Remote-control seats, lounges-on-wheels on display

DETROIT -- Seats that move as the car accelerates. Tires with corn-based fillers. Minivans with lounges. A wagon that turns into a sedan with the push of a button.

Those are some of the futuristic features on display at this year's North American International Auto Show, which opens to the public Saturday. Some are just concepts, or wild ideas created solely for the auto show. But others will be offered eventually in mass-production models.

Among them is the Model U, which Ford calls the Model T of the 21st century. It is powered by a supercharged hydrogen internal combustion engine and hybrid electric transmission.

Its key features include an engine that uses sunflower seed oil and tire rubber that contains corn-based fillers as a partial substitute for carbon black. The tires offer lower rolling resistance and lower weight, leading to improved fuel economy and better traction on wet pavement.

"Someone told me once that to get a new technology off and running it takes anywhere from 10 to 15 years," said Ford president and chief operating officer Nick Scheele. "I think that's pretty reasonable."

Mercedes-Benz's 2004 E-Class features a headlight system that responds to the movements of the driver and points in the direction the car is moving. Among some of the other vehicle innovations:

Audi's Pikes Peak. It has three rows of seats, each covered by a separate sunroof. Each seat is remote-controlled and the seats have separate video screens.

The Dodge Kahuna. has an interior that can transformed into a lounge, with a front passenger seat that can flip around to face the back and second-row seats that fold down to form tables. It is a minivan that "doesn't fall into the usual soccer mom category," said Trevor Creed, Chrysler's senior vice president of design.

Honda's Studio E. It is a music mixing studio on wheels, with a 42-inch plasma television screen and two rear seat pods that flip down from the sides.

Ford's Freestyle FX. It can convert from a six-passenger sportwagon to either a five-passenger sedan or a five-passenger vehicle with a cargo bed. The transformation begins with the press of a button on the remote key.

"It's sort of an automotive Swiss army knife," said J Mays, Ford vice president for design.