Autoblog

We know a lot of you were hanging around in front of the television yesterday, watching a couple of football games, enjoying assorted alcoholic beverages and doing the things for which Sundays were invented. We, however, were running around Cobo Hall in Detroit, amped up on all manner of stimulants (caffeine and B-vitamins, thank you very much) to report on all the happenings at the 2008 North American International Auto Show. Here's a list of what's been revealed so far in D-town, so click away. What else are you going to do on a Monday, work? Also stay tuned for today's happenings that will begin with Lincoln's press conference at 8:30 AM EST.

Audi R8 V12 TDI - Gallery
BMW 1-series convertible - Gallery
BMW 335d and X5 xDrive35d - Gallery
BMW production X6 - Gallery
2009 Dodge Ram - Gallery - Watch the Rampede here!
Ferrari's ethanol-powered F430 - Gallery
2009 Ford F150 - Gallery
Ford Explorer America concept - Gallery
Ford Verve Sedan concept - Gallery
Honda Pilot Prototype - Gallery
HUMMER HX concept - Gallery
2009 Hyundai Genesis - Gallery
Lamborghini Ad Personum - Gallery
Land Rover LRX - Gallery
Lexus LF-A roadster concept - Gallery
Mazda Furai concept - Gallery
2009 Mazda RX-8 R3 - Gallery
Mercedes-Benz GLKs - Gallery
Mitsubishi Concept-RA - Gallery
2009 Mitsubishi Ralliart - Gallery
Saab 9-4X BioPower concept - Gallery
2009 Subaru Forester - Gallery
Volkswagen Passat CC - Gallery

Click image to enlarge the Mazda Furai concept

Mazda has released a teaser shot of its Furai concept, which will debut next month in Detroit alongside the "heavily revised" 2009 RX-8. Its name translates from Japanese to "sound of the wind," and the car takes the design language introduced on the Nagare and applies it to what is literally a race-bred sports concept. The Furai, you see, is built atop the Courage C65 chassis that Mazda campaigned two years ago in ALMS. Power comes from a 450-horsepower three-rotor engine that runs on E100 Ethanol. As for the '09 RX-8, Mazda's announcement states only that it boasts an updated design, better quality and features, and improved handling and acceleration. The announcement now has us wondering if the spy photos that came out yesterday are actually the car we'll see in Detroit, and not the 2010 as initially believed. Finally, Detroit will mark the first appearance of the Taiki concept outside Japan. The Taiki, you'll recall, was introduced at the recent Tokyo Motor Show. We'll be there in force to cover it all.

[Source: Mazda]