Take five and you're fired-up

What would you do in New York with five madcap seconds? Ask a stranger for money? Kiss a cop? A cop's horse? A doorman? A waitress? Abuse a yellow cabbie? Throw quarters in the air? Or say quickly the old boast: "New York, New York, the city so big they had to name it twice."

What would do you in Auckland in five seconds? Abuse the Blues? The council? Tag a fence? Give a stranger a dead arm? Yell out loud? Define Jafa? Vote for something?

Whatever, General Motors launched its Cadillac XLR-V roadster at the New York motor show with video clips of people in Manhattan saying what they would do with those five seconds.

It led to the introduction of GM executive Bob Lutz, who said his five seconds in the city would be spent introducing the new Cadillac.

Lutz whipped the covers off the vehicle, thanked the crowd for five seconds of their time, and moved to leave the stage ... just as billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump wandered on and, in five seconds, asked Lutz for the keys to his new Cadillac limousine.

It was typical New York chutzpah, the gimmicky part of a new advertising campaign for the XLR-V, based on its zero to 100km/h time of "under five seconds".

Trump, host of the Apprentice television programme, is the second American to buy Cadillac's 2006 DTS limousine.

The first was President George Bush.

The Cadillac XLR-V roadster is the latest addition to the brand's growing list of high-performance V-series vehicles, some of which will be right-hand-drive.

Cadillac used the famous Nurburgring racetrack in Germany as a performance stopwatch for the XLR-V.

The result: zero to 100km/h in under five seconds. The XLR-V is powered by a 4.4-litre supercharged Northstar V8 engine producing 330kW (440bhp), coupled to a rear-mounted six-speed automatic transmission.

The engine is the same as that used in the STS-V sedan and is the most powerful in the Cadillac stable.

GM's adaptive lighting system makes its debut on the XLR-V.

Like many rival examples, it uses sensors to determine speed and steering-wheel angle input to decide how fast and how far the headlights should turn at night.

The XLR-V also comes with a wire-mesh grille, 19-inch 10-spoke wheels, and ebony and aluminium trim in the cabin. Bigger brakes and a recalibrated Magnetic Ride Control are also included.

Other firsts from rival carmakers included two from Lexus - the V6-powered IS350 sports sedan and the petrol-electric GS450h, the hybrid version of the GS sedan.

The GS450h uses a 3.5-litre V6 engine mated to a high-output electric motor, together putting out about 225kW (300bhp).

Lexus says the performance of the hybrid will rival the V8-powered Lexus GS430 - expected in New Zealand next month - especially at overtaking speeds from 80km/h on.

The GS450h will be the world's first luxury sedan hybrid, as well as the first rear-drive hybrid when it hits showrooms in the United States next year.

It will join the all-wheel-drive RX400h, the hybrid version of the RX330.

The IS350 sports sedan has been built for the United States market only. The all-new IS model will be launched in New Zealand later this year.

It uses a 2.4-litre engine and has a new front and rear suspension, and an upgraded sporty version of the carmaker's Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management, or VDIM, stability control system.

Also of interest were two four-wheel-drive Jeeps - the seven-seat Commander and SRT8 Grand Cherokee. The Commander sits on the same 2781mm wheelbase as the five-seat Cherokee but uses a longer subframe off the back end for the extra row of seating. The vehicle is taller and bigger all round than the Grand Cherokee.

The second and third rows fold flat for better storage and the rows are staggered stadium-style for better visibility.

The choice of engines for the seven-seater run to a 3.7-litre V6, 4.7-litre V8 and the Hemi 5.7-litre V8, all coupled to a five-speed automatic transmission.

Three full-time four-wheel-drive systems will be offered, along with two different transfer cases, one designed for the toughest off-road conditions.

The 310kW (415bhp) Grand Cherokee SRT8 is the most powerful production Jeep built.

It uses a slightly detuned version of the same 6.1-litre Hemi V8 engine found in the Chrysler 300C SRT8 sedan.

Jeep says the SRT8 will outgun the Porsche Cayenne Turbo.

It uses four-wheel Brembo brakes along with a lowered suspension and recalibrated stability control system for more dynamic capability.

It rides on special 20-inch, five-spoke wheels and retains a braked towing capacity of 1600kg.

Jeep says it has been built to undercut the price of German rivals in the US, such as the Cayenne, Mercedes-Benz M-Class and upcoming BMW X5.