The crazy lawn tractor here started life as a Partner machine, with 14.5 horsepower and a hydrostatic transmission. A buddy of our spy shooter took the tractor apart completely, and then got obsessed. Every nut and bolt was painted yellow; a new stainless-steel exhaust was fabricated; and a rev counter made from an old 911 oil filter was installed, along with a fire extinguisher.

After putting it all back together, the proud Porschephile shot it all with classic Grand-Prix Weiss (white) with Indischrot (red) details and wheels. Undoubtedly, it’s more fun to work in the garden than on a track–but who knows? Maybe we’ll see this one in the U.S. Lawnmower Championships one day.

Whatever the case, here are the lo-res versions of the 7-Series galleries minus all the Photoshop festooning applied to those Euro hooligans. The official word and pics on the 7er come down next week, and we’ll bring you more on it then–as well as from the Paris auto show in October. Meanwhile, savor the somewhat soft-focus shots of the 7-Series’ new tail, markedly cleaner interior, and more refined silhouette.

TheCarConnection.com’s spy photographer ring has nabbed these new photos of the next BMW 5-Series, including the first interior photos. The cabin shot shows a relocated iDrive controller with satellite buttons, which may provide shortcuts like the buttons that surround Audi’s MMI controller. A joystick-style shifter is also found inside, as is a button for an electronic parking brake.

The new 5-Series also has a redesigned cockpit; the steering wheel has roller-type controls again like those in Audis. On the equipment list: keyless start/stop, an active suspension, a night-vision system, a head-up display, and a navigation system with a larger display.

The body styles for the new BMW 5-Series will include a Sedan, a Touring wagon, and a fastback version along the lines of the new X6. All-wheel drive will be offered across the lineup. A debut at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show might be in the cards for the new 5-Series, which likely will make it to the U.S. as a 2011 model.

CNN’s the latest news outlet to report that drivers are damping their holiday expectations, thanks to $4-a-gallon gas. The network says 31 percent of us have shortened or canceled holiday plans due to the run-up in fuel prices. Their new survey comes a few weeks after the AAA predicted a 1.3 percent drop in the number of drivers set to hit the highways for the extended weekend.

AAA says that 40 million folks will be going somewhere over the long weekend, but CNN reports that with gas hitting a record $4.09 a gallon on Wednesday, bigger changes are coming to driving habits–and more of us are affected by them. CNN’s survey of drivers also found that 78 percent of rural, 73 percent of suburban, and 61 percent of urban drivers have been impacted by gas prices, and almost three-quarters of those polled are making changes to cut their gas bill.

Do these numbers sound familiar? Tell us in a comment if you’ve junked your vacation due to gas prices, and what you’ll be doing instead.

The big story is the symbol of the times: the Toyota Corolla. Toyota’s sales were down 24 percent, too, but the iron horse Corolla continues to surge. Even in a year of changeover, from the bland 2008 model to the tastier 2009 version, Toyota’s kept enough Corollas coming out of California and elsewhere to feed its sales machine–and to become the first vehicle to trump Ford’s F-Series in 20-odd years of counting.

The bigger tectonic moves in car sales are easy to see–just look at the monthly tea leaves compiled by AutoData. Last year’s champ was the Ford F-Series; this year, June sales of the big truck were off 40 percent and the Ford truck ranked behind two Hondas and two Toyotas. SUVs and pickups are way, way down–and only Honda seems immune to the huge monthly drops in numbers right now.

A little then and now will tell you how dramatically your tastes have changed in just 12 short months–and show you more evidence for the magnitude of change at showrooms and boardrooms across the industry.

Then:

• Ford F-Series
• Toyota Camry
• Chevrolet Silverado
• Honda Civic
• Toyota Corolla
• Chevrolet Impala
• Dodge Ram
• Honda Accord
• Nissan Altima
• Toyota Tundra

And now:

• Toyota Corolla/Matrix
• Toyota Camry
• Honda Civic
• Honda Accord
• Ford F-Series
• Chevrolet Silverado
• Nissan Altima
• Chevrolet Cobalt
• Ford Focus
• Hyundai Sonata

The truth is this: We can’t tell you anything about how the new Ram drives. Not one stinking thing. Not how the improved HEMI accelerates. Nothing about how the new coil spring rear suspension handles. Nada about its cargo-hauling capabilities or how it compares to the competition. All of this must wait until August 31, when Chrysler’s embargo on driving impressions lifts.

Until then, go here to see what we can tell you about the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. But read on for some insights picked up during this press event that have nothing to with Ram driving impressions.

Jim Press, Chrysler vice chairman and president, talked with us extensively about what Chrysler LLC sees happening in the truck market. Press said, “We see the truck market getting back to normal—when people who needed trucks bought trucks.” He continued, “We’re coming out of a period where people who didn’t need trucks bought them, and fuel prices are moving them out of this segment.” Seems like common sense is coming back to driving the truck market. This shift in buying will help change the face of the truck market, and more than one Dodge engineer mentioned that they saw the opportunity for a unibody truck product emerging to fill the needs of pseudo-truckers. Remember the Rampage concept from the 2006 Chicago auto show? This truck was referenced in conversations by several Chrysler people.

This press event also confirmed that new powertrains are in the big Ram’s future. At the Ram’s 2008 Detroit Auto Show unveiling Dodge announced that a new light-duty Cummins diesel would arrive in 2010. The dual-mode hybrid drive system found in the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen will also find its way into the Ram 1500 in about the same time frame. The new piece of engine news is the V-6 engine that’s under development. The current 3.7-liter mill is coming to the end of its lifecycle, so we’re glad to hear general murmurs about the new engine. As is the trend today, expect it to carry direct injection. Engineers were mum on details or time to market, but we’re thinking sometime after the 2011. This is good news for the Ram, as the current 3.7 is not an impressive engine by any measure.

Stay tuned for more on the Ram, and we’ll get you a full review with driving impressions as soon as the embargo lifts.

It’s still not certain that the Forte name will be used in the United States, but the new car is promised for a 2009 calendar-year launch here. A two-door coupe based on the Kia Koup concept is in the cards, too. In Korea, the Forte goes on sale near the end of August.

The Forte also replaces the similar car sold as the Cerato in worldwide markets. It’s the first car penned for Kia by Peter Schreyer, who ditched the VW Group for his new Seoul brothers a few years back. The styling theme is said to be the new look for the brand. A new four-cylinder engine will be offered on base cars; a bigger four will be added later. And there’s reason to believe this is the car that Kia will christen its new Georgia assembly plant with, since plans for a unibody truck have been yanked from the product plan.

Three BMW X6 Hybrid cars were spotted, but one of the test vehicles showed one important difference, as its final hood design was visible for the first time on a real-world prototype. Two of the prototypes showcased enormous hood bulges, but the third prototype’s hood–while still bulging more than a standard X6–looks clean with a tastefully integrated bump sculpted in near the cowl.

These details lead us to the conclusion that the production X6 Hybrid will take its visual inspiration from BMW’s X6 Active Hybrid concept. Whether the revised hood bulge is there to make room for some hybrid-specific hardware or if its sole purpose is to signal one’s green-leaning tendencies is currently unknown.

Stay tuned for more on the 2010 BMW X6 Hybrid.–KGP Photography

The $148,620 BMW 760Li in parking spot No. 1 is decked out as handsomely as any 7-Series I’ve ever seen, with beautiful ruby-black paint, mahogany trim (even behind the rear headrests), Merino leather, and 20-inch wheels. It also sports a $1,700 gas-guzzler tax, thanks to the 438-horsepower, 6.0-liter V-12’s thirst for premium fuel. Teamed with a six-speed automatic with manual-shift capability, the big V-12 helps the Bimmer perform like a powerful musclecar that’s graduated from post-secondary charm school: it’s swift, smooth, and mostly silent, though I wish the electronics controlling the steering and ride weren’t so obvious. Inside, the front chairs are heated, cooled, and have a massage feature, but it’s the backseats that feel almost regal–particularly in the long-wheelbase editions like this one. There’s also iDrive, but you know our sentiments on that setup already.

Even though “sybaritic” hardly taps the surface of driving or being driven in a BMW 7, it still naturally makes me seek out the greener side of the pasture. The Benz S-Class, which was redesigned for 2007, has some of the same luxurious spoils and styling foibles of the BMW. Some of the bustleback is present on its rear end, too, and it’s largely as unsuccessful as on the BMW, and the Benz interior is strangely retro, though upholstered in extravagant suedes and leathers if you like. Its performance numbers are bigger: the V-12 S600 sports 510 horsepower. And certainly, it doesn’t want for luxury: it comes with a panorama-style roof, Active Body Control (ABC) suspension, and heated/ventilated front seats with built-in massager, a new infrared night-vision system and concert-hall-quality 14-speaker Harmon Kardon surround sound stereo.

Given the choice, I know which would be my pick for an Autobahn-style blast. What’s yours? Tell us in a comment below.

Why the change? With our new review format, TheCarConnection.com is examining sources from around the Web and letting you know which opinions matter–with our editorial team’s opinion guiding the way. In our first exposure to the Genesis, most of the test drives took place in prototypes and on non-U.S. roads. With the change in venue–real cars riding on real American roads–it’s appropriate to revisit scoring, and it’s something TheCarConnection.com will keep doing in all its reviews. We’ll re-evaluate cars as we drive them more and as more reviews come in through a car’s lifespan.

I found out plenty about the Genesis’s performance on the hilly drive to Ojai and the flat, dusty stretch out toward Buttonwillow, along with my Autoblog co-pilot. Driving both the V-6 version and the powerful V-8 model, it’s difficult to find a reason not to choose either engine. The 290-horsepower V-6 is strong and smooth enough, but the V-8 is truly remarkable. With 375 horsepower, it never seems to run out of energy. The six-speed automatic transmission coupled to both engines has a manual mode, but shift paddles would greatly accentuate the “sport” tag that Hyundai wants to be applied to the Genesis.

In terms of ride and handling, the Genesis is clearly biased toward the former. It’s fairly unflappable cruising over large bumps at freeway speed, and even in some back-to-back handling tests arranged by Hyundai, the Genesis acquits itself well against the Mercedes E-Class and the BMW 7-Series, even. The Genesis, though, is less confident at truly high speeds than the Germans; the cushy ride gets a little nervous at triple-digit speeds, though it never loses composure. Rapid switchbacks bring out the roll and lean designed into the ride quality, but it’s controllable stuff–and another sign of Hyundai’s growing confidence in tuning its cars to handle well, if on the softer side of the spectrum. It’s enough to boost the Genesis to an 8, in our opinion.

In terms of comfort and quality, the Genesis’s sometimes lavish interior trim and large backseat deserve an upgrade from a 7 to an 8. The initial set of reviews and our initial impressions were that some fit and finish issues still had to be sorted out. Spending a day in a saddle-interior Genesis and a version with the perforated leather package, we could only find a minor flaw or two in the Genesis’s upscale cabin. It’s heavily reminiscent of the Infiniti M, especially in the center stack, where a wave of silver buttons controls the major functions (there’s also an iDrive-like controller that manipulates media and climate controls). The buttons can be hard to pick out from behind the wheel, when you just want to speed up the fan–but the look is sophisticated and rich. Hyundai’s entertainment controller made connecting to music in an iPhone a breeze, and its navigation menus seemed far easier to use than some setups. The backseat has truly adult-sized room; you can cross a leg over knee and still have enough room between it and the front seat back. A minor ripple in a pre-production V-8 sedan with the leather-trimmed dash was the only noticeable flaw.

The Genesis isn’t done here. A Coupe version is coming, and product planners say all-wheel drive is possible mid-cycle–so I expect Hyundai’s plans for a big crossover vehicle to share a lot of Genesis pieces. As the time comes for more information on that vehicle, TheCarConnection.com will be there to keep you posted. In the meantime, get all the information on the 2009 Genesis including pricing, specifications, and of course, our full review here.