2008 spring preview

Cars, car tech, and GPS

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Cars, car tech, and GPS

A number of new cars for this year have been highly anticipated after their introductions at various auto shows around the world. The top of the list for the performance enthusiast and tech head is the Nissan GT-R, a legendary racer and street car. Mitsubishi comes in with the next generation of its Evo rally model, and BMW brings out a sleeper. In the car stereo arena, Pioneer introduces its LINC technology, designed to compete indirectly with Ford and Microsoft Sync, while JVC launches a unique gesture recognition interface. Meanwhile, Magellan enables its portable GPS with cell phone tech, while Garmin offers a GPS device you can talk to.

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Product

Type of car or car tech

Price and availability

The outlook

Nissan GT-R	Supercar	$67,000; June 2008	With high-tech running gear, the Nissan GT-R is reputed to be a supercar that almost anyone can drive, with a list price that sharply undercuts other supercars from manufacturers such as Ferrari. The GT-R has been eagerly anticipated, so the cars that Nissan imports to the U.S. will get snapped up fast.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	Rally car	$32,000; January, 2008	Mitsubishi offers lots of interesting cabin and performance tech on the latest version of its consumer rally car. Although a little pricier than past versions, it looks to be well worth it.
BMW 135i	Coupe	$35,000; March, 2008	BMW's small, unassuming coupe comes with a monster under the hood. The 135i could be a new favorite for track days.
JVC El Kameleon KD-AVX44	Single DIN car stereo	$599; March, 2008	Although the El Kameleon might seem pricey for its specifications, its interface is extremely cool. Gesture recognition and proximity sensors give it the most futuristic interface of any car stereo.
Panasonic CN-NW100U	Double DIN car stereo and navigation unit	TBD; April, 2008	Panasonic's Strada line gets expanded with this new, full-featured entertainment and information system. With navigation and Bluetooth, it gives old cars a huge tech upgrade.
Pioneer AVIC-F500-BT LINC	Hybrid car stereo and portable navigation unit	TBD; spring, 2008	Pioneer's portable navigation device can be docked in a car, where it also serves as a stereo interface. It uses speech recognition technology that lets you ask for artists, albums, and songs by name.
Magellan Maestro Elite	Portable navigation device	$1,299; March, 2008	Magellan gets a jump on a new trend by adding GPRS to its navigation. For the user, this means access to Google Local Search. At its price and subscription fee, these units are for early adopters.
Garmin Nuvi 880	Portable navigation device	$1,071; Spring, 2008	Garmin adds voice recognition to its navigation devices, starting with the Nuvi 880. Users can ask for directions by voice instead of having to use the touch screen. Expect voice recognition to become a standard feature of portable navigation over the next few years.

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