buick also featured both the 2012 Regal GS and 2012 Verano Turbo. The booth prefessional on stage reiterated what we heard leak out already, the Verano Turbo will feature 250-horsepower from its 2.0-liter four-cylinder. Combined with a six-speed manual transmission, the Verano Turbo is shaping up to possibly be a very fun car to drive. It’s worth noting this engine will likely trickle up to the Regal Turbo giving it a nice power bump .This also likely means the Regal GS will get a slight power boost within a year or two after launching.

At the Chevrolet booth I paid close attention to how consumers were reacting to the new Volt. While it has gone on sale already, it is not currently offered in the Minnesota market (yet). Chevrolet had a booth professional on a turntable going over some of the Volt’s features and selling points. After she was done I witnessed many confused consumers asking questions. It quickly became very clear that explaining to people how the Volt works is not an easy task. Consumers seemed confused as to whether this was an electric car or hybrid. Chevrolet definitely has its work cut out when it comes to informing non-car enthusiasts as to the details of the Volt.

AutoMotorPlex actually hosted a section called the Ultimate Garage. It built a structure that housed four separate garages, each featured a different look and feel. The goal was to showcase what the AutoMotorPlex offers, and to give consumers an idea of what the ultimate garage, or commonly referred to as “man cave,” can truly look like.

Chrysler, what’s up? Seriously, some of your new product is impressive (some is not). But using the old signage with the dead Pacifica, and the dated Chrysler logo just seems….not smart.

In the aftermarket room there were a handful of customized vehicles. Let’s be clear about something, LeRoys Customs apparently thinks a string of LEDs stuck onto the outside of a GMC Sierra headlight with double stick tape is OK.

Hey! It’s Lightning McQueen. He’s such a good guy. Always making time for the little people.

I’ve got to say, this years Minneapolis Auto Show was even better than last years. With more manufactures on the floor, more unique aspects to the show, and more enthusiasm from the consumers, the show seems like a huge success. I heard that the Minneapolis Auto Show board is already looking into ways to take things a step further next year. I look forward to seeing what they comes up with.

When I was a kid, I drooled over cars like the Subaru WRX STI, and the Mitsubishi. Not for just for their high output four cylinders, but for their entire drivetrains. Those high output four cylinders combined with the rally bred all-wheel drive systems are just a marvel to behold. When given the chance to have a 2011 Mitsubishi Evo MR Touring in my driveway for a week, I jumped all over it. Is the little rally bred street racer all I hoped? After spending a week with it, I finally have some answers.

The exterior of the Evo is menacing. I mean really, the front looks like it is going to eat you. From the sculpted hood with heat extractors and air inlet, to the gaping mesh grille, it all works. And don’t forget about those scowling headlights.

More than one person during the week asked me what that big silver thing was towards the bottom of the front clip. That my friends, is a nice big intercooler. It helps keep the hopped up four banger cool.

My Evo MR test vehicle sported some very nice light-weight 18″ BBS wheels shod with Bridgestone snow tires. Peeking behind those great looking wheels were a terrific set of Brembo brakes that kept this little beast in control at all times.

From the side view, the Evo MR almost looks like a normal Lancer, almost. The body kit has side skirts that extend from the rocker panels quite a bit, enough to make you pay attention when entering the car. If you aren’t careful, you’ll get a leg full of snow and slush.

My favorite part of the rear is definitely the taillights. Both during the day and even more so at night, they appear to be scowling at you. The MR deletes the big stupid boy racer wing off the trunk, and replaces it with a tasteful lip. Below the bumper lies an aggressive diffuser with two chrome exhaust tips protruding out.

Bottom line on the exterior of the Evo MR: it’s aggressive. The MR ditches the silly wing and makes the Evo almost passible as a car that doesn’t shout “Hey look at me Mr. Police man,” though I did say almost.

Before I get to the interior, lets get one thing straight….this car is about driving. The powertrain is what makes this car. This is evident in the interior.

If you read my review of the 2011 Lancer Sportback ES, you’ll know the interior materials on that car are a letdown. With hard plastics that can scratch easily, it just looks cheap. The Evo shares this interior because it is based off the Lancer.

The touring package blesses the Evo with terrific heated Recaro leather seats that are manually adjustable. These seats are terrific and also worth noting, absolutely not made for overweight Americans. I fit just fine, but many people will find these seats to be uncomfortable. They grip you in all the right places. When flying around a track, your body will not be moving around. That is exactly what you want from sport seats.

Sound was provided by the Rockford Fosgate Punch sound system. This system puts out 710-watts and is connected to 9 speakers and a 10″ subwoofer. In a word, it’s boomy. The highs are messy and the lows are loud, but muddy. In a car like this, how much does a sound system really matter anyway though, right?

Overall the interior is somewhat cheap, but hey, once you hit the go pedal you really don’t care. I assure you of this. Oh, and the seats make up for any problems you have with the crappy plastics.

Now what we have all really been waiting for: the powertrain and driving impressions. The Evo has one engine choice, a 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder that has a twin-scroll turbocharger. This is good for 291-horsepower and 300 lb-ft, which of course goes to all four wheels.

The base Evo has a 5-speed manual transmission while the MR model features Mitsubishi’s 6-speed TC-SST transmission. The TC-SST transmission is Mitsubishi’s dual clutch transmission.

The TC-SST transmission has three modes: Normal, Sport, and S-Sport (Super Sport). These modes can be changed via a toggle next to the shifter. One thing to note: you can change the modes while driving, but to put the car in S-Sport you must be fully stopped, and hold the toggle for a few seconds. It is almost like a hidden mode. Normal is what you would expect, normal. Though it does seem to do exactly what you want when you want it in most conditions. Sport takes things up a notch keeping the revs higher, and shifts are a little harder. S-Sport is really just ridiculous for street use, it keeps the revs nearly always above 5,000 RPMS , and hits redline every time. Oh, and it also shifts so hard that you feel like you just hurt the transmission. I almost felt bad for it.

All Evo’s have what Mitsubishi calls Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC). The S-AWC system is a really sophisticated all-wheel drive system. It has more sensors than you can probably count. It also has an active center differential. Taking things even further, we have active yaw control in the rear. This is the part that makes the power go side to side in the rear. When you go around a corner, the power is being moved around to push and pull you, even when the wheels are slipping.

The S-AWC system has three modes which you change using a button near the emergency brake (how convenient). The modes are: Snow, Gravel, and Tarmac. Push the button and it will toggle through the modes. Each mode calibrates the S-AWC for the condition of which you selected. Remember, this is/was a rally bred car.

Driving the car is like piloting a go kart on the road. Though it is a really heavy go kart. At 3,500 lbs, it is surprisingly heavy! Turbo lag is here, but you realize it quick and plan accordingly. From a dead stop if you slam the gas it is a second of thinking “hmmmm” followed by “holy crap” once the revs hit about 3,000 RPMs.

The steering wheel is a nice diameter and the metal paddle shifters that lurk behind the steering wheel are great. They are mounted (correctly) on the steering column instead of on the steering wheel. You always know where they are.

Steering is direct and very responsive. It almost does what you are thinking, literally. With only 2.7 turns lock-to-lock, it does not take a ton of input to direct the Evo. It almost feels like a precision tool meant to listen to your every command.

When you take a corner, it almost doesn’t matter your speed. The S-AWC has a little graph that you can display in the information cluster. This shows you where the power is going in relation to the wheels. Hit the gas and take a corner fast, you’ll see the power go to the front inside wheel and rear outside wheel.

The suspension is somewhat harsh. When I say harsh, some will find it a bit ridiculous. I found it tolerable, though many will not.

With a 14.5 gallon gas tank I will recommend you watch the gas gauge closely. The Evo is rated at 17/22 mpg, but good luck getting that. I averaged anywhere from 14 to 18 mpg. As you might imagine, I went through quite a few tanks of gas. A high-output turbocharged 4-cylinder pulling that much weight literally chugs premium gasoline.

Along with your gas tank issue, make sure you pack light. The trunk has less than 7 cubic feet of cargo space. Between the rear mounted battery, windshield washer fluid tank, and the subwoofer, you will not be taking the kids stroller to the park along with that picnic basket.

So after spending a week with Mitsubishi’s halo car, was it everything I had hoped and dreamed? In a word, yes. I was disappointed that it was so heavy, and while I expected the low rent interior (man you should have see the last generation), the Evo is hard to argue with. At $41,995 as tested, it is not a cheap ride, but it starts at a little over $34k and you can choose how you option it from there.

The the Evo is a ton of coin; heck you are in small premium car territory at that price. You could even buy a Camaro SS or Mustang GT for less money, but they are a different type of performance. Those are brute power kind of cars.

At the end of the day the Evo is a ton of fun, and much more refined than past generations. You just need to know what you are buying for that kind of money. An expensive small car that chugs premium fuel and has little to no cargo room in the trunk. Did I mention the Recaro seats, TC-SST transmission and the mind bending all-wheel drive?

Full Disclosure – The review vehicle was provided by Mitsubishi

Some Photography – Alex Bellus

The Charger has a bold styling that can be described as chunky by some.  The SRT8 kicks it up a notch, but in a subtle way.  The hood has an integrated scoop that is functional, funneling outside air into the engine bay to keep that large engine nice and cool.  The front end is lower to the ground and slightly more aggressive.  There is a belt line that runs from the top of the headlights down the side into the rear “haunches” that begin at the rear of the back doors.  These haunches go over the rear wheels and into the tail lights.  The tail lights are one piece but they have been refreshed and now have four (two on each side) circles.  The trunk has a small but raised spoiler.  It is tasteful, but I still wonder if I would want it on my SRT8.  The spoiler is attached by four bolts and I think it could be removed (not that I tried).  The wheels are 20-inches, and ride on low profile tires.  My favorite line on the whole car is the intersection of the belt line and the shoulders in the rear.  It almost looks like a lightning bolt.

The interior was originally a horrible mess.  The materials when the car launched were all hard plastic.  I am not talking about just any plastic.  We are talking about plastic that even Lego would reject for quality control.  Back in 2008, a mild refresh fixed that, and everything you touch and even most things you do not are now soft touch.  Very little hard plastic is still left.  The belt line is high, which makes it feel smaller then it really is.  Sight lines are surprisingly good.  The interior has tons of space both in the front and back.  The rear seats fold down almost flat – the bolsters prevent them from being perfectly flat.  That said, it is nice to see that they are able to fold.  This increases functionality for hauling large items.  The seats were very well bolstered and more then comfortable.  The bolsters are leather and the center of the seat is a suede-like material that keeps you from sliding when driving aggressively.

The SRT8 is powered by not just any HEMI but the HEMI.  The 6.1 liter HEMI puts out 425 horsepower and 420 pound feet to the rear wheels.  The power is channeled through a one-choice five-speed automatic transmission with manual shifting capabilities.  No manual is offered, though how cool would it be if they offered the pistol grip six-speed from the Challenger?  This engine just sounds terrific. You literally just want to slam the gas to hear it over and over again.  Of course you would expect with this amount of power this car has, mileage suffers- -and you would be correct.  It is rated by the EPA at 13/19 mpg, I saw an average of 14.3 mpg with a mix of city and suburb driving.

This car drives like a big sports car.  Wait – well not like just any sports car.  This is not a Porsche, rather this is a large car.  It will push in the corners and you will feel its weight.  That said, it is very composed. It drives European-like which should be no surprise, because the basic frame and transmission is a hand-me-down from the 1999 generation Mercedes Benz E Class (W210).

I actually was moving when the Charger SRT8 was in my possession.  I used this vehicle to see just how practical it was in daily service.  The seats folding down helped and the trunk swallowed a surprisingly large amount of boxes.  The subwoofer in the corner of the trunk did eat into some of the cargo space, but that is minimal.  The practicality of this vehicle was demonstrated in spades.

Alright so what do we have here?  Well, it is practical for a sports car.  A large trunk and large interior while still going like a bat out of hell.  I already know what you are going to say – but Joel it gets crappy gas mileage.  To that I say this – it gets no worse then my Jeep and many other SUV’s that Americans love, yet it is a heck of a lot more fun to drive.  This Charger SRT8 was fully loaded and had a sticker price of $43,730 and that is a lot of coin.  You can get any of the other new muscle cars such as the new Chevrolet Camaro SS or Ford Mustang GT with just as much power, better fuel economy and for a lot less coin.  But they do not have four doors.  It is all about what you need and or want.  I would say this is a great family sedan for the guy that simply wants fast but can not compromise and get a two door. With the Pontiac G8 GXP now dead and gone, this is one of the cheapest four-door sports sedans that houses over 400 hp.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by Chrysler

2011 Ford Mustang GT New 5.0 V8

The 2011 Mustang already had one large announcement last month about the new 3.7L V6.  With the new V6 putting out almost as much horsepower as the current V8 you did not think Ford was going to leave the V8 alone did you?  Of course not, the 2011 Mustang GT will receive an all new 5.0L V8 pushing out 412 hp and 390 ft-lb of torque.  What was important about that last sentence is simple, the 5.0 is back! This is no old school V8, modern technologies are in full force to help achieve an estimated 17/25 mpg (with the six speed automatic).  That 25 mpg rating on the highway is 1 more mpg then the Camaro SS with the six speed automatic.  Though slightly down on horsepower to the Camaro SS, the Mustang has a distinct weight advantage.

2011 Ford Mustang GT (Notice 5.0 Fender Badges)

Some of the new technologies packed into the new 2011 Mustang GT’s 5.0 were recently implemented in the new 3.7L V6 Mustang.  Both feature Ti-VCT (twin independent variable camshaft timing) new six speed transmissions (both automatic and manual), and electric power steering.  The new 5.0 will receive a large capacity deep sump oil pan.  This enables sustained high rpm use and what Ford believes to be a 10,000 mile oil change interval.  Handling should be slightly improved with the use of the stiffened rear stabilizer and improved rear lower control arms.

2011 Ford Mustang GT 5.0

The new 5.0 is a huge step forward for the Mustang GT.  The 2010 GT used a 4.6L V8 pushing out a mere 315 hp and 325 ft-lb of torque.  The new 5.0 is pushing out a full 97 more hp and 65 more ft-lb of torque.  More power with the same if not better gas milage (depending on transmission choice) is quite impressive.  Both the automatic and manual transmissions are six speeds.  The manual is estimated to achieve 16/24 mpg which is the same milage as the 4.6L.  The automatic, as stated earlier, is estimated to provide 17/25 mpg which is 2 more mpg on the highway then the 4.6L.  The speedometer has been increased to 160 mpg while the redline has been moved up from 6,500 rpm to 7,000 rpm.

The new 5.0 V8 engine is not the only new thing for the 2011 GT.  New colors offered include Yellow Blaze Tri-Coat, Race Red, and Ingot Silver.  Also the fenders adorn a 5.0 badge heralding the return of the  5.0 V8 engine.  For enthusiasts a Brembo brake package with 14 inch rotors and larger calipers will be offered from the Shelby GT500 Mustang.  Finishing off this package will be 19 inch wheels with summer performance tires.  New convenience content is also on the 2011 Mustang including standard message center, integrated blind spot, MyKey programmable key, illuminated visors, universal garage door opener, and sun visor storage.

This overview provided to the press sums up the changes to the 2011 Mustang GT quite well.  “This powertrain honors Mustang’s heritage by raising the bar on performance while increasing fuel economy,” said Barb Samardzich, vice president, Powertrain Development.  The bottom line is simple, with the new V6 and V8 engines for 2011, the Mustang is closing the competitive gap left by the new Camaro.  The next step is that solid rear axle.

Boss 302R

The BOSS is back and ready to race!  A factory track ready race machine for SCCA, Grand-Am, and NASA classes.  Utilizing the new 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 V8 the new BOSS 302R base model will come with a six speed manual transmission, roll cage, race seats, safety harness, data acquisition and race dampers/springs, and Brembo brake and tire package.  The BOSS 302R will be sold as a serialized off-road only vehicle.  2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Parnelli Jones 1970 Trans-Am championship in a BOSS 302 Mustang.  That particular vehicle was made by Bud Moore Engineering.

Ford provided this statement which sums up why this new vehicle exists.  “To keep pace with consumer demand, the Ford team has built modern versions of the most iconic performance Mustangs over the years,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports. “From Shelbys to Bullitt, Mach and Cobra Jet, it is now time for BOSS to join the list of America’s most coveted Mustangs. The original BOSS 302 was a championship-winning legend and the new Mustang BOSS 302R will carry on the tradition. The Mustang was born to race from the start, and this new Mustang is bred to win.”

A total of 50 BOSS 302R Mustangs will be built by Ford Racing.  You can order one through your local Ford dealership with a MSRP of $79,000.  Deliveries are scheduled for Q3 of 2010.