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Tech Features, Green Cars Have Greater Presence At 2014 Auto Show

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After the worst winter in 35 years, maybe you need a new car?

Starting Saturday, you can see hundreds of new vehicles at the Twin Cities Auto Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

The 35 car makers at this year's show had their displays ready for the cars to roll in Friday morning.

"It takes about four days for a show this size, from initial move-in to actually cleaning up the cars," said Drew Guenett of Hyundai.

Some of the displays are huge. Jeep's even includes an obstacle course.

"It's not virtual, it's real," said Scott Lambert, with the auto show. "You can ride in a Jeep and go through their obstacle course. It's a lot of fun."

Off the main show floor is the green room, which is for environmentally friendly vehicles. One of the cars in that display, a plug-in hybrid from Ford, is rated at 100 MPGE -- that's a hybrid rating that means: miles per gallon equivalent.

"The green room has now been expanded, it's gotten bigger to try and accommodate all the hybrids, the clean diesels, and the electric vehicles," Lambert said.

SUVs, trucks and vans are also popular at this year's show. If you want to see the inside of a one-liter dual-overhead-cam three-cylinder engine, this is the place.

"Things that were extraordinary two years ago are now commonplace on the cars, like navigation systems," Lambert said. "And now you're going to be seeing more and more new stuff, like blind spot alert systems, things like that. So the technology in the products is getting better and better."

The Twin Cities Auto Show runs until March 16. For more, click here.

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