Reporter continues news story as crash happens behind her on live TV.

An on-camera car crash behind an on-air WFLA-TV reporter didn’t faze her as much as the high gas prices that were the topic of her report. While Adrienne Pedersen was explaining the relationship of gas and oil prices, a car and a cab collided directly behind her with a solid thud, then spinning around as Pedersen stood there nonplussed, and perhaps unaware, not turning around to look until the studio news person pointed out what had just happened.

We’re not sure whether to praise Pedersen for keeping her cool during the incident, or to criticize her for missing a breaking—or perhaps non-braking—story.

2012 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ pickup truck

It’s not likely that you will see a 2012 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ pickup truck anytime soon with an old refrigerator strapped to the bed or or a mattress and box spring hanging out the back.

That is not at all what this luxurious workhorse – completed with crew cab, standard bed and four-wheel drive – is about.

Instead, this is the vehicle a construction company boss might use as a rolling office, a well-to-do owner might use to pull a horse trailer to the weekend competition, or a retired couple might use to see the U.S. A. in their Chevrolet with a travel trailer in tow.

Let the lower level Silverado work trucks do the dirty jobs. The 2012 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ is all about getting the job done in style.

And, at an as-tested price of $48,419, it should be.

But, let’s begin with the basics.

2012 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ instrument panel

There are some, but not a whole lot of cosmetic changes from 2011 to 2012. The newest Silverado LTZ comes with a bolder chrome mesh grille and body-color surround. In addition, chromed, optional 20-inch aluminum alloy wheels add a classy touch to the Silverado’s profile. That’ s about it.

The Chevrolet Silverado LTZ test truck was powered by the second strongest available gasoline engine, a 5.3-liter V-8 that produces 315 horsepower and 335 pound-feet of torque. Combined with heavy-duty trailering equipment, that’s enough to haul a trailer up to a maximum of 9,500  pounds.

The engine is teamed with a six-speed automatic transmission. The four-wheel-drive system can be adjusted for 2wd, 4wd, 4wd low range and auto, which automatically engages the front wheels when slippage is detected on slick roads.

Should you need to go slogging through the marshes and back woods to that special duck blind, the Chevy is more than willing. But do you really want to risk those handsome chrome wheels or have a branch gouge the Silverado’s shiny flanks?

Power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering is communicative and the four-wheel antilock disc brakes can bring the 5,410-pound truck with reasonable alacrity.

The suspension has coil-over shocks in front and multi-leaf springs at the rear.

And, in addition to room for five passengers in two rows, the Chevy can handle 53.2 cubic feet of cargo in the standard bed.

Chevrolet Silverado rear seat

Powerful trucks and fuel efficiency never mix well, so it’s not surprising that this 2012 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ is rated at 15 mpg city/21 highway —  and that appears to be a generous assessment. With nothing more in the truck than 185 pounds of me, the Chevy averaged 15.5 mpg over 200 miles of mostly level suburban and highway roads.

But, the raw data really don’t tell the story.

Chevy engineers have tuned the suspension to provide a surprisingly comfortable ride on normal roads. The engine runs smoothly and quietly with just the right touch of anger under heavy acceleration. That automatic transmission slips through its six gears nearly seamlessly.

Alfa Romeo's Giulietta is racing to North America. Appearances can be deceiving.

Some thirty years ago two BMW salesmen and a financial backer aggressively kicked the tires of Alfa Romeo, hoping to secure an Alfa franchise in the center of Dallas, Texas. Pitches were made, a rendering of the proposed showroom was rendered, and tours of the planned in-town location were given. Take the results of the year-long pitch, throw in two bucks and you could buy a tall drip at your neighborhood Starbucks. The BMW guys were pitching but the Alfa execs weren’t catching. Some thirty years later those ‘pitchers’ would still enjoy having an Alfa franchise, and somewhere they still have the rendering.

The most likely candidate for the Alfa Romeo sales point is your neighborhood Fiat dealer, as both Fiat and Alfa are part of today’s Chrysler/Fiat consortium. Despite a succession of delays in the return of Alfa to the U.S. marketplace the timeline is now close enough to at least smell; there’s just a hint of anchovy in the air. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchione is reportedly comfortable with a U.S. introduction of Alfa Romeo sometime in the next 18 months, which puts it in the spring/summer of 2013. And while there shouldn’t be a downside in the resumption of Alfa sales in the U.S., after an absence of almost twenty years the success of its return to U.S. showrooms remains anyone’s guess.

It would be good, of course, if Alfa’s return could be built upon Chrysler’s established success with Fiat. And although the Fiat picture hasn’t been what Chrysler had originally hoped (and publicly projected), over 25,000 Fiat 500 sales in its first abbreviated sales year is nothing to be embarrassed by. Of course, those numbers are only half of what Chrysler execs had envisioned, but with little more than a ‘this is what we’ll do’ to guide them, Chrysler’s regions and dealers did a credible job in getting showrooms established and deliveries ‘down the road’.

Sales volume is tougher to achieve when you have but one model to sell, and that has been Fiat’s Achilles’ heel from the git-go. Nor does it help that the Fiat 500 is more ‘cute’ than brute. As the industry has long known, you can sell a girl a ‘guy’ car but you won’t be selling (many) ‘girl’ cars to guys. And despite a growing aftermarket for tuning the 500 from SEMA regulars like Road Race Motorsports, Fiat marketing and showrooms seem geared more to style than driving substance. That will change with the spring intro of Fiat’s Abarth, but it won’t change the showroom dynamics – or lack of same – over the last year.

Although Alfa’s first model to mark its official return is still TBD, speculation centers on the production version of Alfa’s 4C concept, a mid-engine sportster first shown at the Geneva show in 2011. And that is an attractive opener (they’ll have many enthusiasts at ‘ciao’), but won’t begin to supply the volume sales today’s Fiat network so desperately needs. More beneficial – we’ll guess – to the Fiat dealers’ bottom line is the rumored intro of the 5-door MiTo, which can go toe-to-toe with the multitude of Mini variants already in the marketplace.

Beyond that – and, again, relying on as much speculation as established fact – Alfa intenders wait for Signore Marchione to sign off on proposed sheetmetal for the Giulietta hatch (competing for GTI/Audi A3 prospects), a Guilia midsize sedan and (possibly) a compact crossover sharing a Jeep platform and built in Illinois(!).

Will the addition of Alfa represent a truly substantive change in the Fiat showroom? Matt Bauer, an assistant sales manager at Fiat of Dallas, believes “people in the market for smaller BMWs (3-Series) and Benzes (C-Class) will take a serious look at the Alfa lineup as well.” If Mr. Bauer’s prediction is accurate, the presence of Alfa could represent a sea change for Chrysler, its dealers and bottom line.

Beyond manufacture and distribution is the importance of careful brand management. Mercedes and BMW have  demonstrated their cars can be built anywhere if, of course, that relocation isn’t mixed with a dilution of core brand attributes. While BMW and M-B have succeeded, Saab – under GM management – failed miserably in maintaining those brand attributes despite its Swedish manufacture. Alfa’s brand team can build the brand like Audi, or diminish it like Saab. We hope they do the Audi.

2012 Infiniti FX35 Limited

Nip here, tuck there, add a bevy of new features and what have you got? Yes, it’s the refreshed 2012 Infiniti FX35, a luxury crossover that tilts the usual emphasis of a sport-utility vehicle from utility to sport.

Now in its ninth year, the Infiniti FX35 stakes its claim to market share on a bold and forceful design, the choice of a strong V-6 or V-8 engine, and road-holding prowess that flattens the curves more emphatically than most crossovers.

To inject some new life into the second generation of what the company calls its aggressive crossover, Infiniti has revised the grille and front fascia, upgraded instrument lighting and added standard heated front seats to all models.

In addition, it has added a Limited Edition, which, among other things, features giant 21-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, dark tinted headlights with adaptive lighting and auto leveling, aluminum roof rails, aluminum pedals, upgraded navigation system and a unique system of cameras which gives the driver a 360-degree view of what is happening outside the vehicle.

2012 FX35 instrument panel

More than a car but definitely not a truck, the 2012 Infiniti FX35 came across to me as a station wagon on steroids.

It has room for only five, two in front and three in the second row. However, the middle-seat occupant in the second row won’t be happy on more than a short sojourn unless it happens to be a small child.

The cargo compartment, accessed through the rear hatch, is rated at 24.8 cubic feet with the second-row seatback in place and 62 cubic feet with the 60/40 rear seatback folded forward.

Ground clearance is a middling 7.36 inches and towing capacity is a meager 2,000 pounds.

There is certainly nothing class leading in those crossover statistics, but then again the Infiniti FX35 obviously considers itself pretty much in a class by itself.

Yes, it has more than adequate accommodations for a typical family of four. And, with a choice of two-wheel or all-wheel drive, it can get most people anywhere they want to go.

But that is not what the 2012 Infiniti FX35 is all about.

It’s also about in-your-face styling, exhilarating power and a drivability that will leave many traditional sport-utility vehicles in the weeds (figuratively).

2012 FX35 rear seat

The Infiniti FX35 I sampled was an all-wheel-drive Limited Edition model powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 engine that generates 303 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque.

Combined with a smooth shifting seven-speed automatic shifter, the engine can vault the 4,284-pound FX35 from a stop to 60 mph in about 6 seconds. But, despite the many gears in its new transmission, it won’t race past many gas stations.

The perfect example of this is the new Genesis Coupe. When CarBuzzard’s David Boldt reviewed the Genesis Coupe models, he noted that the engines were a bit underpowered and the fuel economy was lacking versus the competition.

For 2013 the Genesis Coupe models have received a handful of changes that addressed those issues and more, making them more competitive and appealing than ever before.

The most noticeable change is to the front end, where the Coupe greets the world with a more aggressive front clip. The new grille sports a large front opening, flanked by more defined headlamp clusters and a new hood shape with nostril-type accents. New LED DRLs are featured on the 3.8 GT and Track models, and there are LED accents on the foglamps that look great at night.

The Genesis also features sharp-looking revised rear combo LED taillamps as well. To finish the exterior, the wheels sport aggressive and quite appealing 18- and 19-inch wheel designs.

While the previous Coupe looked nice in a clean-cut Iowa teenager kind of way, the updated version has had a Cosmo makeover and, in the right color (black), has put on thigh-high stiletto boots, dark black eyeliner, and a plunging V-neck sweater. She’s grown up, and isn’t afraid to let you know it.

Inside the makeover continues, with upgrades in quality of materials, a new center stack design, and better tactile feel of all knobs and switches. Other standard upgrades include a tilt and now telescoping steering column, driver’s seat power lumbar adjustment, and the addition of Hyundai’s available telematics system, Blue Link^®, to the 2.0T Premium and 3.8 GT and Track models.

Under the redesigned hood, Hyundai has seriously beefed up the engines, starting with the previously anemic 2.0-liter turbocharged DOHC inline four cylinder. While it’s still a single turbocharger, it features a twin-scroll design, which means the turbo can run more efficiently, is more precise and also reduces emissions. A more efficient turbo when combined with a large increase in horsepower (up 30 percent to 274 on premium fuel) means more grins each time you tap the throttle. Hyundai powertrain engineers matched the turbo to a considerably larger intercooler as well. Torque also gets a 23-percent boost, to 275 lb-ft on premium fuel. And because the Coupe equipped with the 2.0T weighs about 3,300 pounds, it delivers a respectable 12.3 lb/hp ratio, besting the soon-to-be-released Scion FR-S and also the Honda Civic Si.

For those looking for even more, the 3.8-liter V6 Lambda engine also receives performance upgrades, including direct injection, Dual Continuously Variable Valve Timing, and a variable intake system for improved fuel delivery and better breathability.  The engine’s 10.0:1 power-to-weight ratio is lower than both the Infiniti G37 and 2012 BMW 335i. It also boasts more horsepower than those two competitors, now with 348 (up 42 hp) on premium fuel. Torque is also stronger, at 295 (up 29) also with premium fuel.

Hyundai continues to position itself as a fuel economy leader, bragging that 33 percent of its overall sales mix features models with 40 mpg. For the new Genesis 2.0T Coupe, even with the tremendous boost in power, it remains at 21 mpg city and 30 mpg highway on regular or premium fuel. The 3.8-liter V6 with more power and now mated to the 8-speed transmission goes up to 18 mpg city and 28 highway.

Speaking of the new 8-speed automatic transmission, the Genesis Coupe is the first in its segment to feature one. It’s been tuned to provide smoother shifting, more direct feel, and an efficient ratio spread, and is nicely matched to the bump in power. Standard with the 8-speed is the Shiftronic^® system, along with easy-to-reach and use paddle shifters. Hyundai also improved the feel of the 6-speed manual tranny, as well as reduced the clutch pedal effort and engagement range for a more precise feel.

More changes to the Coupes include suspension and handling dynamic upgrades, such as optimized shock dampening, spring rates, and stabilizer bars. Hyundai also added an intermediate setting to the stability control program where engine power isn’t cut so drastically if you want to have a little more fun but not turn off the system altogether.

Added performance fun comes in the form of available Brembo brakes on Track and R-Spec models. The 4-piston monobloc fixed calipers, large swept area and vented rotors provide maximum braking power for the quick braking force needed on high-speed racetracks. And trust us, there are plenty of Genesis Coupe owners out there having fun on the weekends at racing venues all over the country.

There are six Coupe trim levels, and all come in below the competitively spec’d competition, and with more standard features. The 2.0T engine can be had in the base model (starting at $24,250), the R-Spec model ($26,500), and the 2.0T Premium model ($28,750), which adds features like a 360-watt Infinity sound system, pushbutton start with proximity key entry system, Power sunroof, and navigation system with a large touchscreen and Blue Link.

The 3.8 also offers three versions: 3.8 R-Spec ($28,750), 3.8 Grand Touring ($32,000), and 3.8 Track ($33,000) Throw the 8-speed automatic onto the Track model, and you’re looking at $34,250, which, when compared to the Infiniti G37S, is a savings of around $10K, with more standard features and a longer warranty. Throw in Hyundai’s trade-in value guarantee, and it would be a tough decision to walk away from this offer in the showroom.

Now that you know all the basic info, all that’s left is to talk about the driving experience. We had a chance to drive the Genesis Coupe with the new 8-speed automatic, 6-speed manual, and 3.8 Track series, and our overwhelming opinion was impressive.

While we would like to see more low-end torque, the 3.8-liter V6 with the added power was fun to drive on the smooth roads of Red Rock Canyon in the Nevada desert. A climb up a few thousand feet on the way to the Spring Mountain Raceway highlighted the Coupe’s capability to perform without huffing and puffing up the hills. On the track, we liked the way the 3.8’s power felt balanced, and the gears were so well spaced, we easily made it all the way around the circuit quickly in third gear; going up to fourth on the straights not because we had to, but because we chose to do so.

Steering also was nicely weighted, and the suspension setup was tuned perfectly for the tighter turns on the course. There were no surprises; we never felt as if the Coupe was having trouble maintaining a set, even during the short drop on an early kink that grew progressively more fun each time we looped the track.

We took the 2.0T around a few laps as well, and while it was also balanced, we’d choose the predictability of the 3.8’s powertrain and added punch every time.

Hyundai also set up an autocross course to let us have some fun trying to get the best time of the day on the half-minute loop, but where most manufacturers tell us to keep the ESC on, the evil (or fun-seeking, depending on how you look at it) pro-drivers had it switched off and then threw water on the track to make it more difficult in a rear-drive vehicle. While the skids were imminently catchable, it just shows that really knowing how to drive a car quickly is more about finesse than it is about pure power.

Two of the biggest pet peeves about any coupe are the lack of rear seat leg room and the inability to enter and exit gracefully. Although the rear seat leg room is still nothing to boast about in the Genesis two-door, ingress and egress were surprisingly easy.

As we said before, Hyundai gets it. After 25 years in the U.S., and a continual gain in market share, product improvement, owner loyalty, brand value, dependability, warranty, and quality, it’s hard to see it any other way.

Photos courtesy of Hyundai Motor America and Team Killeen.

Toyota's Prius C is photographed at SOL Austin, a sustainable community east of the Texas capitol.

At the 2012 Chicago Auto Show, while addressing members of the Chicago Economic Club, Yoshi Inaba, President and COO of Toyota Motor North America, spoke of his time spent studying for his MBA in Chicago, rhapsodized over the city’s deep dish pizzas and spent a moment – or two – on the subject of Toyota’s Prius lineup. With last year’s introduction of the Prius V, and the imminent launch of both plug-in and ‘C’ (for ‘city’) variants, the Prius is not one hybrid but a family of hybrids. And it’s a family which should produce over 200,000 retail sales for Toyota North America during the 2012 calendar year.

With such a relatively short history, the success of the Prius product has been nothing short of spectacular. Introduced to U.S. consumers in 2000, the Prius has – according to Toyota – saved those customers 1.1 billion gallons of fuel, sixteen million tons of carbon dioxide and almost $3 billion in fuel costs. Mr. Inaba pointedly noted that if everyone in the U.S. drove a Prius U.S. dependence on foreign oil would be reduced by some 70%.

With the addition of three new variants Toyota provides a compelling argument. Its Prius V provides space comparable to – or greater than – any number of compact sport utilities while delivering fuel efficiency roughly double of what you’ll obtain in Honda’s CR-V or the Ford Escape. And despite a ‘bulked-up’ exterior (at least relative to the standard Prius) there’s no penalty for the additional space in its balance of comfortable ride and relatively composed handling.

The Prius Plug-in takes the traditional, third-generation Prius profile and adds extended range via a plug-in battery and short charging time. The result is a MPGe (miles-per-gallon-equivalent) of roughly 95, which should make urbanites or suburbanites with an aversion to buying gas extremely satisfied with both the vehicle’s economy and attainability.

Toyota’s Prius C, the smallest, most urban take on the Prius recipe, will be profiled in a separate CarBuzzard article. It occupies the smallest Prius footprint (about the size of the Yaris 5-door) and will deliver a combined 50 miles per gallon for under $19K (plus destination and handling). This puts hybrid efficiency in the hands of young adults, and also makes it an easy transaction to rationalize as young families add second and third vehicles to their fleets.

With some one million Prius cars on American roadways to date, the Prius story has just begun. And with nineteen new or updated products coming from Toyota this year, almost half will be hybrid or electrics. The alternative fuel story looks to be a long one; grab some popcorn (its own form of alternative energy) and, uh, plug in…

Mini Clubvan Concept debuts at 2012 Geneva International Motor Show

Mini puts yet another spin on the concept with a panel van version of the Mini Clubman called the Mini Clubvan. It’s officially a concept that debuts at the Geneva International Motor Show but only a negative market study will keep this mini—and Mini—workhorse from production.

The Mini Clubvan Concept adds limited access to the cargo area with the side door open. Click to enlarge image.

The concept Mini Clubvan is essentially Mini Clubman with a closed-off load area behind the front seats, opaque rear side windows and its rear seat replaced with a flat load floor from the rear side-hinged “barn doors” all the way up to the a partition grille behind the front seats. The lower part of the grille, which is fixed securely to the car body, is made from solid aluminum, while the upper section consists of a silver-colored stainless steel honeycomb grating.

The side walls and floor of the load compartment are covered in high-quality anthracite-colored cloth—which doesn’t sound very practical for a working van–while the anthracite roof liner stretches along the full length of the interior. The Mini Clubvan Concept has six attachment loops recessed into the load compartment floor with elasticized straps to keep cargo from sliding around. The Clubvan retains the side door of the Mini Clubman.

The side glass in the Mini Clubvan is opaque polycarbonate. Click to enlarge image.

The rear side windows of the Mini Clubvan Concept are made from polycarbonate sections, their outer surfaces painted in the car’s body color, and the Clubvan has heavily tinted glass for the rear doors make it difficult to see into the load compartment.

The Mini Clubvan has a historical precedent, naturally enough. In 1960, just a year after original Austin Mini debuted, the wheelbase was stretched by four inches, and with a separate load compartment and split rear doors, the Austin Mini became the Morris Mini Van, ideally configured for commercial use on a mini scale. With windows instead of the Mini Van’s panels it because the four-seat Morris Mini Traveller, an antecedent to today’s Mini Clubman.

The rear doors of the Mini Clubvan Concept open for access to a Mini cargo compartment. Click to enlarge image.

The Mini Clubvan Concept is similar to the Chevrolet HHR Panel and the never-produced Chrysler PT Cruiser Panel concept in function, and while Mini has made no announcement regarding production of the Clubvan, it is such a natural extension of the Mini idea and so easy to do, we predict a Clubvan to be in Mini showrooms within a year.

BMW's X3 can now navigate logging trails with 4-cylinder, turbocharged power.

In an ongoing return to its 4-cylinder roots, BMW has announced the addition of its 4-cylinder, twin-turbo technology to its X3 ‘sport activity’ lineup. Given that the new 3-Series, Z4 and 5-Series all enjoy this same TwinTurbo powertrain, the announcement from BMWNA’s New Jersey headquarters contained all the suspense of a Ron Paul podium appearance.

Of course, if Congressman Paul were at the BMW announcement he’d be an enthusiastic supporter of BMW’s ‘doing more with less’ strategy. The four-cylinder’s TwinTurbo technology combines direct fuel injection, variable camshaft timing and variable valve timing with a twin-scroll turbocharger. Producing 240 horsepower @ 5,000 rpm and – more significantly – 260 lb-ft of torque at just 1,250 rpm, the new 2.0 liter four provides lighter weight (from a smaller, all-alloy block), comparable horsepower and much better efficiency than the normally aspirated six it is scheduled to replace. BMW claims a 0-60 sprint of 6.5 seconds, which should get an owner home before his or her cappuccino cools.

To further bolster the efficiency, both four-cylinder and six-cylinder X3s will come with Auto Start/Stop, turning off the engine as the vehicle comes to a stop; this alone can improve economy by up to 3%. And BMW’s ECO PRO, which is selectable via a button on the center console, enhances efficiency further through optimization of heating, air conditioning and electrical functions (which is to say, dialing them back). There is also provision for a ‘driving tips’ display on the iDrive screen to help conserve fuel. In short, customers transitioning from Toyota’s Prius should do so seamlessly.

For those owners coming from another BMW, the newest xDrive28i (seriously…) will also offer an optional M Sport Package, adding 19-inch wheels to the sport activity experience. Notably, its ‘DUB’ derivative will constitute a separate announcement.

The 2013 X3, in both four-cylinder and six-cylinder guise, is produced by BMW at their plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Production begins this April, and vehicles should arrive at BMW showrooms in May.

Illustration provided by Porsche represents broad outline of what Porsche's Macan SUV will look like.

Stuttgart – With the announcement of its name, Porsche AG has confirmed production of Stuttgart’s new ‘sports car’ in the SUV segment. Tagged ‘Macan’, which is derived from the Indonesian word for tiger, Porsche’s intent is to convey “suppleness, power, fascination and dynamics” as core characteristics of its new road car.

As the new Porsche will reportedly share its basic platform with Audi’s Q5, we can expect a lighter, more nimble package than its SUV ‘sports car’ predecessor, the Cayenne. That, of course, generated a huge amount of consternation at the time of its launch among Porsche loyalists, offended by its footprint, curb weight and (presumably) the lack of a swingarm rear suspension. With the sales success of the Cayenne, however, that criticism has been muted; even current 356 owners recognize the need for a sustainable business model in Porsche showrooms.

The new Macan will constitute the fifth distinct Porsche model, preceded by the 911, Boxster, Cayenne (sports car SUV) and Panamera (sports car luxury hatch). According to Porsche’s release, the Macan will constitute the central plan of Porsche’s Strategy 2018, which outlines an expanded model portfolio. The Macan will be built in Leipzig, beginning in 2013, although one suspects that if – as rumored – Audi begins production of at least some models in North America Macan production could be transferred to the U.S. (Macon, Georgia?) or Mexico.

No word on whether the company founder, Ferdinand Porsche, remained face down in his grave or (with this announcement) has subsequently rolled over. Any similarity to the Kia Soul Track’ster concept recently shown in Chicago is - we’re assured - purely coincidental.

2012 BMW 325i sedan Luxury Line

The saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s correct, of course, except when the more things stay the same, the more they change. And both sayings could apply to the new 2012 BMW 3-Series sedan. The 2012 3-Series is almost all new, yet this sixth generation 3-Series is true to the first. On the other hand, while each generation of the 3-Series has been true to its predecessor, the change that made the 2012 BMW 328i has been total.

The 2012 BMW marks the first year of the sixth generation of the BMW 3-Series, and as such it’s almost completely new. While the in-line turbocharged six-cylinder of the 2012 BMW 335i is carryover—as much as that advanced engine could be considered such—the BMW TwinPower Turbo four-cylinder engine has been used only on the 2012 BMW Z4 sDrive28i sports car.

Test 2012 BMW 328i sedan Luxury Line was trimmed in "anthracite wood." (Click to enlarge image)

More about that engine anon, but the basis of the 2012 3-Series is an all-new chassis with extensive use of high and ultra-high tensile steels, a hot-stamped B-pillar, advanced plastics and state-of-the-art composites. BMW increased the use of aluminum in the suspension system, reducing overall vehicle weight and unsprung weight of the suspension itself.

The suspension has been refined, achieving what BMW calls “perfectly tailored axle kinematics.” In front that means a double-joint axle along with aluminum torque struts, wishbones and swivel bearings for reduced weight. In the rear, the five-link suspension is an evolution of preceding generation of BMW 3-Series, a design that not only maximizes trunk room but also yields the kind of handling expected from a BMW. BMW says, “Extra-wide mounts and supports on the wheel carriers for track and camber, extremely stiff control arms, the stiff axle subframe and thrust arms connecting the suspension and body provide an excellent basis for the agile and, at the same time, comfortable overall suspension qualities of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan.” Got that?

Two different braking systems are used for the BMW 3-Series front brakes, a floating caliper arrangement for the 328i and four-piston fixed calipers for the 335i. For both, the calipers are aluminum for light weight and heat management. Listing the features of the 3-Series braking systems looks like someone dropped a Scrabble game: Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) that includes Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Automatic Stability Control (ASC), Dynamic Traction Control (DTC), Dynamic Brake Control (DBC) and Cornering Brake Control (CBC), along with start-off assist, brake drying and an electronic limited slip function for the rear differential, which can be activated using the “DSC Off” button. New high word score for BMW.

The chassis leads to the body, naturally, and once again, BMW has massaged the 3-Series double-kidney face (there’s a combination of words seldom seen in close proximity, with the exception of Scrabble), with wider headlights extending inwards to the grille, which BMW says is “wide, squat [and] upright, slightly forward-slanting.” The quad headlights keep the corona rings (with Xenon) but the lights now have the obligatory LED accent lights set like eyebrows (Xenon-equipped cars only).

2012 BMW 328i sedan Luxury Line (Click to enlarge image)

The hood is more highly contoured than before with a raised center section, and the sides of the car feature double creases at shoulder level, one from the headlights fading out as it goes back, the fading in and running back to the taillights. It looks better than it reads, really.

It’s not all appearances, however. The body contours, along with underbody shields to smooth flow under the car and add a diffuser effect to the rear to reduce drag. The BMW 3-Series also has the “air curtain” aerodynamic system that combines scoops at the outer edges of the front fascia that at high speed directs air around the front wheels, reducing drag in that area of the vehicle. The wheel-opening air curtain system was first used on the BMW 1-Series M.

It takes a BMW junky to see the styling difference without another 3-Series next to it, but once seen, the previous generation looks positively antiquated.

The interior will look familiar to BMW fans, with a lot of horizontal lines across the dash, with even the hood over the instrument panel horizontal. As with other recent BMWs, the screen for the nav and infotainment systems sits atop the dash, looking like it should retract but doesn’t. The center console has an unusual layout, especially for BMW. It’s asymmetric—not all that uncommon, but BMW sets the iDrive controller over beyond a diagonal line, almost compartmentalizing the driving stuff—i.e., the shifter—from everything else.