The two coolest mid-engine exotics at the New York Auto Show last week were the Saleen Raptor and the Lamborghini LP560-4. The Saleen’s supercharged 5.0 produces 650 hp, while the Lambo’s 5.2 liter V10 makes a measly 560 hp. Saleen has not yet committed to building the Raptor, but if they did, which would you choose?

Despite cries of unfairness from both camps, our TSX-vs-Maxima Showroom Showdown was one of the closest yet, with the Maxima pulling ahead by only a scant 3 votes. In true CarDomain fashion, you picked the Maxima’s burlier performance over the TSX’s luxier extras—and only two of you opted for "neither."

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Whoops, somehow I totally missed the 2009 Honda Fit unveil at NYIAS. I guess I was eating lunch. Or writing about something with a little more horsepower. Anyway, my friend, who hates cars, has determined that the Fit offers the best combination of low price, interior space and fuel economy, while fighting off depreciation in that Honda kind of way. In fact, Car & Driver‘s long term Fit had an operating cost of just ten cents per mile. Too bad it’s so homely. And did market research indicate that the politically correct crowd likes cars with fugly, view-obstructing A-pillars?

Anyway, this car-hating friend of mine is buying a 2008 model–he doesn’t feel like waiting for the 2009 model, which looks marginally better, has marginally more hp, is marginally bigger, safer and marginally more high tech. More pics over at Jalopnik, who were a little more on the ball than me.

Kia’s slogan is "The Power to Surprise," and I have to say the company completely surprised me in New York. While I was pretty underwhelmed by the redesigned Optima—not my style—I have to admit I was impressed by the KOUP Concept. Officially, Kia hasn’t decided whether to build it, but did say the KOUP is production ready. With the exception of the door handles—which look sexy but are a little too small—up close, it doesn’t have many not-ready-for-prime-time features, so it does feel like this car could drop without much modification. And with 290 horsepower on tap, it would  immediately become a player on the tuner scene. My gut says Kia is waiting to see how the Genesis sells to give it the green light. What do you think, should Kia build the KOUP? More pics after the jump.

As you can tell by this photo from our Events section, most people were paying more attention to the red R/T and silver SRT Challengers in the Dodge booth at NYIAS. But this blue V6 SE Challenger was my favorite, for the color (somewhere between B5 and B7 blue), the understated look (18s are just fine) and the price (Chrysler is saying low 20s). Chrysler expects the R/T to be the sales leader, and maybe that will be true for the first year, but after that I have a feeling the V6 Challenger will take the lead.

Could a V6 pony car be cool? (And is the Challenger a pony car? Or a muscle car? I still can’t decide.) I’ve never been a huge fan of the V6 Mustang, but that V6 is pretty weak. The one in this Challenger makes a fairly respectable 250 hp, and is a whole lot smoother. I also think a lot of guys who already have cool old muscle cars may select the SE as their daily driver, with gas prices the way they are. We’ll see. Anyway, I think I could be pretty happy with this V6 Challenger, especially when I consider that the money I’d save over the R/T would build one killer motor for the Satellite.

So what was your favorite car at NYIAS?

Most of the free stuff you get at shows is crap. I don’t pick up a wholelot of swag or marketing materials, as most of what I take home usually ends up getting tossed out anyway. But this little Suzuki jump drive that I got at the New York Auto Show is definitely a keeper. I picked it up at right after the rather impressive Kizachi 3 unveil. I’ve noticed that there seems to be a pretty fierce competition to build the coolest jump drive. I got some awesome Optima jump drives at SEMA last year–in both yellow and red. But Suzuki has definitely upped the ante with this one.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to join Mike Spinelli and Mr. Angry on RPM, Maxim’s Sirius radio show devoted to all things cars (Thursdays on channel 108 at 2PM ET). It was my first time on the air since my college radio days, which were quite a while ago. Anyway, we mostly talked about the New York Auto Show, and the time just flew by–it was a total blast. I screwed up and forgot to take pics of the Sirius studios, which were super cool (I’ll see if Musto can get some photos next week). I snapped this pic of Spinelli and Musto after the show, right before jumping in a cab and heading back to JFK.

Anyone catch the show?

While I was ogling the Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept in New York, I got a chance to chat with Jim Taylor, the General Manger of Cadillac. Given the reception the concept got in Detroit, and the fact that the CTS was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, the dude is obviously pumped about Caddy. He was also pretty forthcoming about the lackluster styling of the previous-gen Cadillacs. "Cars are a fashion business," he explained, "people buy them for the same reason they buy cloths, to look good, and to feel good about themselves." He went on to say that the makeover Caddy launched back in 2002—remember the Led Zeppelin spots?—was intended as a shock to the system, and that the over-corrections made during the process are responsible for Caddy’s renaissance. Along with the Coupe, Taylor was clearly excited about the high-performance CTS-V sedan which will drop in 2009. With 550 horsepower and a six-speed manual available, it should be pretty ferocious. Check out a 360 view here. What do I have to do to get a test drive?

As someone who absolutely loves the idea of flying cars, I really, truly, want to like Milner Motors. But after looking at stats and photos of the company’s vehicles online, I was left pretty cold. Given my experience with my Dad’s ’66 Piper Cherokee, I find the idea that something could be light enough to fly and provide even basic protection from other vehicles pretty far-fetched, so I’m not impressed with the idea of an airplane which folds up its wings for the road. And from an aesthetic standpoint, I think the ElectriCar is just ugly. I stumbled across Milner’s booth yesterday, in a dark, unloved corner of the Javits Center, and after seeing their products in person, I’m even less enthused. The AirCar is a lot bigger than I expected it to be, which makes it look even more awkward, and there’s no way I’d take it on the street. Just imagine getting t-boned. Yikes. More photos after the jump.

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There weren’t a ton of unveils in New York, and most of the ones I was excited about happened on Wednesday. But I was curious to see what Saleen was hiding over in their booth, so Mike Musto and I went to their press conference yesterday. After a splashy intro complete with fancy lighting and smoke, the Raptor Concept made its debut. Mike thinks it looks like the product of one-night-stand between a Gallardo and an F430, and I don’t disagree. But I still think it looks dope, and with 650 horsepower and 603lbs of torque on tap, it would be blast to drive. The brass hasn’t decided whether to bring it into production yet, and will closely follow the response of its customers and the press. When I asked Marques McCammon, General Manager of Saleen Automotive, how long will it take for the company to pull the trigger, he said it "will depend on how loud everyone screams." If the response is deafening, the Raptor could be in production in two years. What do you think? Should Saleen build it? More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Saleen Raptor Concept Unveil" »