This Prius was shown in concept form a couple years back at a Tokyo auto salon, but this car, formally the Toyota Prius S Touring Selection G's, is an actual specialty version of the Prius that you can walk into a dealership and buy in Japan.
My favorite touches on this car are the black muzzle that make the car look like a mastiff puppy and the high-rolling-resistance Dunlop Direzza tires... finally this hybrid will have some stick through the corners. Thank you, Gazoo Racing. If our Prius looked like this in the showroom, would you soften your anti-hybrid stance?
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Categories: Hatchbacks,Hybrids,Tokyo Motor Show,Toyota,Tuners and Modifications
Everything comes in a box in Tokyo. Press kits, our lunch, the Starbucks latte and scone we ordered at the train station this morning, and certainly, personal transportation.
There are good reasons for this: One, boxes are inherently tidy, orderly, law-abiding and stylish. Two, twelve million people live in this city, and boxes are more space-efficient to sardine into garages. Three, the government-subsidized kei car class places stringest limitations on a car's physical footprint, so a box-shaped vehicle ensures maximum interior space.
Any manufacturer that's serious about doing business in Japan has at least one box-shaped vehicle on its stand. This year the Honda N Box and Daihatsu FC ShoCase concept get our best-in-show awards in the box category.
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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Daihatsu,Honda,Minivans,Tokyo Motor Show
Tucked in a nook way in the back of the Lexus booth was this insanely cool LFA stripped of all its bodywork to reveal the carbon fiber awesomeness within. But that's not all. There's also an incredibly detailed diorama of the LFA build process. A diorama!
Come across the jump and revel in the LFA OCD.
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Categories: Car Tech,Coupes,Lexus,Miscellaneous,Sports Cars,Tokyo Motor Show
Toyota was pushing the whole "driving should be fun" idea pretty hard at the show. So in addition to real cars like the 86 coupe and plug-in Prius (no idea how that fits in), Toyota rolled out the Fun-Vii concept.
Now, a car with "fun" in its name must be amusing and in this case most of that fun is derived from the changable skin on the vehicle. It's basically like one big computer monitor so you can pretty much stick anything on it just like a screen saver. Here you see the wildly hilarious flower photo being displayed.
Toyota says the appearance of the interior is variable in the same way, although we're not really sure what that means. It's undoubtedly fun when it happens though.
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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Tokyo Motor Show,Toyota
Subaru went out of its way to give the new BRZ a very low center of gravity. Most of the work went into getting the new 2.0-liter flat four engine mounted as far down in the engine bay as possible. Various tricks were used along the way such as mounting the power steering box up on the column instead of down on the rack and repositioning the battery to the rear of the engine.
The result is what you see here, which is nothing. The top of the intake is barely visible until you look from the front. And where will they put that turbocharger when the time comes? Well, just head over to Jay's post where he puts forth his educated guess on the situation.
Categories: Coupes,Sports Cars,Subaru,Tokyo Motor Show
Alpinas get lots of love in Japan. Not only does this country account for 20 percent of the BMW tuner's annual sales, according to company officials, it has the only two stand-alone Alpina dealers in the world -- one in Tokyo and one in Yokohama. The company rolled out two new cars just for the Tokyo Auto Show, the 6 Series-based B6 BiTurbo and an even more limited-edition version of the 3 Series-based B3 with simulated racecar livery.
We probably wouldn't even have wandered into the booth if it weren't for the matte blue paint on the B6 BiTurbo coupe. We don't know what it is, but with that paint and those billion-spoke Alpina wheels, the 650's ho-hum form becomes stunning. The B6 convertible in the booth has the same mix of blue paint, but no matte, and looks nowhere near as good.
This seems like exactly the sort of car that would sell in the United States -- to potential BMW 6 Series customers who actually want their car to be attractive -- but BMW of North America likely doesn't want it interfering with the M6 (the next one, that is), so it won't ever make it our turf. Never mind, though, we've basically already driven it, as it has the same drivetrain as the B7 Alpina we tested, which is to say a significantly modified version of BMW's twin-turbo V8 making over 500 hp.
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Categories: BMW,Convertibles,Coupes,Tokyo Motor Show,Tuners and Modifications
Honda said very little about the electric RC-E concept and it didn't need to. Just look at it, who cares what it's powered by.
According to Honda, the RC-E is "an EV version of a super sports bike that pursues the joy of riding. A powerful and smooth ride unique to an EV model is achieved with the 250cc-class compact body."
That's it. No specs, no promises, nothing. Just a great design that makes you pray that somehow Honda can make it work. If it could, there might be a whole new generation of riders who see electric bikes as the coolest thing since their iPhones.
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Categories: Electric Vehicles,Honda,Motorcycles,Tokyo Motor Show
The Honda AC-X concept received a pretty quiet introduction here in Tokyo. Honda officials won't give many details about it other than to say it has the new, plug-in, two-mode series/parallel hybrid drivetrain (one 2.0-liter inline-4 engine, two electric motors, a simplified transmission and a Li-ion battery pack) that we briefly sampled on the access roads outside Twin Ring Motegi.
The concept is roughly the same size as the current U.S.-market Honda Accord, and the next generation of Honda's family sedan is all but certain to come in a plug-in version.
But the AC-X looks too artsy and strange to be a preview of the next-gen Accord coming in (spring 2012)... Then again, the last three generations of the Accord have been very conservative. So maybe it's time for another crazy, mid-'90s-ish Accord. And we do like the back end of this car.
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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Honda,Hybrids,Sedans,Tokyo Motor Show
Never heard of Lixil? There's a reason for that. It's doesn't make cars, or anything even remotely related to cars. Lixil makes home building products like shutters, doors and wooden louver window shades.
So why a booth at the Tokyo auto show? The company wanted to introduce the idea of "midteriors", or areas that combine the comfort of a home's interior with the openness of its exterior. Yeah, it's a stretch but go with it.
The result was this electric vehicle made mostly of wood. It was joined by a bicycle made of wood and this lovely garden. And of course live miniature horses. Can't have a worthwhile auto show stand without miniature horses.
Categories: Concept Vehicles,Tokyo Motor Show,Trends
The Tokyo show is known for its outlandish concepts, but this one takes the cake this year. It's officially known as the FS Hybrid Concept, but its resemblance to a slightly modernized Chrysler from the late 80s is what makes it an eye catcher. There was no real information on the car other than a sign that implied it was in fact a hybrid and could seat 5 people. Guess they're still working out pricing for the "soft top" option.
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Categories: Hybrids,Tokyo Motor Show
I spotted two engine displays of note in Subaru's booth and thought I'd share, as this is the first time we've seen these up close.
The first is the normally aspirated 2.0-liter boxer found in the Toyobaru twins (BRZ and 86/FR-S), and the second is the direct-injected, turbocharged 1.6-liter "Boxer DIT" that's going into... well, Subaru's not yet saying exactly which model. In the guise shown here, the 1.6 turbo appears set to reside in various Impreza-based offerings.
Although the company "has no plans" to place a turbo boxer in the BRZ, it doesn't take much imagination to envision the Boxer DIT slotting in neatly where the 2.0 aspro mill resides.
Decide for yourself after the jump.
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Categories: Car Tech,Subaru,Tokyo Motor Show
This is a Hino 500 Series race truck and these two men, Yoshimasa Sugawara and his son Teruhito Sugawara, are two of the crazy drivers who pilot the brute at speeds over 100 mph. They managed to win the "under 10-liter" class at last year's Dakar Rally which was actually run in Argentina and Chile.
It's a medium-duty monster with an 8.0-liter straight six that develops of 500 pound-feet of torque. It needs it, too, as the truck weighs over 15,000 pounds. And you thought the Raptor was a heavy beast.
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Categories: Motorsports,Tokyo Motor Show
To house a hybrid powertrain as comprehensive as that found in the Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV II, you need something as sizable as, er, the Mitsubishi Concept PX-MiEV II. This five-passenger plug-in hybrid SUV concept made its debut here in Tokyo. It's a prelude to a similar vehicle that will, according to Mitsubishi boss Masuko, be introduced "sometime in the 2012 fiscal year."
So, really, the Concept PX-MiEV II is just an incidental wrapper for the hybrid propulsion bits that will probably end up in the Outlander. That fancy hybrid system works like this. Hit the jump.
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Categories: Car Tech,Concept Vehicles,Crossovers,Future Vehicles,Green Tech,Hybrids,Mitsubishi,SUVs,Tokyo Motor Show
Take a good look at the front end of this Volkswagen Cross Coupe concept. According to the company's design chief, this design theme will be carried over to all of VW's upcoming SUVs like the Tiguan and the Touareg. Think it'll help?
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Categories: SUVs,Tokyo Motor Show,Volkswagen
During Toyota's press conference here at the show in Tokyo, CEO Akio Toyoda said that the company is trying to get back to making cars fun to drive again. He's worried that today's kids are more interested in their phones than they are in their cars.
The Toyota 86 is the company's first shot at getting their attention and it should do a pretty good job of it. You can get a full rundown on all the details in our first drive of the Toyota 86 or just take a look at the pictures here.
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Categories: Coupes,Sports Cars,Tokyo Motor Show,Toyota
Nothing says you're history like a lovely spot in the corner. That's what Maybach got at the Mercedes-Benz stand here in Tokyo. It's not only buried in the corner, it's even on the backside of the show stand. It's as if even Mercedes can't even bear to look anymore.
In case you haven't heard, the super luxury brand is scheduled to go away as of 2013, so Mercedes won't have to haul around the extra baggage for long.
Categories: Luxury Cars,Maybach,Mercedes-Benz,Tokyo Motor Show
First shown in Paris last year, the Nissan Townpod is definitely a concept and absolutely podlike. Can't comment on its townworthiness at this time.
Said to be an EV -- this is in Nissan's EV-centric booth, remember -- the Townpod is a compact HHR-shaped thing that is intended to be equal parts commercial-grade van and daily driver. Think configurable, like a Ford Transit Connect. Only smaller.
It's definitely user-friendly. For your viewing enjoyment across the jump, I give you a gallery of the Townpod showing off wide-opening cargo access and suicide doors. And who doesn't love suicide doors?
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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Electric Vehicles,Nissan,Tokyo Motor Show,Wagons
There isn't much more to say about this Subaru BRZ. It's was built to compete in Japan's Super GT series and it looks as tough as any racecar we've ever seen. Nice work, Subaru.
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Categories: Coupes,Motorsports,Sports Cars,Subaru,Tokyo Motor Show
Tiny cars have huge market share in Japan. Here, a car like the Audi A1 isn't even all that tiny. Audi already sells the three-door A1 hatchback here, so no reason not to export the five-door version, the A1 Sportback, to Japan in early 2012, which is the same time it will launch in Europe.
In the metal, the A1 could easily be mistaken for an A3 with more up-to-date styling, but then, we come from a big-car country so we're not the most sensitive to subtleties of scale. But never mind that, there are good reasons why the A1 Sportback will never get the green light for the U.S., and they go by names like Volkswagen GTI and Jetta Sportwagen. For the same price as an A1, you could get more car so isn't that the better value? Ah, there's the big-car attitude again.
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Categories: Audi,Hatchbacks,Tokyo Motor Show
Can't say we've been dreaming of an all-electric Honda roadster, but EVs are in fashion right now, at least on the concept car circuit, and so the company unveiled the EV-ster in Tokyo. At first, it seems like a far-fetched little thing -- an EV roadster that uses carbon materials to keep weight down and improve range (100 miles claimed) and performance (0-60 in a claimed 5.0 seconds).
But during his roundtable discussion with North American journalists today, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito said that Honda is looking to put a little more fun in its lineup, but with an eye toward the environment, and so a car like the EV-ster is a possibility for production. "Maybe it's an idea that we do a very small pure EV sports car," he said.
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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Convertibles,Electric Vehicles,Honda,Tokyo Motor Show
