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Wheels to watch at the International Auto Show in New York

 
The Toyota FT4X concept car is shown during a media preview Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York.
[Associated Press]
The Toyota FT4X concept car is shown during a media preview Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. [Associated Press]
Published April 12, 2017

NEW YORK — From high-performance muscle cars to hot-selling SUVs to cars hitting the U.S. market for the first time, the 2017 New York International Auto Show features a diverse lineup of new vehicles. The show officially opens to the public on Friday.

Here are some of the buzz-worthy new cars and trucks at the show:

TOYOTA FT4X CONCEPT: Toyota is aiming at the off-road, camp-in-the-woods crowd with a concept vehicle that likely will take on Jeep and Subaru and target Generation Y city dwellers. The RT4X four-wheel-drive Concept looks like a cross between the old Toyota FJ Cruiser off-road vehicle and a Jeep Renegade small SUV. The company says it's at home in the city but ready to deal with nature. The concept has rear seats that fold flat with a hard plastic easy to wash out cargo area for dogs or dirty camping gear. Its rear hatch opens two ways, horizontally for urban mode and vertically to shield people from the elements when outdoors. No word on when it might come to market, but Toyota needs a vehicle to compete for young people, so look for it soon.

DODGE DEMON SRT CHALLENGER: Dodge has unleashed the Demon. The Fiat Chrysler brand is laying claim to the fastest production car in the U.S. The Demon Challenger is a freaky-fast 840-horsepower gasoline burner. It can go from zero to 60 (97 kilometers per hour) in 2.3 seconds. That beats the Tesla Model S P100D sedan, which hits 60 in 2.5 seconds. Dodge used explosions, burnouts and a small drag strip to roll out the car ahead of the New York International Auto Show press days. The company even brought in Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel for effect. The street-legal Demon also can hit 140 mph while running a quarter mile in 9.65 seconds, about two seconds faster than a typical muscle car. It's available in the fall.

SUBARU ASCENT: Subaru gets closer to entering the three-row people hauler market with the Ascent SUV concept. The vehicle is supposedly very close to the final product that goes on sale next year. The seven-passenger SUV looks like a big version of Subaru's highly successful Outback wagon. It'll get a turbocharged engine and sporty fender flares. The new vehicle should help Subaru continue its string of annual sales increases. Last year sales rose nearly 6 percent to just under 583,000. Price, gas mileage and the exact sale date weren't released.

BUICK ENCLAVE: It sits lower and has a longer wheelbase than its predecessor, yet the Buick Enclave people-hauling SUV is more maneuverable. General Motors has given the seven-passenger midsize utility more third-row seating space, improved towing capacity and a tighter turning radius than the outgoing model. A 3.6-Liter, 302 horsepower V6 engine and a nine-speed automatic transmission are standard. The motor shuts off at red lights to conserve fuel and instantly restarts when the light turns green. Outside it has a sleeker look and is more aerodynamic than its predecessor.

LINCOLN NAVIGATOR: Ford gives the new Lincoln Navigator an all-aluminum body and the big luxury SUV sheds 200 pounds. The look is more subtle elegance, designed to attract buyers from the more showy Cadillac Escalade. The gull-wing doors that were an eye-catching feature of the concept Navigator are gone from the production vehicle Ford. The new Navigator gets a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 that puts out 450 horsepower. It seats seven or eight and is due out late this year. Matthew McConaughey won't unveil the SUV this year, but he'll still be featured in Navigator commercials. .

TOYOTA SIENNA: Toyota wants car buyers to associate the Sienna with "swagger." But it's a minivan, where safety counts, and the safety upgrades are the most notable touches in the refreshed 2018 version. All Siennas will now have standard automatic emergency braking and a lane departure warning system. High beams come on automatically. The safety system also has pedestrian detection. On the outside, fog lights are bigger and each version gets side rockers. There are also three new colors to choose from. Minivans have lost market share to SUVs, but Americans still buy about half a million of them each year.