Spring has sprung – well, more or less – and that means auto show season is all but wrapped up. We have one more major auto show to go – and it’s New York.
The 2017 New York Auto Show kicks off in exactly two days, and we already have a strong idea of what we can expect. Surprises notwithstanding, it seems quite clear which automaker will steal this year’s show.
Here’s what we’re looking forward to the most:
2018 Buick Regal Sportback and TourX
2018 Buick Regal TourX
Since the 2018 Opel Insignia debuted earlier this year, we pretty much knew exactly what was in store for the newest Buick Regal. The biggest news? It’s no longer a sedan. Instead, the 2018 Buick Regal is available in two flavours – as a sedan-styled five-door hatchback known as the Regal Sportback, or as a butched-up, Subaru Outback–style wagon known as the Regal TourX. The good news? The Regal Sportback and TourX are surprisingly sexy. The bad news? We’ll only get the Sportback; the Regal TourX is U.S.-only. Not for long, hopefully.
2018 Dodge Challenger Demon
2018 Dodge Challenger Demon
At this point, it’s fairly obvious the Dodge Challenger Demon will steal this year’s New York Auto Show, and for a good reason – it’s properly (and unabashedly) insane. We know a fair bit of the details – it can run on 100-octane gasoline, it’ll have barely street-legal drag radial tires, and best of all, it’ll most likely be built in Canada. Of course, the juiciest bit of information is just how much horsepower and torque this supercharged monster will put out; considering the Challenger Hellcat is rated at 707 horsepower and 650 lb.-ft. of torque, it’ll likely be … a lot more than that.
Honda Civic Si
2017 Honda Civic Si
If Goldilocks was in the market for a Honda Civic, she’d probably think the Type R is too hot and the standard variant is too cold. Enter the just-right 2017 Civic Si – it’s a familiar affair under the skin, utilizing Honda’s new 1.5-litre turbo-four engine under the hood. It produces 205 horsepower and 192 lb.-ft. of torque – a far cry from the Civic Type R’s 306 horses, but a sizeable increase over the standard Civic – and you can only have it with a manual transmission. The all-new Si will come either as a sedan or a coupe, and it’ll hit dealers next month.
Mercedes-AMG GLC 63
2018 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63
Folks, whether you like it or not, this is the closest we’ll get to Mercedes-Benz selling the AMG C 63 wagon in North America. It might be a crossover, but the GLC 63 is properly bonkers – under the hood, a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine pushes out 469 horsepower and 479 lb.-ft. of torque. Combined with the standard all-wheel-drive system and nine-speed automatic transmission, the GLC 63 does the zero-to-100 km/h sprint in 3.9 seconds. Not quick enough? Spring for the GLC 63 S Coupe, and Mercedes-AMG turns up the wick to 503 horsepower and 516 lb.-ft. of torque. Why? Well, why not?
Toyota FT-4X concept
Toyota’s upcoming FT-4X will debut at this year’s New York Auto Show
Toyota is planning to unveil a refreshed Sienna and Yaris at the New York Auto Show. That’s perfectly acceptable; Toyota will certainly sell a lot of them, but they’re not particularly interesting. Enter the FT-4X concept – although Toyota is exceptionally tight-lipped on the details, the teaser image is promising. Remember the Toyota FJ Cruiser? Well, the knobby Goodyear tires, chunky wheels and short overhangs suggest we could be looking at an FJ successor – and a potential Jeep Wrangler competitor. Way cool.
