Woodward 2008: Cruising on two wheels

Click above for high-res gallery of motorcycles cruising Woodward

Sure, the vast majority of vehicles cruising down Woodward Ave. this weekend are of the four-wheeled variety, but motorcycles were well represented as well. In between all the exotics, classics and modern muscle, we dodged (and occasionally stopped) traffic to grab a pretty good representation of what was out there, whether they be scooters, choppers or trikes... plus some things that defy classification altogether. Check out our complete gallery below.

Gallery: Woodward 2008: Motorcycles

Lexus shows the LF-A's heart in London

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lexus LF-A concept.

and has been The Lexus LF-A has taken the crown from the Chevy Camaro as the perpetual show queen that we're tired of seeing in concept form. Granted, it's already run the Nurburging 24 Hour endurospied enough times that we've almost stopped caring, but aside from an astronomical price, details are still scarce on Lexus' first attempt at joining the hyper car fray.

Thankfully, the automaker brought sometime else to the London Motor Show to compliment the two LF-A concepts on stage. Enclosed in a Plexiglas case is the 5.0-liter V10 that's slated to power the coupe, and although there's no accompanying spec sheet to give exact horsepower and torque figures (expect around 500 hp and 400 lb.-ft.), CAR shot a brief video showing some beautifully crafted exhaust manifolds and a gorgeous set of ITB trumpets. It's not much, but its small size is telling, providing further proof that the bent-ten will be mounted close to the firewall for a front-midship placement.

London 2008: Mastretta MXT will be Mexico's first homegrown car

Click above for more high-res shots of the Mastretta MXT

It may have taken Mexico a while to produce its first car, but at least when it finally took place, it did so with style. When we originally heard of the Mastretta MXT, it was said to be powered by a stock Ford Duratec four-banger. Fortunately, the production machine will be blessed with a much more impressive version of the 2.0L mill, one tuned by the maestros at Cosworth, who have also bestowed the block with a turbocharger. Claimed output is 240 horses, which is plenty to move the MXT along at an impressive clip due to its light weight of just 900 kilograms -- just a bit shy of a ton. The run to sixty is dispatched in under five seconds and top speed is up around a buck-fifty.

The car will be available beginning next May in the U.K., with other European destinations to follow. Fitting, as the car, with its chassis a blend of aluminum bonded with composites and its body of fiberglass, will be compared most directly with Britain's own Lotus Elise and Exige.

London 2008: Mastretta MXT will be Mexico's first homegrown car

Click above for more high-res shots of the Mastretta MXT

It may have taken Mexico a while to produce its first car, but at least when it finally took place, it did so with style. When we originally heard of the Mastretta MXT, it was said to be powered by a stock Ford Duratec four-banger. Fortunately, the production machine will be blessed with a much more impressive version of the 2.0L mill, one tuned by the maestros at Cosworth, who have also bestowed the block with a turbocharger. Claimed output is 240 horses, which is plenty to move the MXT along at an impressive clip due to its light weight of just 900 kilograms -- just a bit shy of a ton. The run to sixty is dispatched in under five seconds and top speed is up around a buck-fifty.

The car will be available beginning next May in the U.K., with other European destinations to follow. Fitting, as the car, with its chassis a blend of aluminum bonded with composites and its body of fiberglass, will be compared most directly with Britain's own Lotus Elise and Exige.

London Motor Show Mega Post

The British International Motor Show wrapped up earlier this week and although we weren't able to attend in person, we've assembled a sizeable gallery of live shots from the show floor. Unlike past shows in London, this year's event actually hosted some serious debuts, including the Lotus Evora, Honda OSM concept, Ford Focus RS, IFR Aspid, Renaultsport Megane R26.R, Lightning GT, a trio of Imprezas and the Opel Insignia. Some will make it Stateside, while others we'll adore from afar, but our gallery below is proof that London has come into its own. We're looking forward to next year's festivities and hopefully we can scrounge up enough scratch to make the trip across the pond.

London 2008: Renaultsport Megane R26.R

While most of our recent hot hatch affection has been aimed at the Ford Focus RS, Renault brought its own racy three-door to the London Motor Show party, and now we're torn. Admittedly, the Focus RS is easily the more suitable day-to-day driver – it's got a full interior and air conditioning -- but the Renaultsport Megane R26.R has all the kit for a serious track-day assault. Hell, it even has two Rs in its name.

With the new Megane slated to appear at this year's Paris Motor Show, Renault wanted to give the current model a fitting send off. To that end, it took the existing Megane F1 Team R26, left the engine, gearbox and limited slip differential intact, modified the suspension and hacked off 271 pounds from its curb weight. The diet included the removal of the rear seats, passenger side airbag, climate control, fog lamps, headlight washers, rear windscreen wiper and the majority of the soundproofing material. In exchange, the R26.R received a carbon fiber hood, polycarbonate quarter and rear windows and a titanium exhaust.

Inside, the Renaultsport hatch makes the RS look positively pedestrian, with a set of carbon fiber Sabelt seats, six-point harnesses, leather and suede swathed steering wheel and gear knob, and an optional four-point roll cage. While output remains the same, at 230 hp and 229 lb.-ft. of torque, the stripped R26.R lapped the Nurburgring in 8:17 – a new lap record for a front wheel drive production car.

Only 450 examples will be made available when sales begin in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain this October. And unlike the Chevy Camaro, Renault released a video of the R.26R doing it's thing around the 'Ring... three seconds faster. Check it, along with the press release, below the fold.

Two things revealed at this year's New York Auto Show had our salivary glands working overtime. The first was the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, which proved that at least one automaker (and now, two and possibly three) is getting hip to the idea that a rear-wheel-drive, two-door coupe with a turbocharged four-cylinder is needed in the marketplace. The second was over at the Kia booth, where Hyundai's sub-brand revealed its Koup concept, powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline direct-injected (GDI) four-cylinder. According to Kia, this new mill makes 290 hp and 289 lb.-ft. of torque and could power several different models in both automaker's lineups. Fast-forward to yesterday when we received a couple of tips about a green Genesis Coupe shown at the Busan Auto Show in South Korea. The coupe supposedly shared display space with the same THETA turbocharged GDI 2.0-liter on a separate stand, causing some members of GenFans to assume that the 290 ps (285 hp) engine was fitted to the green coupe. However, the "380GT" badge on the back reveals that the coupe is actually powered by the run-of-the-mill 3.8-liter V6. We called up Hyundai to ask about the engine and the Coupe on display. Their response: "We're not commenting on it at this time." While we understand that certain cards have to be kept close to one's chest, it would have been easier just to tell us that the coupe on display and the engine at its booth have nothing in common. Since they're remaining disconcertingly tight-lipped, can we assume that the turbocharged 2.0-liter GDI will find its way into the Genesis Coupe in the future? We hope so. And with Hyundai's recent announcement that direct-injected engines are going to find their way into several of its models, it adds that much more fuel to the fire.