Jonathan Takiff: Coming to this year's car show, tech innovations

THE GIZMO: Highlights of the upcoming 2010 Auto Show.

VROOM, VROOM: If you're like me, the first high-tech wonders you fell in love with were cars. This season, recession or no recession, there are a decent number of fresh, intriguing automotive features and models debuting at the traveling regional car shows.

The 2010 Philadelphia International Auto Show brings the action to the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Arch Street this weekend through Feb. 7. Here's some of the floor action I'll be inspecting.

SENSITIVITY TRAINING: Kia is touting a new cabin tech interface from Microsoft. First cousin to the well-received, voice-activated Ford Sync system, KIA's variant is dubbed UVO. It, too, moves music, traffic updates, weather and more from a Bluetooth-paired smart phone onto a 4.3-inch LCD display screen to be found in even baseline Kia models.

And UVO stands apart with an optional "haptic" feedback control on the steering wheel, allowing the driver to literally feel his/her way through various operations of the system without taking eyes off the road.

Another innovation fine-tuning driver control without sacrificing safety is the optional touch pad next to the driver's seat on the center console in the new Audi A8. The idea here is that you can instinctively draw on the pad with a finger, one letter at a time, to cue various operations of the car's multimedia center.

A female voice speaks out the letters as you enter them - say, "H-E-A-T." And when not working major functions, the touch pad doubles as a multi-preset radio channel changer.

NOT YOUR FATHER'S MINI VAN: Usually, the terms "minivan" and "sex appeal" are mutually exclusive. So bless Toyota for trying to build some "hots" into its new Sienna, now on the show circuit (in sporty-looking, muscle-motored SE trim) and on sale next month.

Note Sienna's ultrawide, 16.4-inch video monitor for rear-seat passengers, capable of showing either two separate programs side-by-side (viewers tune into the soundtrack of choice on wireless headphones) or one very stretched movie picture.

Also aiming for panoramic is a rearview camera with 180-degree perspective that shows on the driver's display when the car is in reverse. Its auto-sensing feature highlights objects you're in danger of hitting.

Tilt-back cabin chairs with a pop-out footrest are another snazzy option. And for those with a disabled family member, Toyota is offering the first-ever factory-installed Auto Access Seat - a motorized chair that twists toward the door opening, moves out and then lowers toward the curb to aid passengers getting in and out of the vehicle.

SMALLER IS BETTER: Thanks to the sporty Mini, Americans no longer think all small cars are dinky or uncool. And thanks to fuel prices that stubbornly hover near $3 a gallon (again), many of us are finally murmuring that "the gas guzzler's got to go."

Banking on both trends, three snazzy little petrol sippers that I admired on a 2009 European jaunt have finally gotten visas to visit - and will land permanently as soon as this summer.

The retro-stylish Fiat 500 will take up residence in Chrysler showrooms, first in basic form and then, hope car buffs, in the "pocket rocket" Fiat Abarth version that has made this inverted teacup a racing sensation elsewhere.

An economical, five-door hatchback with an ever-in-motion wedge shape, the Mazda 2 proves that four people can ride in comfort in a car just 155 inches long and 66.7 inches wide.

Also coming for summer is the grown-up (to 160 inches long) 2011 Ford Fiesta, another Euro-tuned four- or five-door that we're (almost) last in the world to enjoy. Starting at $14,000, models promise 30 miles per gallon city and 38 to 40 on the highway with a 6-speed auto or manual transmission.

MORE ENGINE REVVERS: The once stodgy, soft sprung Buick Regal has been reborn in friskier, road-hugging form. In fact, this newbie is a slightly disguised, German-built Opel Insignia originally intended to be sold here as a (R.I.P.) Saturn.

In the ongoing story of second-tier carmakers (à la Hyundai) going upmarket and eating the competition's lunch comes the Suzuki Kizashi. This attractive and driver-friendly $20G sedan (built in South Korea by Daewoo) is targeted for the clientele that hankers for (but maybe can't afford) a twice-as-expensive Audi A4 or Acura TSX.

The new Honda Accord Crosstour five-door hatchback is a decent step in the "practical cargo hauler" department, though I wish the carmaker had instead imported the less bulbous, more citified five-door Civic sold elsewhere.

Take note that both the 2011 BMW 5 series and latest Audi A8 sedans boast an 8-speed (!) ZF automatic transmission that significantly increases fuel efficiency without sacrificing pickup. So can we get that econo-trans in a vehicle that doesn't cost a king's ransom?

New hybrid (electric-and-gas-powered) vehicles on the auto show circuit include the soon-coming Honda CR-Z coupe and much discussed but barely concrete Nissan Leaf. The "extended range electric" Chevrolet Volt and most affordable Tesla Model S family sedan also are warming up for promised 2011 debuts, at prices looming in the $40,000 to $50,000 range.

E-mail Jonathan Takiff at takiffj@phillynews.com.

2010 Philadelphia International Auto Show: Saturday through Feb. 7, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St. Hours: 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday (till 6 p.m. Feb. 7), noon-10 p.m. weekdays. Admission $10 (online) and $12, ages 7 to 12 $6, free on Feb. 7. Info at 215-418-2010, www.phillyautoshow.com.