Autoblog

The Internet is everywhere, and later this year BMW is joining other digitally connected automakers with its own mobile web service. We gave you details on the ConnectDrive mobile Internet while we were in Geneva, and BMW TV is following up with video of how the technology works. After the jump is a short promotional video that shows what the BMW interface looks like from the cabin of a new X6. If you've got an iPhone or any other mobile device that uses the EDGE network for access to the web, try not to choke when ConnectDrive Internet boss Daniel Wittwer calls the surfing experience "fast and pleasant." Yeah, right. Regardless of the speed, the technology won't be available in the US any time soon, but it'll be available in Europe later this year.

[Source: YouTube via: eGMCarTech]

Click above to view in high resolution

Show-stopping new production cars and concepts were not lacking in Geneva this year. There were so many, in fact, that we struggled to take it all in. Yet while Ferrari didn't have any new models to show us, somehow we couldn't help but slow down in front of its booth as we rushed from press conference to press conference. Maybe it was the classic Daytona sitting next to the 612 Scaglietti bathed in soft light, or maybe the pair of lookers standing next to them. Guess we'll never know, but you can feast your eyes on all the sexy models in the gallery below.

What Ferrari did unveil at the Swiss show, however, was a new customization program. Called One-to-One, the program takes the catalog of options under the existing Carrozzeria Scaglietti Programme a step further. A customization studio is being built at the factory in Maranello where clients can hand-pick a wide variety of options from leather swatches to brake calipers and everything in between. The program is being launched on the 612 Scaglietti, but will assuredly be broadened to the entire range in due course. For the 612, Ferrari also announced the availability of the SuperFast robotic gearbox and a new electrochromatic glass roof that can tint and lighten at the push of a button like the folding hardtop on the limited edition Superamerica. More on the latest from Maranello is available in the press release after the jump.

Click above to view the updated Alfa Romeo 159 in hi-res

We had plenty of reason to frequent the Alfa Romeo pavilion at this year's Geneva show. After the unveiling of the production 8C Spider along with the updated Brera and Spider came the revisions to the 159 sedan and Sportwagon.

Like its two-door counterparts, the changes to the 159 consist of a few small updates that don't interfere with the model's stunning lines. Better ergonomics and new electronics update the interior, while weight reduction where the car meets the road should help the car's driving dynamics slightly. Most importantly, however, the tweaks which Alfa Romeo announced for the 159 range gave us and our cameras another reason, as if we needed one, to get reacquainted with one of our favorite European sports sedans and wagons. To see the product of our emotional reunion, click on the thumbnails below and jump to our high-resolution image gallery.

Click to view the 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale in hi-res

As if Alfa Romeo didn't come to Geneva with enough eye candy, sitting at the back of its booth at the Palexpo, behind the new 8C Spider and updated Brera, Spider and 159, sat a rare classic supercar, bathed in more red lights and surrounded by more mirrors than an Amsterdam window.

The 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was, for all intents and purposes, the Bugatti Veyron of its day. It was the most expensive road car available to the public. Only 18 were ever made. Its 2-liter V8 was pulled directly from Alfa's racing cars, bearing no relation to the production units of the time, and featured such advanced systems as fuel injection and dry-sump lubrication. It sported butterfly doors long before they appeared on the likes of the Ferrari Enzo and McLaren F1. And it was and remains unspeakably gorgeous, like a true Alfa supercar should be. We had fun photographing this stunning beauty, and bring you the results in the gallery below.

Click above to view the Ford Kuga in hi-res

Kinetic design has been swallowing Ford of Europe's product range whole, and took a big bite at this year's Geneva Motor Show. Alongside the new Fiesta, Ford showed off the production version of the all-new Kuga crossover. Previewed by the concept unveiled at the last Frankfurt show and drawing on styling cues from the Iosis X show car, the Kuga is based on the same platform as the slicker Focus they get overseas.

Although the Kuga is admittedly one more European model that Ford won't offer in its home market, we're not short of Ford crossovers to choose from over here, so we'll let the Europeans have this one. (Just give us the Focus RS and we'll be happy.) But to see what we're missing, check out our gallery of images from the Geneva show floor by clicking on the thumbnails below. Unfortunately, although we're sure the Kuga rolled off its turntable at night after we were gone and duked it out with the Renault Koleos for market share, we couldn't prove it.

Click above for a gallery of the K.O. 7 and 8.

When we make the trek to Switzerland each year, there always seems to be one particular car that stands out. It's generally something unexpected from an independent automaker far removed from the spotlight. This year, tucked away in a corner cubicle of the Geneva Motor Show's basement, was the K.O. 7 Spider, a concept hailing from Japan that attempts to strike a balance between bespoke supercar and track-day terror.

There were actually two vehicles on display at the Ken Okuyama Design booth: the K.0. 8 coupe, an E.V. that's decidedly less attractive and strictly a design exercise, and the K.O. 7, a production model that will be on sale sometime in 2008.

Hit the jump for all the details.

Click above to view high-res gallery of the Renault Megane Concept

Renault is known for doing hatchbacks, and it does them well, but that's about it. Seeking to increase its market share, Renault's range is rapidly expanding to include a more diversified line-up. Unveiled alongside the new Laguna GT and the Koleos crossover – both also divergent models from the company's small hatch mainstream – the Megane Coupe Concept aims to show the way forward for Renault.

Although what you see here is not what will hit the road when the new Megane arrives, Renault insists that its "dynamic voluptuousness" is a direct indicator of the more fluid form its upcoming Golf-fighter will take. While everyone else was scrambling to come up with new ways to reinvent the wheel internal combustion engine, Renault's new concept is powered by a regular old 2-liter turbocharged four with 200 horsepower, which frankly doesn't seem that impressive considering that the Clio Renaultsport's naturally-aspirated 2.0 produces just three negligible horsepower less. Fine, so notwithstanding its F1 cars, big impressive engines aren't Renault's thing. Meanwhile, the big gullwing doors are the most obvious element to get axed along the next Megane's road to production, but if the road car bears even a passing resemblance to what could easily be labeled as Renault's most engaging show car in years, European customers will have reason to celebrate and we'll have one more entry on our list of cars we wish we could get Stateside.

Right up until its unveiling, Renault was highly secretive on the Megane Coupe Concept, revealing only that there would be a fourth model premiering in Geneva alongside the Koleos and Laguna GT. Now that the veil has been lifted, however, we've garnered all the details in the press release after the jump and Renault's images, which join our own in the gallery below. Check 'em out to learn more about Renault's vision for the future of the automobile.

Click to view the Alfa Romeo Brera and Spider in hi-res

We here at Autoblog would like to thank Alfa Romeo for releasing updated versions of the Brera and Spider models. Not because we're that excited about the minimal updates themselves, but because it gave us another excuse to stop by the Alfa booth and gawk at this pair of stunning two-doors, whose beauty in the Alfa Romeo range is rivaled only by the luscious 8C, the roadster version of which Alfa also unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.

As we brought you back in late February, the updates to the Brera and its Spider counterpart are modest, limited mostly to removing weight from the rolling stock. Modest improvements, which we'll let interested parties read about in more detail in our preview post and attached press release, but with a vehicle this breathtaking, as you can see from our images in the gallery below, we're glad Alfa kept the changes minimal in addressing some of the vehicle's dynamic shortcomings without tinkering with the styling.

Click above to view high-res gallery of the new Renault Koleos

Renault pulled out all the stops for this year's Geneva Motor Show, taking the wraps off the swoopy Megane Coupe concept, as well as debuting the Twingo Renaultsport, Laguna GT and this, the Koleos crossover. Although closely based on mechanicals borrowed from sister-company Nissan, the Koleos is far more of a complete project than that other pair of French sport-utes from archrival PSA Peugeot-Citroen.

The Koleos shared center stage with the Megane Coupe this week, outlining how important the new model is to Renault. This is its first proper foray into the sport-ute segment, finally surrendering when the French automaker realized the crossover craze would not be subsiding any time soon. When you can't beat 'em, join 'em, the saying goes, but push come to snooty shove, Renault actually appears to have done a decent job.

For all the details, refer back to the preview post we featured on the Renault Koleos, and be sure to view our gallery of live shots from the show floor alongside Renault's own press shots by clicking on the thumbnails below.

Click above for high-res gallery of Honda's 1967 RA300 and new RA108

Honda has a long history in grand prix racing. The sport's first Japanese team debuted with its own home-grown chassis and engine in 1964, taking its first victory in only its second year in Formula One at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. The original RA271 was replaced by the RA300 at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which John Surtees won on its maiden race. Honda withdrew from Formula One in 1969, supplied engines to various teams between 1983 and 1992 and again with British American Racing in 2000, which Honda had adopted as its own factory team by 2005 before winning the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Keen to highlight its rich heritage in Formula One, Honda came to the Geneva Motor Show with and old RA300 and its latest successor, the RA108. Compared to the 3-liter 420-hp V12 and 5-speed manual in the vintage RA300, the new RA108 is driven through a seven-speed sequential gearbox by a 2.4-liter V8 producing over 700 hp. The two cars represent over 45 years of F1 development, clearly evident in their forms that you can see for yourself in our high-resolution gallery by click-clickin' on the thumbnails below.