Tech.Wapline

Would you like some car with those wheels? This latest rendering of the anticipated Mazda RX-9 sports car comes from an enthusiast in Japan and was posted on the Ford fan forum FoMoCoNews.com.

Although the artist swears that it’s close to the mark, the actual design, like the rendering featured on Winding Road, is expected to more faithfully portray the styling language previewed on the radical Furai concept. This illustration, meanwhile, appears to be more of an evolution of the current RX-8, but with enormous rims that would have to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 inches (which is farther than this thing would make it on public roads with those ground effects).

Regarding Toyota’s poster child for “green” motoring, I had never really been a fan and I’m as guilty as anyone of taking the occasional swipe at the petro-lectro hatch. Hey, it’s an easy target. With some followers who see it as a kind of four-wheeled Messiah capable of preventing the sky from falling, it’s easy to look at the Prius, roll your eyes, and scoff at the hyperbolic ridiculousness that is “Prius Culture.” I had done all these things. Call me a hater. I don’t mind. To top things off, I had never even driven a Prius. So I asked Toyota for one, figuring that if I was going to continue being a smartass, I might as well be an informed one.

We’ve been seeing camouflaged test mules of an updated Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class sedans driving around for some time now, but the German automaker apparently can’t keep it under wraps anymore. On Saturday the online motoring press worldwide lit up with two pictures of the facelifted “four-door coupe”, reportedly leaked by someone inside Mercedes ahead of its intended debut.

The pictures show an updated top-of-the-line CLS 63 AMG. What we can tell from the images is that the newest AMG rocket gets a new grille split in three sections instead of four; upgraded wheels from 18 to 19 inches, with a style similar to those on the Porsche 911 Turbo; led tail-lights; a carbon fiber rear spoiler; a new rear diffuser; and updated exhaust outlets.

Whether any mechanical changes have been made has yet to be revealed, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted. A shot of the rear is included after the jump.

BMW’s big Detroit debut will be the production X6 Sports Activity Coupe (unsurprisingly, BMW avoids the somewhat unbecoming “SAC” acronym), which will be arriving in US showrooms sometime during the second quarter of 2008. When it does, buyers get two flavors to choose from.

The xDrive50i is powered by a new twin-turbo, direct-injected 4.4L V8 pumping out 400-horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. The xDrive35i, meanwhile, gets the automaker’s acclaimed 300-hp TT inline six-cylinder. Dynamic Performance Control is a standard feature that can direct torque to either rear wheel, further aiding steering in both dry weather and sloppier conditions. Design-wise, the production X6 looks pretty much just like the hybrid-equipped concept version we saw earlier this year. Basically, it’s a larger “X” model with a coupe roofline. Not bad, as SUVs go, but the sloping roof obviously forces owners to compromise some space in the name of style. Still, the driver and three friends can stow their golf clubs in back while riding in comfort. Interior appointments are typical BMW fare, meaning they’re quite nice. If you’ve been in a modern Bimmer, you know precisely what to expect. The X6 is no slug, either, with a manufacturer-claimed 0-60 time of 5.3 seconds for the turbo V8 model. We’ll have plenty more to say after we check it out firsthand in a few weeks.

As reported earlier, both Ford and General Motors will be cutting back production during the first quarter of 2008 in an effort to stem the tide of excessive dealer inventory. GM already idled three pick up plants for two weeks and now Ford has temporarily shut down two of its own plants Monday.

The F150 plant in Dearborn, MI and the Explorer plant in Louisville, KY ceased production yesterday and it’s unclear as to when the factories will resume their duties. Both models have seen a slip in sales over the course of the year (F150s are down 12.4-percent and Explorers sales have slipped by 23.5-percent compared to 2006), with analysts pointing to the slow economy and even slower house sales contributing to the downturn.

In a related article from the Detroit News, FoMoCo exec Mark Fields says that the automaker is expecting a rough 2008 as car sales in the U.S. continue to slow. Fields asked and answered his own question, saying, “Do I think it’s going to be Armageddon? No.” And continued by saying that Ford will take the coming year on a month-to-month basis in order to “manage the business appropriately.” We’d hope that Ford is looking a little bit further down the line then “month-to-month,” but in its current predicament, maybe that’s all it can do.