I know what you're all thinking; "What happened to my Jalopnik??" Don't worry, we're not a fully engaged Planelopnik just yet, but we had to show you this newest iteration of the F-15. It's a Jalopnik-esque story of a beat up and forgotten platform, that's been revamped and re-engineered to compete with the newest bad boys on the scene, the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Boeing is marketing the new F-15 Silent Eagle for the international set that want to get into the modern jet age, but don't have access to our newest, greatest ninja toys. The customers that Boeing has aimed its sights at are Israel, Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and South Korea, which are all current F-15 customers.

Boeing has significantly re-worked the aeronautic design of the jet, though the overall profile remains familiar. Most noticeable are the new canted vertical V-tails that not only improve aerodynamic efficiency, but provide additional lift and critically reduce airframe weight. Also attributing to the improved aerodynamic profile is the Digital Flight Control System, which allows for much greater pilot control and feedback.

The ninja factor of the F-15 Silent Eagle is not anywhere near the stealth features designed into the F-22 or even the F-117 Nighthawk, but Boeing has improved certain design treatments as well as using a special coating on the jet's exterior to help deflect enemy radar. The single largest improvement to the F-15 Silent Eagle is the new conformal fuel tanks (CFT) that give the jet the capability to carry its air-to-air AIM-9 and AIM-120 missles and the air-to-ground weapons, Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) inside the tank, dramatically cleaning up the exterior radar signature. It can also carry the traditional F-15 armament attached to the wings and under belly, making the F-15 Silent Eagle a truly configurable jet. Boeing is planning an in-flight test launch of this system in 2010.

Boeing is not officially marketing the F-15 Silent Eagle to its largest customer, the U.S. Air Force; but has announced the ability to retrofit any existing F-15 with the new system. If you're buying new, Boeing is estimating that the total cost, including air frame, spare parts and training will run around $100 million per unit. You won't find us buzzing around in one of these, but while we're wooing "Maximum" Bob Lutz, we thought we'd bring this 'Countach of the Sky' to his (and your) attention.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled Jalopnik.

Boeing Press Release:

ST. LOUIS, March 17, 2009 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today in St. Louis unveiled the F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE), a new F-15 configuration designed to meet the future needs of international customers.

"The F-15 Silent Eagle is designed to meet our international customers' anticipated need for cost-effective stealth technologies, as well as for large and diverse weapons payloads," said Mark Bass, F-15 Program vice president for Boeing. "The innovative Silent Eagle is a balanced, affordable approach designed to meet future survivability needs."

Improvements in stealth include coatings and treatments on the aircraft. With the added advantage of redesigned conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) that allow for internal weapons carriage, the Silent Eagle becomes a very attractive fighter for Boeing's international customers.

Depending on the specific mission, the customer can use the CFTs that are designed for internal carriage or change back to the traditional CFTs for optimum fuel capacity and external weapons carriage. The Silent Eagle will be able to internally carry air-to-air missiles such as the AIM-9 and AIM-120 and air-to-ground weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). The standard weapons load used on current versions of the F-15 is available with the traditional CFTs installed.

The aircraft's canted vertical tails improve aerodynamic efficiency, provide lift, and reduce airframe weight. Another aerodynamic improvement is the Digital Flight Control System, which improves the aircraft's reliability and reduces airframe weight.

Survivability improvements include a BAES Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) working in concert with the Raytheon Advanced Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) radar.

Boeing has completed a conceptual prototype of the CFT internal-carriage concept, and plans to flight-test a prototype by the first quarter of 2010, including a live missile launch.

The design, development, and test of this internal carriage system are available as a collaborative project with an international aerospace partner.

[via Boeing, FlightGlobal, YouTube]

The SRT8 is obviously the most important unveil with a 425 HP 6.1-liter V8 HEMI that is now available with a manual transmission. The Challenger SE has a 250 HP 3.5-liter V6 HEMI capable of 25 MPG on the highway and a 276 watt Boston Connect sound system. The Challenger R/T has a 370 HP 5.7-liter V8 HEMI that is also available with a track pack that includes a six speed manual transmission and more.

Press Release Group Lotus plc unveils a new updated and significantly enhanced range of Europa's at the 78th annual Geneva International Motor Show. The new entry level Europa is priced at £27,950 MSRP / 37,500, with the range topping Europa SE available for a competitive £32,995 MSRP / 41,500 (Euro prices are without taxes, delivery & other related costs). These new Europa variants have been designed and developed especially for European customers and will be sold exclusively across Europe from June 2008. The Europa is now available to a larger target audience with the entry level car providing a more accessible way to own a Europa and the SE designed to appeal to those who are even more style conscious and want increased levels of performance. Mike Kimberley, CEO of Group Lotus plc commented: "As the true driver will know, this Europa range, offers access to Lotus' unique DNA for those who perceive the Elise and Exige as a little too uncompromising for everyday use. The new Europa SE sits at the more refined end of the Lotus spectrum, providing a terrific mix of performance, agility and style, but incorporates Lotus's values and heritage". The Europa has a mid-mounted 2 litre turbo charged engine, tuned in the SE with an all new calibration to 225 PS and with 300 Nm of torque to offer effortless cruising capability. Even though the Europa is engineered with more relaxed driving characteristics it provides amazing performance, with 0-60 mph in the SE dispatched in 5.5s (0-100 km/h in 5.7s estimated) and the sprint to 100 mph (160 km/h) taking just 13.0s (estimated). Given the legal opportunity to stretch its legs, the Europa SE will hit a top speed of 143 mph (estimated). The Europa now offers increased levels of comfort over the Elise and Exige whilst enhancing the focused driving experience that you would expect from a Lotus. These models are both equipped with race car derived double wishbone suspension to give an exceptional driving feel with Lotus DNA. The sleek Europa body work, together with the assistance of the flat underbody, generates positive downforce to provide balanced handling at speed. The Europa SE has attractive and light weight new wheels, which are shod with wider, high performance tyres, for increased levels of grip. These new high performance wheels are larger with 17" rims up front, and larger 18" rims on the rear. The new wheels house high performance AP Racing four pot brakes and larger (308 mm) diameter discs. The SE interior has been updated by Lotus Design with a stylish new design that works in harmony with the premium avant-garde Ice White of the Geneva Show car. The interior is finished using 4 hides of soft, lightweight high-grade leather, to ensure that every surface has a luxuriant tactile feel. As with all 2008 Lotus road cars, the Europa and Europa SE come with driver and passenger airbags and an engine start button as standard. The Europa interior is furnished with leather sports seats and comes as standard with a high quality stereo system.

Overall, I was pretty happy with Sync. The media functionality was superb and actually using the system while driving is very easy. The commenters are ripping on me for owning a Zune (and likely my taste in music, as well), but Sync worked wonders when paired with this device, and would work just as well with players from Apple, Creative, iRiver, Sandisk and so on. With the CD, AM/FM, Sirius, USB, auxiliary input and Bluetooth connectivity, the entire spectrum of media is covered and capable of being played through the Sync system. Unless you still favor cassettes. If so, you are free to cease reading now and return to devoting yourself full-time to getting hell out of 1995.

The phone functionality was pretty good, as well. Once you overcome the agony of getting it all set up—and I endured some significant agony—it works well. The option to receive and send (limited) text messages is a definite bonus, compared to other in-car systems. But as I have urged in my two previous installment, check out SyncMyRide.com to see if your cellphone is fully compatible, because that could be a big deciding factor in taking the plunge on this $400 option in Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.

The Sync did have a bit of a learning curve. I am a pretty technically savvy person, but I struggled through the unboxing and setup. Sync didn't have a similar feel to other consumer electronics or gadgets. The menu system and button-functionality took some time to get accustomed to; in the end, it was like learning an entirely new system. This threw me off because the vast majority of consumer electronics employ tried-and-true functionality that is in most cases easy to grasp without being forced to consult a manual (Sync has one, of course, and it's substantial, but when it comes to stuff like this, you want to play first and ask questions later).

The final word is that I would recommend the system. Once you get over the initial setup and learning curve hurdle, the Sync pays for itself in terms of convenience and functionality. Just be sure to first determine whether your gadgets are compatible.

Don't be intimidated by my unboxing yesterday. I approached the Sync the same way I would review any other kind of consumer electronics—and the way any ordinary human being would use a similar type of electronic doodad. Meaning: Play first, read later.

The first hurdle setting up Sync was determining the method of standard operations. It took me a little while to figure out the menu system for setting everything up. It's a tree-based menu system similar to how a computer file directory works, but until I determined that the OK and Phone button on the steering wheel acted almost as the forward and backward button throughout the tree menus, it was painful trying to navigate through and remember the menus, all while managing the total Sync setup. I would have preferred an entire computer integrated into my car. Learning new operational standards and systems is not something anybody likes to do.

As mentioned yesterday as well, consult SyncMyRide.com to determine just how capable your cellphone is when operating with the Sync. The majority of the setup video was me trying to get all of my contacts onto the Sync. Because my phone didn't support the entire address book push, it required me to manually send (over Bluetooth) each contact to Sync, a process that I repeatedly botched. Eventually I ended up just dialing the number I wanted to call directly on the number pad, an adequate workaround and a way to buy time until I could further investigate why the Sync wouldn't accept my Bluetooth contacts pushed individually.

Once the cellphone address book is established, then many other features can be utilized, such as voice commands when using the phone, along with other options.

On the plus side, the media set-up process was nearly flawless. A little menu tweaking was required to determine what source the Sync recognized as the input. In my case, I set it up as my Zune through the USB connection. But it can also be configured to receive music over Bluetooth and through the auxiliary input. I was also happy to learn that Sync is capable of playing DRM-restricted music for a select number of the many supported MP3 players—including the Zune and the iPod. This is an excellent in-car media system that became a pleasure to use after I began to memorize a lot of the voice commands.

Overall, I can't put all of the blame on set-up on the Sync—my cellphone caused some of the problems, because I doesn't support all features available on Sync. Stay tuned for part three in the series where I give the Sync a full-blown road test.

Exterior Design: ***
I don't dig the five "razor blades" — three in the grill, two in the air dam — fitted to the Fusion's front. (Yeah, there's chrome all over the place in search of a tie-in, but so what?) Worse, while the grill, headlamps and taillights are properly fussy, at 20 paces it's impossible to tell the Fusion from other mid-sized sedans. It's not an ugly car, by any means, and its crisp lines cut a sharper profile than does the Mazda6's bulbosity, but its other platform-mate, the Mercury Milan, is much more the looker.

Interior Design: **
I'm sure you're sick to death of hearing how ill-rendered Ford interiors are. And frankly, I'm sick of writing it. Yes, while the Fusion shares a head unit with the Focus, Mustang, F-150 and Explorer, it somehow doesn't look totally craptacular. But it's got the same gag-inducing HVAC and trip computer controls and bargain-basement stem controlling turn signals, highbeams and wipers. Boo. The seats in our tester appear to have been stolen from VW's reject pile: black leather with fat red stitching and patterned inserts. And they rival an absentee father in terms of support.

Acceleration: **
The official line on the I4 Fusion is 9.3 seconds to 60 mph, though the Fusion feels faster than it is. It's a high-revving, feisty mill that provides some ballsy passing power once it gets going. Just make sure it's pointed straight when getting off the clutch, because the front wheels tend to squirt all over the place. Which is kind of fun, actually.

Braking: ***
Another case of "feels better than it is." I'm sure if we'd set up some cones, the brakes' stoppage distances would fail to impress. However, they brace up with authority and with a minimum of drama when you stand on them. Anti-lockers are a $595 option and our tester had them.

Ride: ****
Rolling on biggish (optional) 17" aluminum painted wheels wrapped with 50-series V-rated tires, the lightest of Fusion models rides smoothly. There's a particularly horrifying stretch of the I-5 near Dodger Stadium that nearly caused an unwelcome reunion with past meals during a jaunt in an Audi RS4. The Fusion handled that antique highway with ease. The worst you can say is the ride's a little dull.

Handling: *****
Turn that tiller at speed and you'll instantly realize you're driving one of the best-handling cars on the road. The Fusion I4's low-low weight conspires with its tuned, independent suspension (with front and rear sway bars) to make it dance when the road winds. The larger tires provide extensive grip, and on long sweepers it's tempting to kick down a gear and stoke the furnace, just to see where adhesion ends. I was having so much fun on a particularly great road that a flying bottle of Listerine knocked the car out of gear. That's good handling. And that was without traction control, which is optional. (With only 160 horses and such fantastic grip, you don't need it.)

Gearbox: ****
A mixed bag. The clutch is ideal, but the shifter is bulky and clumsy. First, the oversized knob feels inaccurate — though not so much as to cause missed shifts. Second, while in gear, the handle can be rowed from side to side, giving it the tactility of cheapness. Still, there are very few midsize sedans that still sport manual transmissions. The Fusion SE is all the better for having one — despite its lack of a sixth cog — if just to make downshifting ahead of a hot corner possible. That's what driving's all about.

Audio/Video: **
Back when Austin was torturing me with trance-hop or whatever the hell it is he listens to, he commented on how Sirius is worse than XM in terms of interference. This Fusion came with Sirius, and it cut out under butterflies. Though, it could have just been a malfunctioning system, not ready for primetime is my verdict. The second star is simply because Ford bothered to activate Sirius on the press car. (Not all carmakers do so. I'm looking at you, Mercedes Benz.)

Toys: *
It had a trip computer — like almost all Fords do — that let me track the rather impressive gas mileage. And that's it.

Trunk: *****
Huge, cavernous, quite large and big. You could fit a mountain bike in there no problem. Or three golfers.

Value: *****
Our tester was the midrange SE model, which came loaded with $1,600 worth of extras, pushing the price up over $20,000. Considering the mix of handling and hauling the Fusion offers, and that you could leave a dealer in a brand new Fusion for right around $17,000, its value is undeniable.

Overall: ****
All that's holding the Fusion back from being best in class is... the class. Remember, the Fusion goes up against Honda's Accord, and as much I like the Fusion, the Accord is a more well-rounded entry. Nonetheless, the four-banger, manual-transmission Fusion is a performance sleeper waiting to be discovered by the masses. While it won't be fast enough for the speed freak in us, even a certified track-day hound will appreciate Fusion's sublime and unexpected handling. Alan, you were right. – Jonny Lieberman

Related:
Jalopnik Reviews: 2007 Ford Fusion SE, Part 1

Back in San Francisco, while we were attempting to see just how open an open bar can be, I was invited to sit next to the very calm and cool FoMoCoBro, Alan D. Hall. Poor Mr. Hall. While it's true I clean up reasonably well in a blazer for these types of occasions, I've also played Gilman Street more times than any other auto journo working today. I'm a punk at heart. Start pouring gratis, double-gin martinis down my throat and I can be a dungeon-dwelling asshole.

It was Hall's intention to ascertain my impression of the new Ford Edge we'd just beaten up and down Marin County. "Why can't Ford finish a car?" I berated. "Why does the Mustang have such awful brakes? Why is the Freestyle so lame looking? What's up with the Focus? Why is the Fusion so born-to-rent?" Hall really is one of the nicest guys working the public relations circuit, and yet I was sure he was ready to throw a left hook. He should have. But, being a true professional he calmly said, "I have a car for you. We're going to put you in a manual Fusion with the I4." Three weeks later, he did.

The most important quality of the base Fusion is its weight. It's really, really light. At 3,101 lbs., it weighs 46 pounds less than a Corvette Z06, yet seats five adults rather well (and has a trunk large enough for three more). But despite that its zero-to-60 number is nearly three times greater than the Vette's, the Fusion pays massive, grin-inducing dividends where it really counts — in the corners.

This, the cheapest of all possible Fusion models, is the best handling Ford on the road today. Sporting double wishbones up front and a multilink independent setup out back, it has one of the best suspension setups around. The Fusion is agile, precise, neutral and quite predictable. In most driving conditions, dreaded (and dangerous) understeer fails to materialize, an unexpected pleasure for a wrong-wheel-driver. Act like a hoon-hole and the front-end can go loose, but that's easily defeated with a quick brake stab. I even managed a little oversteer, but that involved some parking-brake action and I've already said too much.

All the Fusion's handling sweetness is enhanced by its standard five-speed manual. I'd never have guessed one of the world's most expertly engineered clutches could be found in a Ford. Yet, there it is, perfectly weighted, with just the right amount of travel, and it handles dumps like a teamster.

The other two pedals, not so much. Facilitating heel-and-toe driving was obviously not an engineering parameter. While in gear, it's possible to move the floppy stick around a few inches left and right. Notwithstanding such less-than-precise engineering, the whole package is a hell of a lot of fun, and it returns around 34 mpg at 80 mph, too. (And if it had a sixth gear, it would likely get 40 mpg.) Alan, you know me too well. – Jonny Lieberman

Related:
Jalopnik Reviews: 2007 Ford Edge, Special He Drove / He Drove Edition, Part 1 [internal]

We admit we're feeling slightly let down by Hyundai's new SE hatchback, which the company introduced today at the SEMA Show. Not that we were really expecting them to, but we were somewhat naively hoping we'd see the Hyundai Accent SR roll showroom-ready. The SE, on the other hand, is in need of some serious accessories to get to the SR's status, and that's exactly what the company expects buyers to do — accessorize. The 2007 Accent SE will have Variable Valve Timing (CVVT), sport-tuned suspension and 16-inch alloy wheels with P205/45R16 tires as is, but the company is planning a full range of add-ons for the personalization-needy. Want more than 110 hp? Bolt on a cold-air intake (woo). Look too spartan? Slap on a ground-effects kit. Tunes too tinny? Add a 220-watt, AM/FM/6-CD changer premium audio system with six-speakers. As if you were wondering why Hyundai picked an aftermarket show to set it off.

2007 Hyundai Accent SE Three-door bows at SEMA 2005 [MPH]

Related:
Frankfurt Sweep-up: Hyundai SR [internal]