Mitsubishi has promised a limited edition Lancer Evolution X as a final send-off when the model finishes its production run.

Though details were scarce, the final Evo X will be released in early summer of 2015 and have a run of 2,000 units. Jalopnik reports that it will be more than a simple appearance package, a GSR model with “More horsepower, some suspension tuning, and some bits pieces that are still being finalized.” The GSR is available only with a traditional 5-speed manual instead of the 6-speed TC-SST paddle shifters.

The announcement was made at the Los Angeles Auto Show by Executive Vice President of Mitsubishi Motor Sales USA Don Swearingen, who said that although this will be the end of the Lancer Evolution’s evolution, the XR-PHEV that was shown in North America for the first time will serve as a guide for the brand’s future design language. This appears to confirm reports that the successor to the Evo will likely be an SUV rather than a traditional sedan.

Mitsubishi spokesperson Amanda Savercool reaffirimed to LeftLane News the automaker’s commitment to the US market, where it has seen eight consecutive months of sales gains, with overall sales up 30 percent since this time last year.

Live images by Ben Hsu.

Automobile personalization has long been a service exclusive to premium brands like Ferrari and Rolls Royce, but Nissan has announced it will begin offering on its sporty Juke crossover starting this month.

The Nissan Color Studio gives buyers several options for customizing their already funky Jukes at the dealership before they sign on the dotted line. Up to 12 different parts can be chosen, including bumper accents on either end, headlight bezels, mirrors, door and hatch handles, door sill inserts, and the hatch accent. In the cabin, floor mats and the trim surrounding the tweeters and vents are customizable. Even the 17-inch alloy wheels can be chosen with your color preferences.

Each of the parts listed above can be had in one of eight colors: red, yellow, orange, electric blue, dark purple, white, matte black or faux carbon-fiber. In addition piano black is available for the interior bits as well.

Though the parts do cost extra, they can be installed by the dealership and financed there as well. Most of the parts can be retrofitted to previous Juke models dating back to 2011 too.

To make the announcement at the LA Auto Show Nissan enlisted the help of football player Marcus Allen, a winner of the coveted Heisman Trophy for outstanding college players. Nissan is a supporter of the Heisman Trust.

Nissan believes “‘Personalization’ continues to be a growing consumer trend,” citing home appliances and mobile phones as two other areas where consumers expect to be able to put their own touches and accessories on their purchases. It is unknown whether Color Studios will be offered on other models yet.

Live images by Ben Hsu.

Mazda has introduced the Mazda2 Sedan ahead of its public debut at the annual Thailand International Motor Expo that will take place in Bangkok next week.
The 2 Sedan is nearly identical to its hatchback counterpart from the tip of the front bumper to the C-pillar. Beyond that, the sedan gains a longer rear overhang that clears up space for a roomier trunk and horizontal tail lamps that bring it in line with the larger Mazda3 Sedan. A discreet trunk-mounted spoiler adds a sporty touch to the overall look.

Inside, the sedan shares its clean and elegant cockpit with the 2 hatchback. It features a three-spoke multi-function steering wheel, a high-definition screen controlled by controller knob and a simple, function-oriented instrument cluster. Buyers can pick from a long list of high-tech features gleaned from Mazda’s bigger cars.

The Mazda2 Sedan is available with a 1.5-liter Skyactiv-D turbodiesel four-cylinder engine that sends 103 horsepower and a healthy 184 lb-ft. of torque to the front wheels via either a manual or an automatic transmission. The four-door could also be offered with a 1.5-liter gasoline-burning four-banger rated at 100 horsepower and 98 lb-ft. of torque, but Mazda is keeping full technical details under wraps for the time being.

In Thailand, the Mazda Mazda2 Sedan will go on sale alongside its hatchback counterpart in early 2015. The four-door could be sold in Europe and in other countries throughout Asia, but Mazda has not announced when – or if – it will make its debut in the United States.

Chinese start-up Qoros has traveled to the Guangzhou Motor Show to introduce its third model, a pint-sized crossover called 3 City.

As expected, the 3 City is essentially a more rugged variant of the Audi A3 hatchback-sized 3 Hatch that was presented earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show. In its transformation from a city car to a soft-roader, the 3 has gained plastic trim on the rocker panels and around the wheel arches, a new bumper with large air dams, an air diffuser integrated into the rear bumper and a more prominent trunk-mounted spoiler.

The interior is carried over unchanged from the 3 Hatch. The City offers an elegant and simple dashboard, nine storage bins and a large serving of high-tech equipment in order to woo a relatively young target audience. An eight-inch touch screen that runs Qoros’ MMH infotainment system comes standard on all models regardless of trim level.

The 3 City is powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 126 horsepower and 114 lb-ft. of torque. These figures go up to 156 and 154, respectively, when the mill is ordered with an optional turbocharger. The 3 reaches 62 mph from a stop in 11.6 seconds with a naturally-aspirated engine or 9.7 seconds with a turbo four.

The additional ground clearance has not been complemented by all-wheel drive, meaning the four-banger spins the front wheels via either a standard six-speed manual transmission or an optional six-speed dual-clutch unit developed by Getrag.

The Qoros 3 City will go on sale across its home country of China shortly and Qoros is ambitiously planning on entering the European market by 2016. Pricing information will be announced in the coming weeks.

Like Lady Liberty, the Empire State Building and wafts of ordure from subway stairwells, the taxicab is very much part of New York’s identity. There are currently 13,437 active yellow cab medallions, 50,000 drivers to share them, and 600,000 passengers per day.

That’s because owning your own car in Manhattan is insane. A car in New York is nothing but a two-ton accumulator of dents and parking tickets. Unless you’re Jerry Seinfeld, you don’t love your car in New York. Worse yet, neither do other New Yorkers. It is the only place in America where citizens regularly employ the Bumper Bully, usually only for the first week of ownership. After that a bike messenger will take off the side view mirror, rendering the entire idea of car care moot.

The answer to “What is the best car for New York?” is both easy and eternal: somebody else’s.

And ever since the 1982 demise of the Checker Marathon, the Ford Crown Victoria has been the de facto iconic NY taxicab. However, when Ford ended civilian production of the Crown Vic’s Panther platform in 2007, the writing was on the wall. A replacement was needed.

What is it?

The city held a contest to develop what it called the Taxi of Tomorrow (not to be confused with the Car of Tomorrow) while Ford continued producing commercial Crown Vics through 2011. New York chose three finalists: the Ford Transit Connect, the Turkish-made Karsan V-1, and the eventual champ, the Nissan NV200.

The first bright yellow NV200s rolled onto Gotham’s avenues in 2013. Nissan estimates approximately 2,000 NV200 taxis are in use already, with the rest being phased in as older cabs are taken out of service. Since its debut, Nissan’s also gotten interest from Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Texas, and is shopping it out in Chicago as well. There’s even a baroque version for London.

Nissan’s To’T is based on the standard NV200, a front-engined, front-wheel-drive cargo van. Currently built in five countries around the world, it’s sometimes re-badged as a Mitsubishi Delica D:3 or Chevy City Express. New York’s come from a plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico. However, it’s more than an NV200 dipped in yellow: standard ones start at $20,720; the taxi adds nearly $9,000′s worth of job-specific gear to ease the lives of both cabbie and fare.

What’s it up against?

Nothing. As winners of the contest, Nissan has exclusive rights to supply New York City’s non-hybrid taxis for the next 10 years. Since the average age of a New York cab is just 3.3 years, it’s a rather lucrative contract worth an estimated — pinky to mouth — one billion dollars.

As a hailer of cabs, though, there are several reasons to choose the NV200 over the 41 other models approved by the NYC TLC (Taxi & Limousine Commission). We’ve witnessed die-hard New Yorkers actually let empty Camry, Escape, and Altima Hybrids go by before raising an arm for an NV200. “It’s the legroom,” they explained.

While Nissan has exclusivity for petrol-powered taxis, hybrids comprise 60 percent of the current fleet. At the moment there are numerous hybrid options available, but new rules about interior volume will likely render only cars like the Toyota Prius V, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Lexus RX450h and Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid eligible in the near future.

What’s it look like?

Like a taxi. From 2084. Specifically, like the Mars base JohnnyCab in the 1990 Schwarzenegger flick Total Recall. It’s clearly been designed for function, with a long sweep that extends from nose to roofline and a large, boxy rear.

The roof light is a Nissan original design, a streamlined UFO set aglow with the license number and a ring of LEDs. Flanking the rear windows are LEDs spelling out “VACANT” to indicate when the cab is hailable. Below that, on either side, LED men’s room stick figures let other drivers know when passengers are about to disembark.

Speaking of which, instead of folding yourself in and out of a Camry, you can now dismount as elegantly as Cinderella going to the ball. There’s even a retractable step for your glass slipper. Sliding doors also eliminate the risk of cyclists and other cars getting “doored” as alighting tourists fling wantonly into bike lanes or traffic.

The downside, of course, is that both the angry taxi door slam, a staple of film and television, as well as the galant swinging open and holding of the door to impress women will soon be things of the past. Closing said door behind her will too be robbed of romance, as the fleet thud of interlocking latch and striker must now be preceded by the protracted woosh of rollers crossing ample sheetmetal. Even the quick double-pat on the roof, the universal command for “Driver, go!” as she gazes longingly up through the window, is made more awkward. Somehow, an eye-level staring contest through a porthole as you high-five the side of the van just isn’t the same.

On the other hand, Nissan says that replacing traditional sedan taxis with the NV200 opens up five acres of real estate on city’s streets. They declined to specify how many of those Donald Trump would attempt to purchase and name after himself.

And on the inside?

This is where the Nissan NV200 really shines. A host of thoughtful features make riding in one a treat compared to other cabs.

In most, the partition is both an afterthought and a knee-bruising flat slab. Nissan has installed a well-designed contoured divider, the top half of which is a solid piece of molded bulletproof glass. Its curvature is, we dare say, beautiful, or at least preferable to a sheet of cloudy plastic inches from your face. For its part, Nissan’s the only cab-maker that conducted crash tests with the barrier in place.

The partition’s lower half has a touchscreen twice the size of most other cabs’. These monitors are used to display payment info, local weather and news, and an incessant stream of advertising. Most passengers pay no attention to them anyway, and you’re especially unlikely to do so in the NV200 because you can re-juice your phones via three charging ports, two USB and one 12-volt. You also get to control your own climate settings, and there are two large cupholders molded into the doors.

Best of all, the legroom is simply vast. Manute Bol and Yao Ming could easily chillax without suffering any awkward physical man-contact. They could even kick back and enjoy the pièce de résistance, a panoramic roof through which to view New York’s skyscraper canyons floating by.

When it comes time to pay, a credit card reader is integrated into the partition, but if cash is your mojo there’s a pass-through bank teller slot as well.

The other side of the glass isn’t a bad place to spend a 10-hour shift. Switches on the center console activate an intercom so you talk to your fare. The partition is by no means soundproof but the system helps, especially if you want to eavesdrop.

Straight-ahead visibility is great, but fat A-pillars can easily obscure New York’s famously suicidal pedestrians, and triangular wing windows don’t really do anything. The side windows are expansive, but the lower edge’s odd curve always gives the illusion that you’re not parked parallel to whatever it is you’re trying to be parallel to.

The driver is treated to a comfortable seating position on a breathable suede-like surface. Even after two three-and-a-half hour stints behind the wheel, our backsides never felt fatigued. The foldable passenger seat, you may notice, is covered in a different material than the driver’s. Like the rear bench, it’s a puke-proof anti-microbial surface easily hosed down should your fare get too gnarly. Materials and switchgear feel durable, and there are several nicely rubberized storage areas in which to store phones, pens, and deodorant.

The main nit to pick is with the multifunction touchscreen, which lags like a three-legged husky. A passenger might get pretty miffed watching the meter run up during the GPS’s “I’m thinking” spin cycle. It’s a shame, since the standard touchscreen-dial combos found on Nissan and Infiniti cars are some of the best in the business. Then again, cabbies have The Knowledge.

The cargo area is cavernous compared to most cabs, even Ford’s Panther platform sedans. You can fit a lot more bodies in the trunk, with the caveat that they’ll be visible. Clever 60/40-split French doors have a switch that locks them in the open position, and tourists overburdened with “I [heart] NY” shot glasses and photos of Times Square Elmo will surely appreciate the low loading floor.

But how does it go?

Like the standard NV200, the taxi is powered by an inline-four capable of 131hp and 139 lb-ft of torque. Even in yellow, it is not fast. And CVTs are the devil’s transmission. But you know what? It doesn’t matter, because our test route between LA and Las Vegas was the exact opposite of how these will be used.

At around-town rpms, the CVT is is quiet and smooth. Its overall size belies its maneuverability and the steering never feels dead. Impressively, a standard NV200 weighs only 3,260 pounds. Figure a couple hundred more for the rear seats, divider and roof light and you’re still in mid-90s Honda territory.

Lack of GT-R acceleration is probably a good thing because at some point, every rider becomes the pedestrian. You don’t want a flotilla of V8s with no concern for lane markers gunning it through your city. Besides, the engine is rather thrifty, rated at 23 mpg city and 26 highway. It seems daft for thousands of vehicles that spend all day idling and never going above 40mph to come equipped with anything larger under the hood. Nissan is developing an electric e-NV200 too, but it’s not (yet) available as a taxi. The average NY cab covers 70,000 miles a year. That’s a lot of fuel saved.

Leftlane’s Bottom Line

The iconic New York taxi is evolving. The Nissan NV200 is fine if you’re a cabbie, fantastic if you’re a fare. Years from now, your kids will remember it as a symbol of the Big City.

2014 Nissan NV200 Taxi base price, $29,700, same as tested; Destination $860.

Photos by Ben Hsu.

Note: The grades below are based on passenger experience.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has issued a blunt warning of serious safety deficiencies with several minivans.
Buyers might assume the latest family haulers place safety as a top priority, however just one out of four models performed acceptably in a recent round of small-overlap crash tests.

The Nissan Quest, the Chrysler Town & Country and its stablemate, the Dodge Grand Caravan, each earned poor ratings. The 2015 Toyota Sienna earned the only acceptable rating in the latest trials, joining the Honda Odyssey among the Top Safety Pick Plus winners.

The Quest was particularly terrible, described as “one of the worst-performing vehicles we’ve ever seen” in the small-overlap crash test.

“The structure collapsed like a house of cards,” said IIHS executive VP and chief research officer, David Zuby. “We had to cut the seat out in order to remove the dummy, and then we needed a crowbar to pry the right foot loose. Not surprisingly the forces measured on the left leg were so high that a real person experiencing that would be lucky to ever walk normally again.”

Zuby suggests the small-overlap test is especially tough on minivans, which are typically built upon car platforms that have been widened to maximize interior space. More of the vehicle is consequently located farther away from the main structure.

The current Nissan Quest generation was introduced for the 2011 model year, before the IIHS implemented the more stringent small-overlap test. The current Chrysler platform is even older, dating back to 2008, and had earned a five-star rating in most of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tests, which do not include the small-overlap impact.

Toyota modified the Sienna for the 2015 model year, apparently optimizing structural components to handle the small-overlap test. Nonetheless, the IIHS noted that it “didn’t hold up that well” in the latest trial, earning an ‘acceptable’ rating overall and ‘marginal’ in the structure-integrity category.

The IIHS still needs to test the Kia Sedona, which is currently being revised specifically to improve small-overlap protection. The organization is waiting until the crash-optimized edition arrives before performing the tests.

Land Rover’s all-new Discovery Sport has finally landed in North America (it’s currently on display at the Los Angeles auto show), but the arrival of the company’s latest compact SUV hasn’t squeezed out the aging LR2 just yet.
The Land Rover Discovery Sport is set to eventually replace the LR2 as the entry point into the firm’s line of luxury utility vehicles, but that won’t happen for the 2015 model year. Hot on the heels of the Discovery Sport’s North American debut, Land Rover has announced that the LR2 — which hasn’t seen a significant update since 2006 — will soldier on for at least one more model year.

The LR2 carries over mostly unchanged for what could be its final model year, but Land Rover has added two new Value Edition packages as well as a special value audio upgrade to sweeten the pot. The LR2 shares its 240 horsepower 2.0L four-cylinder with the newer Discovery Sport, but makes do with a six-speed auto rather than the Disco Sport’s nine-speed.

Pricing for the 2015 LR2 is set to start from $36,660, which is precariously close to the Discovery Sport’s $37,995 base MSRP. However, we imagine the Discovery Sport will be in hot demand while the LR2 will probably be subject to dealer discounts, so the real world price difference should be a little wider.

The 2015 lineup of Land Rover vehicles should arrive on dealer lots within the next few weeks.